You will get caught for one of two reasons: because people are looking for you or you do something that gets the media’s attention. If people are looking for you, there is a good chance they will find you. Professional skip tracers or private detectives have a whole arsenal of methods that will help track you down; if it’s a government agency that’s after you, then there’s no chance of hiding.
Staying below the radar is hard and requires discipline. Even with the best cover in the world, we can all make mistakes or do something that brings us to the attention of the media. A simple accident where you crash your car into a motorbike and kill someone might only make the local newspapers, but the fact that you are an American from Oregon might just make The Oregonian. Trust me, this happens quite often.
Keeping a low profile is extremely important. I was actually in Bangkok when Viktor Bout was discovered and arrested.
If you get involved with any shady characters, crime, or drugs and get caught by the local police, it’s a strong bet that once they discover your identity and nationality, they will inform your native Embassy that you are under lock and key, at which point you are back in the system. Then the fact that you’ve disappeared for five years will become known to all.
In order to avoid these two main forms of compromise, you will need self-restraint and a change of habit. We are all creatures of habit, and it’s very difficult to change our ways, but if you intend to disappear for good you will have to make a serious attempt to change your routines. Let’s take a look at what most people will do unless they steal themselves and do the unexpected.
• If we tell anyone of our plans, it is likely to be our mother, father, granny, brother, sister, and so on. Why? Because they are close to us, and we would expect them to protect us. They will eventually talk.
• If we go anywhere, we always tend to go home. If we go home, we will frequent our old haunts and bars. We will immediately be seen and recognized.
• If we earned our living in the old life as a car mechanic, then we will more than likely adopt the same way of making a living in our new life. That’s an easy way for someone who knows your history to find you.
• Consider what will happen if you become involved in crime in your new country or get put in jail. It’s no good pretending you are a local—Americans and the British stick out like a white ball on a pool table.
• Negate any risk of accidents. In other words, don’t have a car or motorbike (a local scooter is an acceptable risk). Use public transportation to travel.
• Don’t get married to a local, as this could eventually require your presence at your local embassy.
The United States, as well as many other countries, maintains embassy offices in countries all over the world. The office serves an important function in friendly foreign relations between the home and host governments. One of the functions of any overseas embassy is to protect its country’s people. The embassy can be a point of contact or base of communication between two countries. Embassies are also keen on knowing exactly who is in the host country, i.e. you. While they may not know of your presence, others who are in contact with the embassy might. That is to say, one American might meet another in a small village in Bolivia quite by accident. The stranger might well forget you the moment you part, but they may also mention it when visiting the local embassy.
Thai girls are among the most stunning women in the world, but try taking her home and you will need to make your presence known to the embassy.
Always be very wary of your local embassy. While they are there to help and protect you under normal circumstances, if you want to disappear for good, stay off their records. Side-step accidents that may bring them to investigate you and avoid getting yourself arrested. Finally, never try to marry a local girl; should you split up for any reason you can bet your bottom dollar she and her family will make the embassy their first stop in order to locate you.
Why would the government come after you? If you have done nothing illegal, committed no crime, or have not tried to avoid the law, then there is no reason why the government should try to locate you. That is not to say they will not, but the odds are they won’t use their valuable resources to trace someone with whom they have no interest. However, if you are of interest to the government, especially in America, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, you could fall foul of some serious tracking. While each government has a vast array of methods for tracking people down, there is also a huge computer network running 24/7 that can find you called Echelon.
They are the people you never see and rarely hear of, but believe me they are there and they are watching. This is GCHQ in Cheltenham— the watchful eye of the British end of Echelon.
Echelon is the name given to the massive worldwide surveillance system that is capable of capturing and scanning every telephone call, fax, and email sent anywhere in the world. Using sophisticated satellite systems, earth stations, radar, and communication networks, as well as an array of ships and planes, the system is capable of monitoring both military and civilian communications. It was originally developed during the Cold War by English–speaking countries to eavesdrop on the communications between the Soviet Union and its allies. As that need is no longer pressing, it is instead being used to monitor terrorist communications, as well as the activities of organized crime alongside the usual espionage territories of political and diplomatic intelligence.
