SAD
TID Board Of Directors
- Feb 3, 2011
- 3,673
- 2,293
Been meaning to throw some thoughts down in this sub-forum for a while now, but some joker on another forum has convinced me that it is time. The guy got a hard-on for me and was trying to blast out my identity to the entire board. So here are some things to make you think twice about how easy it is (or hard you can make it) for the DEA or equivalent to track you down.
Let's start off with the norm. Almost nobody conceals their sex, right? It's pretty easy to find out within a couple posts what sex the anonymous user is. Well now you just eliminated 50% (we're going to use general averages here) of the people in the country. Then a month later you talk about how it's cold as shit and raining. After a quick Google search, the investigator now knows you are either in the Northwest or Northeast. So now you are in the Northwest or Northeast and you are a man. "But there are millions and millions of men in the NW and NE corners of the US. They have no clue who I am" you say? I'm just getting started.
You post again on a random thread that your wife got home and was pissed that you were late picking the kids up from school because you were working out. Damn, now you are a married man with kids in one of two areas in the US. More than likely, they have figured out which coast you are on based on your posting tendencies cross-referenced with the respective time-zones. But if not, you will slip up eventually and give away your time zone, whether it's a work reference "Done with my 9 to 5 in 10 min. Yippee!" or a sleep reference "Well boys, it's 10 o'clock, time to hit the sack." etc.
So what do we have so far; You are a married man with children in the Northeast corner of the US. Now to really pinpoint you...
You mention in the shoutbox to a buddy that you're turning 31 in two days and your wife is taking you to a steak-house on the coast called De'Angelos. The investigator now knows your exact birthday, what state you live in and, more importantly, what town you live in or near. They go to the steak-house the day after your birthday dinner and ask the waitresses and waiters if they had a 30ish male with his wife who were celebrating his birthday. They get a hit, and 5 minutes later they have your name, address, etc etc etc. Could they have just busted you at the steak-house? No, for what? With what? We don't carry around needles and vials in our fucking pockets. But they know this, and what they want is your residence and everything inside.
So they have a surveillance team watch you for a few days while simultaneously following all of your posts and shoutbox correspondences, and they pick the perfect time to fuck your world up.
And I didn't even touch on pictures, tattoos in said pictures, etc.
Alright, the story is over, and we all know that the DEA and affiliates don't have the manpower or desire to track down every single low-level user. They want the big fish. But if they think that the aforementioned low-level user has knowledge of multiple big fish and the waters those big fishies swim in, then they may be looking for you after all. The point is, I think we all get pretty comfortable on here sometimes, and I think that we may lose sight of what's at stake if our identity is made public on these forums. I got real close to knowing that paranoia recently, so I'm just doing my underground service announcement.
Here's a tip I was told when I first started skimming these forums. I was told to lay some dummy info down in my profile and posts now and again. The way I look at it is, leave some breadcrumbs that lead to the wrong gingerbread house. Say something about I-10 when you are nowhere near the south. Or about how slow the Pac-Coast Highway always is when you are on the East Coast. Or about how your kids are growing up too fast when you are actually a virgin (KBD?) . Etc, etc. Who knows, it may keep you out of jail, and you would never know it.
Let's start off with the norm. Almost nobody conceals their sex, right? It's pretty easy to find out within a couple posts what sex the anonymous user is. Well now you just eliminated 50% (we're going to use general averages here) of the people in the country. Then a month later you talk about how it's cold as shit and raining. After a quick Google search, the investigator now knows you are either in the Northwest or Northeast. So now you are in the Northwest or Northeast and you are a man. "But there are millions and millions of men in the NW and NE corners of the US. They have no clue who I am" you say? I'm just getting started.
You post again on a random thread that your wife got home and was pissed that you were late picking the kids up from school because you were working out. Damn, now you are a married man with kids in one of two areas in the US. More than likely, they have figured out which coast you are on based on your posting tendencies cross-referenced with the respective time-zones. But if not, you will slip up eventually and give away your time zone, whether it's a work reference "Done with my 9 to 5 in 10 min. Yippee!" or a sleep reference "Well boys, it's 10 o'clock, time to hit the sack." etc.
So what do we have so far; You are a married man with children in the Northeast corner of the US. Now to really pinpoint you...
You mention in the shoutbox to a buddy that you're turning 31 in two days and your wife is taking you to a steak-house on the coast called De'Angelos. The investigator now knows your exact birthday, what state you live in and, more importantly, what town you live in or near. They go to the steak-house the day after your birthday dinner and ask the waitresses and waiters if they had a 30ish male with his wife who were celebrating his birthday. They get a hit, and 5 minutes later they have your name, address, etc etc etc. Could they have just busted you at the steak-house? No, for what? With what? We don't carry around needles and vials in our fucking pockets. But they know this, and what they want is your residence and everything inside.
So they have a surveillance team watch you for a few days while simultaneously following all of your posts and shoutbox correspondences, and they pick the perfect time to fuck your world up.
And I didn't even touch on pictures, tattoos in said pictures, etc.
Alright, the story is over, and we all know that the DEA and affiliates don't have the manpower or desire to track down every single low-level user. They want the big fish. But if they think that the aforementioned low-level user has knowledge of multiple big fish and the waters those big fishies swim in, then they may be looking for you after all. The point is, I think we all get pretty comfortable on here sometimes, and I think that we may lose sight of what's at stake if our identity is made public on these forums. I got real close to knowing that paranoia recently, so I'm just doing my underground service announcement.
Here's a tip I was told when I first started skimming these forums. I was told to lay some dummy info down in my profile and posts now and again. The way I look at it is, leave some breadcrumbs that lead to the wrong gingerbread house. Say something about I-10 when you are nowhere near the south. Or about how slow the Pac-Coast Highway always is when you are on the East Coast. Or about how your kids are growing up too fast when you are actually a virgin (KBD?) . Etc, etc. Who knows, it may keep you out of jail, and you would never know it.
Last edited: