When someone knows a secret, it’s almost as though that person must pass the secret to someone else while asking that person to also keep the secret (don’t tell anyone else … but here’s what I know …). Then the person or people they tell will in turn tell other people in confidence, and so on. Soon, many people know your business and you still think just one person knows because they would never admit they told your secrets to someone else.
YOUR BEST FRIEND WILL TELL YOUR SECRET! They tell their lover in confidence, who tells their best friend, who will tell their family, etc.
DO YOU GET MY POINT? Keep your mouth shut and don’t tell another living soul where you are going and what you are doing if you want to disappear and keep it that way. You will kick yourself later if you trust other people with your secrets. You can tell people you are going to take off but don’t tell them where you are going or how to get in touch with you. You can remain in contact with people if you need to and I’ll explain how to do this further on in this book.
If you in fact are lucky enough to have someone you can trust with your life, you may know a person who will help you out. If this is the case then you can have your trusted person rent a hotel room for you in their name. Then you are anonymous instantly. This applies to renting apartments, houses, or anything else as well. This is a great way to become instantly anonymous and is the first way you can rent a place to live anonymously. People like this are rare so be careful about whom you trust and keep it to one person.
If you know someone who will give you his or her credit or debit card, you can make a reservation at a hotel using his or her credit card number. When you check into the hotel, all they will ask for is the credit card used to reserve the room. All you have to do is give them the credit card and there is a good chance you won’t have to show a driver’s license or anything else. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s a high chance of success. You must have the card with you when you go to the front desk. The hotel will swipe the card when you arrive. I’ve used my own debit card to reserve a room over the phone and over the Internet. They never asked to see my driver’s license when I went to the front desk to check in. All they wanted to see was the debit card I used to make the reservation. You could set up your new business in advance and open a business checking account. Many banks will issue a temporary debit card you can use until your permanent business debit card shows up at your new business address.
You can buy a gift card or a prepaid debit card at Wally Mart and use this card to make the reservation and then check in without showing any ID. If you don’t know where to find those cards, they are at almost every cash register at Wally Mart. If you don’t see them then just tell the cashier, “I’m looking for the prepaid debit cards”. They will know exactly what you are talking about and point you to them. This is also a great way to send money anonymously and a great way to spend money over the Internet anonymously. You can buy these cards 24/7/365 and use them for everything you can imagine. They don’t work everywhere every single time, but they do work 95% of the time. Of course, you have to load money onto them when you buy them and they cost $3 for the card itself. Therefore, if you want one with $200 credit on it then you take $203 in cash to the register.
NOTE: You usually have to show identification when you rent a hotel room unless you reserve the room with a credit card and you present that card to the front desk when you check in. Otherwise, you are going to have to show a photo ID. You could get lucky in a small hotel but there is a reason a hotel wants to see your ID. They don’t want someone to steal their television and everything else they can get their hands on. If you open your business account at Bank of America, you can get a debit card with your photo on it and use that as picture ID. A student ID or Passport can serve as Picture ID and would be difficult to trace to you personally. You can also show a passport as photo ID.