Although details about the system are still shrouded in secrecy, some facts are known. The main proponents are the US and the UK, but they are backed up by Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Each country is responsible for monitoring a certain part of the Earth. For example, the US listens in over most of Latin America, Asia, Asiatic Russia, and Northern China. Britain monitors Europe, Africa, and Russia west of the Urals. Canada sweeps the northern parts of the former USSR and the Arctic regions. Australia is responsible for Indochina, Indonesia, and Southern China, whereas New Zealand handles the Western Pacific.
The way Echelon works is simple in practice. All members of the alliance use satellites, ground receiving stations, and electronic intercepts that enable them to pick up all communications traffic sent by satellite, cellular, microwave, and fiber-optic means. The communications so captured by these methods are then sent to a series of supercomputers that are programmed to recognize predetermined phrases, addresses, words, or known voice patterns. Anything deemed to be of interest is then sent to the relevant intelligence agency for analysis.
In the US, the agency responsible for Echelon is the National Security Agency (NSA), based at Fort Meade, near Washington, D.C. It is estimated that it has a staff and resources in excess of the combined CIA and FBI budgets. Canada’s Echelon program is handled by the Communications Security Establishment, an offshoot of the National Security Agency, and is based in Ottawa. In Britain, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), located at Cheltenham, is concerned with Echelon. But it must be borne in mind that the locations of smaller stations are spread across the globe in strategic positions.
After the Cold War and before 9/11, the main thrust of usage for the US was to intercept messages from South and Central America in an effort to thwart drug barons from exporting their lethal and immoral cargoes. Other organized crime gangs and terrorists, such as the Russian Mafia and Hamas, were also a target. However, post–9/11 it must now be assumed that Echelon is on alert for any messages that might warn of an attack by Al Qaeda. Although such usage of a surveillance system can only be a positive thing, it has also had its fair share of detractors. Certain accusations have been made that Echelon has been used to commercially benefit the countries involved, enabling them to undercut competitors and double deal to national economic advantage. Debates have even been raised in nonparticipating countries and within the EU. Nevertheless, the intelligence gains provided by the system in the new climate of global terrorism are likely to drown out any protests in the future.
Even if the government has no interest in you, your family and friends will and may hire a private investigator or a skip tracer to locate you.
Skip tracers are private investigators who act mainly for finance companies. Characteristically, they search for people who owe money and have subsequently done a runner to try to avoid paying it back. They are very good at what they do and know just about every trick in the book with which to find you. The finance companies only hire the best, so if you have one on your tail, you will need to have stuck to your plan to not get discovered.
A good skip tracer picks up the phone, trawls the Internet, talks to your family, friends, and neighbors, and establishes a profile on you. Whether they actually find you or not will be down to the success of your plan to disappear, as well as what clues you forgot to cover before you left. Remember, information is only as good as that provided and attainable by the skip tracer agent.
Find a very close associate of someone who needs to be traced—mother, father, wife, child, girlfriend, brother, or sister—and the odds are you will find information that will lead you to your target. Unless you have built your disappearing plan correctly and stick to the golden rules, you will be found.
Barry Davies
It is my belief that we keep more information about our personal lives around our office desk than at home. This is always a great place to find out information on someone or about something.
The golden rules are the basic fundamentals that you must obey if you want to disappear completely and never be found. In the military there are a set of rules called Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). SOPs are built on previous operational experience and are the backbone of any successful military operation; in the SAS, you break these SOP rules at your peril. If anyone finds out—and they will—you will be thrown out of the unit.
It is the same for anyone thinking of disappearing: follow the basic rules and your plan will work. Your prime and only goal should be to terminate the old you without any trace of suspicion, and reemerge as the new you where you can start afresh without ever being discovered. In order to do this, you must follow the golden rules:
• Be committed that disappearing is the right thing for you to do.
