semi-anon test from a throwaway account part deux

Trei, Peter ptrei at rsasecurity.com
Wed Mar 28 17:02:54 PST 2001


> Jim Choate[SMTP:ravage at EINSTEIN.ssz.com] wrote:
> You're one to talk.
> 
> Money order sales are recorded on video camera. Each money order has a
> time stamp with vendor ID. I can't speak for youk, but it would take me as
> a LEA about 5 minutes to take a money order, find the vendor, and get
> subpeona on the video surveillance. At that point I have your face. From
> there I run it through the FBI files, if you've ever had a state issued
> photo ID it'll take about 3 days to nail you.
> 
Yes Jim, I am one to talk. In my (small) town, there are no video cameras in
the PO. I've looked for them, carefully and repeatedly. (The notion that my
town
PO would have concealed cameras while big city POs expose them is for the
clinically paranoid) Traceback is limited by the memory of the two
overworked 
(at least on Saturday morning) ladies who woman the front desk. Of course, 
if I was worried I would just send cash.

[...]

> The only way to pay in cash is two either send it through the mail (you do
> know about the cash sniffing dogs used at the UPS and airports don't you?)
> or stop by in person. Which means that they'll have a receipt and at least
> on person who has seen your face. Now I suppose you could send the letter
> with no return address and no internal note, but then how are they going
> to know it was YOU paying the bill for that particular account? They're
> not.
> 
Well, if you're not going to include a note, of course you're screwed. But
why
wouldn't you? Set up an account (U=armadillo, P=roadkill), then put some
cash
in a privacy envelope along with a note saying 'This is for armadillo's
account'.
(Now Jim, don't raise the spectre of handwriting or typewriter recognition -
I think
that's too silly even for you - can you cite a single case where a (B&W)
laser
or inkjet printed document was identified as coming from a particular 
well-maintained printer, as opposed to a typewriter? (I didn't think so)).
If 
you're still worried, get a trusted friend (if you have any) to write the
address. 

What receipt? Sending cash to anonymizer.com relies on something called 
trust (which I realize is a foreign concept to you). If they scam you, you
won't
send them cash again.

Cash goes through the mail all the time, especially around Christmas. 
While a few 'cash sniffing dogs' do exist, the notion that domestic
first class mail is routinely checked for small quantities of perfectly 
legal cash is another sign of clinical paranoia (or of someone who 
realizes he's backed into a corner and is resorting to heroic measures 
rather than admit defeat in an argument).

	[...]

> On Wed, 28 Mar 2001, Trei, Peter wrote:
> 
           [anonymizer.com allows payment by cash or money order]

Peter Trei
#include <std.disclaimer>





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