• Build and test your disappearance plan.
• Sever all previous contacts—leave no trace behind.
• Unless it’s part of your plan, give no hint of your impending disappearance.
• Build a new identity and live that identity.
• Avoid accidents and criminal activity.
• Stay away from foreign nationals, i.e. Americans, British, Europeans.
• Stay away from your country’s embassy (unless you’re in serious trouble).
Believe me, all of this is easier said than done. Once again, it’s down to the commitment of the individual.
Author’s Note: I was once in a very short–term relationship and made the terrible mistake of marrying someone I shouldn’t have. While the courtship and the marriage lasted only a year or so, I saw the error of my ways within the first six months. One night as I sat and listened to the verbal abuse pouring from her drunken mouth, I decided to make a clean break—but on my terms. I rented a small office on the pretext that I could work better, and this was an acceptable solution while she went and socialized. I moved everything that was important to me into the office: my desk, computer, and books. Slowly I managed to retrieve all the items from my home into my office. Then one day I simply called her and told her it was over. It might sound like a coward’s way out, but in a face–to–face confrontation, she would have tried to force me to be violent (some women want violence so they can go to the police and get you arrested). Also, she had two great kids from a previous marriage, and confrontation in front of them would not be good.
We had no joint bank accounts, and she had plenty of money of her own—plus she still had a home and a car. So I simply walked away and went to Spain. True, she could have found me if she really wanted to, but she knew it was over anyway.
It is easy enough to undo all your good work. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to become friends with like–minded foreign nationals. While it’s perfectly normal for one American to strike up a friendship with another in a foreign country, it can ultimately lead to your discovery. Sure, it’s great to have company and conversation, but over a few drinks a lot can be said. One of the first questions a stranger will ask is “What are you doing in this place?” No matter how careful you are, you are already putting cracks in your disappearanc plan. Even if you avoid the truth and tell a plausible lie, you still open yourself up for more questions. The conversation will lead to “Where do you come from in the States?” And so the fabric of your plan starts to crumble. Remember discipline: once you are below the radar, stay there.
Talking to expats in a foreign bar is a quick way to get yourself noticed and impart information you should not.
Generally, there are good reasons behind the disappearance of thousands of people every year. Their state of mind, unbearable pressure, financial worries, love affairs—the list is endless. But when you look at each case individually, there are pointers that will identify why the person disappeared. One example is people who disappear from a cruise liner: you either get off the ship voluntarily, are thrown off by a third party, or simply fall overboard while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Likewise, you may be under threat; many a worker for an NGO has disappeared while working in Africa—it’s a dangerous place. You may work against the country’s authority, and your removal could be the answer the ruling government requires. Trust me; it happens more than you think. Below are just four cases of people who have disappeared, and it’s easy to identify a plausible reason in each instance.
Richey Edwards, a twenty-seven-year-old member of the Welsh Rock band Manic Street Preachers, had a history of self-harm and disappeared in November of 2008. For years he had received treatment for depression and alcohol abuse, so it came as no surprise when his car was found abandoned close to the Severn Bridge, which connects Wales to the UK. He had jumped from the bridge and was presumed dead.
A Swiss–born activist, Bruno Manser, who fervently campaigned for the preservation of the rainforest in Sarawak, disappeared after leaving the small isolated village of Bareo in the Malaysian state. Bareo is very close to the Indonesian border and, having spent some time in this desolate jungle where the only occupants are descended from ancient tribes of head-hunters or patrols by hardened military forces, it is simple to see how someone could disappear. It may have been a simple accident where he fell and broke a leg, or he might have been savaged by an animal; we will never know. He was declared legally dead in March of 2005.
Bruno Manser in the same jungle where he was found dead.
The Thai Muslim lawyer and human rights activist Somchai Neelapaijit represented many of the insurgent terrorist groups operating in Southern Thailand. He simply disappeared when he visited Bangkok on March 12, 2004. Given the state of anti-Muslim feeling in the capital and his support for the various terrorist atrocities that had taken place, there is reason to believe that his disappearance had been a planned operation.
Closer to home, the 20th Century Fox executive Gavin Smith disappeared in May of 2012. It is reported that he left a friend’s house in Oak Park, California, and was last seen sitting in a restaurant a week later with an unidentified woman. This fact throws doubt upon Smith’s disappearance, and it is thought that he is still alive.
How easy is it to find people? Well if you’re not trying to hide, it’s extremely easy. As I sit here writing this book, it came to mind that I’ve never seen my editor, Jason Katzman, at Skyhorse Publishing. So I simply searched for his name in a browser on my computer and was presented with a list of options, from which I selected Jason Katzman, Assistant Editor at Skyhorse Publishing. Now I know what Jason looks like, where he works, where he was educated, and can see most of his friends and work colleagues. That is a lot of information just at my fingertips, which took seconds to find.
You can do everything within your power to remove traces of your current life from your home and possibly your office. However, it is almost impossible to remove items that show your current face and information from the Internet or held on file by a myriad of government and civilian agencies and companies.
Your mobile phone is another source of information for anyone who wants to know where you are. Should I wish to steal or check on someone’s identity, this is the first thing I would get my hands on. Most of us keep so much information on our phones that it’s almost better than gaining access to someone’s computer. Modern smart phones will not only keep you up to date with your social network, but you can also do your banking online. These two services will supply anyone with enough information about you and your family to enable them to steal your identity or find out nearly everything about you. True, there are a few password loops to jump through, but these are easy to bypass. It will depend on the system you are using, but if you have a look at the skills I mentioned in this book, you will see how to bypass a password on a mobile phone and computer.
Getting ahold of anyone’s mobile phone is very easy. Let’s face it, we all carry it with us, leave it on our work desk, sit in a café with the phone by the side of our coffee. The Lookout phone app reported around nine million lost smart phones in 2012, with around one million being lost or stolen in the UK. On average, most of us lose or have our phones stolen at least once a year.
If you think you are being followed, use a shop window reflection to see if there is someone behind you.
If you want to stay undetected once you have disappeared, but you really must have a mobile phone, my advice is to buy a simple mobile, not a smart phone. Memorize your contacts—there should only be a few—or if necessary keep them on a separate list in a safe place. Remove or delete any information on your phone that might lead to your real identity.
One of the first skills you must learn after your disappearance is that of good observation. No matter where you are or how safe you feel, you should be systematically recording places, events, and people so that you ’ll be able to recall them with accuracy. The military have a lesson on this subject. They place a number of objects out in an area some meters away from the trainees. They are given a short period of time in which to observe all the objects before they are taken away. The trainees are not allowed to write them down for several hours. Later in the day, they are asked to name all the objects and the unique features of any item.
If you are being followed by professionals, there is little chance of escape. Your best and only course of action is to throw them off your trail and then put as much distance between you and them as possible. Government surveillance teams may well have access to your original fingerprint records or your DNA; sitting in a bar having a quiet drink will leave your DNA on the glass, and that’s all they need. Counter-surveillance is an art in itself and far too detailed for this book, but if you should get suspicious, it’s always best to take precautions rather than do nothing. You can train yourself to be very observant, and it can be highly entertaining.
Try doing memory exercises, such as when you enter a room for the first time, by remembering a car number plate, or noting the number of windows in the house you just passed. The trick is to keep as much information in your brain for as long as possible. As with most subjects, the more you practice, the better you become. Most importantly, start to recognize faces in a crowd and note people you see in the same place at the same time every day. You will be surprised at how much your brain can absorb.
No matter how confident you are about covering your tracks, if professionals are trying to find you there is always a chance that they will. Make sure to adjust your attitude and appearance to the situation and think before you react. What do people expect of you, what role model have you adopted? It’s no good pretending to be a businessman if you’re dressed like a tramp. You must play the part you have planned for in order to avoid suspicion. If someone is looking for you, they are looking for an individual—try to blend in with your surroundings and the people.
Be interested in people, as this takes the focus off of you. Most people are only too happy to boast about their social position, wealth, family, or occupation; take advantage of this. Learn to listen to your sixth sense or analyze any gut feeling you might get. There are many basic instincts in the human brain that warn us of danger; learn to recognize them and take appropriate action. You may walk down a street and recognize the same stranger you saw only an hour ago in a different part of the city—is this coincidence? Walk down the street, then stop and look in a shop window. This way you can use the reflection to see who is behind you. Is the stranger still there? If the answer is yes, then walk on normally, DON’T run, turn the corner, and distance yourself as quickly as possible.
If you think you are being followed, my advice is to lay low for a few days, stay in your accommodation and not venture out, or simply catch a train and get off at a stop some miles away.
Only ever take calculated risks—never be a gambler. With a calculated risk, you can spot the drawbacks and adjust your plans accordingly. Always analyze your actions and base them on solid information. If you take a gamble, you only need to fail once. Here are a few tips:
Catching a train or bus is a good way to avoid being followed, but don’t rush. Do it naturally, that way those following will not get suspicious.
• In a confrontational situation be aggressive, as no doubt the skip tracer will be. Let them know you are not to be messed with, and get your punch in first.
• If you have to speak to or shout at anyone, do so in the native tongue. This might confuse the skip trace agent who may think he or she has mistaken you for a lookalike.
• Know your own strengths and weaknesses.
• Know your territory and its inhabitants; use them against the skip tracer.
• It is better to be known than be a stranger to the area and its inhabitants. Let your cover story protect you. Make good local friends.
• Know when to get out, and always have an escape route planned.
• When the situation goes “pear shaped” and you get caught, have a backup plan.
Before disappearing, you need to make a cover story for yourself. The best way you can learn to do this is to act like a spy would. In the world of espionage, the one thing that must stand up to scrutiny is the spy’s cover story. They must be who they say they are and, when working in a foreign country, be able to prove their identity. By far the best way of obtaining a cover story is to make it as near to the truth as possible. For example, details such as your age and place of origin, your education, and your likes and dislikes. By doing so, you do not fall into a trap when a skip trace agent starts an in-depth background check of your life.
Many spies enter a foreign country as part of the embassy staff or as a member of a diplomatic mission. In some countries, the role of the Defense Attaché is just short of a spy master. His position will not allow him to partake in direct actions, but he can act as an umbrella for a network of spies and agents working on behalf of his country. From time to time, spies are recruited by a government simply because they have the right qualifications. They could, for example, be a businessman who has just won an order with a foreign country. This grants him an automatic cover story and a legitimate reason for traveling. However, both of the above examples are restricted, firstly by protocol and secondly by lack of espionage training. The real answer is to train a potential spy in the arts of tradecraft and provide him or her with a believable cover story.
Barry Davies
This is Captain Robert Nairac. I was with Bob the day before he went undercover into a pub frequented by the IRA. They caught him and after some horrendous torture, killed him. His body was never recovered. A captured IRA man some years later said Bob was one of the bravest men he had ever seen.
An English spy was sent to work in the border country of South Armagh in Northern Ireland. His accent was English, as was his manner, but he managed to operate and collect information from the local farmers for six months. How did he manage this?
He adopted the role of a salesman, selling impactors for an American company, which had an overseas office in Belfast. The impactor, which fit the back of most standard farm tractors, was designed to break up old concrete. It was a solid cover story; he even arranged for a demonstration of the machine at a local agricultural show, which added credence to his presence in a known terrorist area. His explanation was simple: the company had afforded him six months in which to establish the impactor, after which his job would be in jeopardy. For their part, the American company was keen to have someone try to sell their implement, for everyone knew it was far too expensive.
The spy did his homework, first by obtaining good road maps and aerial photographs of the area. Second he researched how and where the IRA had been active; he also did the same for the local British armed forces. By doing this, he could establish a route into the area he wished to visit without being stopped either by the IRA or the British army. The latter would not pose a major problem, but in the eyes of the locals it was best to stay clear of any association. His visits were all done in daylight hours, so as to avoid being stopped by the IRA in an evening roadblock.
Although his movements around the area looked casual and random, they were meticulously planned. He managed to visit most of the farms and smallholdings in the area, taking in a local pub at lunchtime. At first, his reception by the locals was mixed; some accepted him immediately while others eyed him with suspicion. The most common question that arose was “What are you doing here? You know this is a dangerous area.” This was a perfect question, which allowed the spy to open up the conversation in regard to the IRA. He would respond, “That’s all newspaper stuff; I have not seen any problems.” Then, the farmer would fall into a conversation recalling all the deeds of the local IRA. If the conversation went on for more than five minutes, the spy would casually ask the farmer if he would like a drink, saying, “I have a bottle in the car.” Few refused.
Within two months, he had built up a list of friendly farmers and isolated his lunchtime drinking to one particular public house. Having assessed all the people he had met, the spy set about honing in on several, the first being the daughter of the publican. She was a woman of about twenty-four years old, good looking, and full-bodied Since her father had died when she was very young, she helped her mother run the bar. Friday and Saturday nights saw her receiving a lot of attention from the local young men, who attended the pub from both sides of the border. Because of this, she had not ventured far from home and had seen little of the world. As far as she was concerned, the spy, who was thirty-five years old, had appeared in the pub like a breath of fresh air. The spy had noticed the attention whenever he entered the pub, but in the beginning he played it friendly and low key.
One lunchtime, the spy discovered early in the conversation that her mother was away for several days. The spy turned on the charm and the woman fell for it. Closing time was 3:00 p.m., but she indicated that he could stay if he wanted—he did. In the four hours until the bar opened for the evening, the spy made love to her three times—she was hooked. At 7:00 p.m. the bar opened; the spy had one pint and left. As he drove back to his safe house in Armagh City, he mentally recalled all the names the woman had mentioned.
The liaison endured secretly for three months and each time they were alone the spy would ask his seemingly casual questions, all of which had been carefully rehearsed. A miniature microphone faithfully recorded every word the woman said. The information she had given was predominantly about the young men she had known since they became of drinking age. They frequently used the pub and had tried to impress her with their stories of heroism by pretending to be members of the IRA. For the most part this was just bravado, but she knew that one or two of them spoke the truth. “Be careful of him when he comes in,” she would tell the spy. “He’s a real nasty piece of work.”
One day, the spy simply never came back, and after a time he was forgotten. He had managed to infiltrate a dangerous area by using a substantial and plausible cover story. The spy had taken time to get to know the area and the inhabitants before asking any questions. With the use of alcohol he had gained information from the farmers, and with charm he had gleaned valuable information from the pub owner’s daughter. Despite speaking with an English accent, his cover story held together and was believed.
Tell people at work about your plans to fulfill your desire; boating, a survival course, learning a language, and so on, but never give a hint that you intend to disappear.
One excellent way to strengthen your cover story is to find yourself a new partner. This is one of the most important aspects of forming a new life for yourself, as it will help to establish your residency in a country. Being married to a local will also assist in covering your tracks. Finding and living with a new partner will help with your accommodation, local knowledge, local society, and establishing a new life. All of this will hinder anyone trying to find you.
Depending on your age, looks, and health, there are a number of ways to find a partner, but in most civilized countries the easiest way is the Internet. Online dating can be found in just about every country, including some of the more strictly religious ones. The amount of really nice people out there who simply want a partner to love and care for them runs into the billions (see Chapter Ten).
Author’s Note: David is a friend of mine who was divorced and looking for a new direction in life. He found it when the company he worked for offered to send him to Malaysia, where he would set up a new office for them. David moved out to Kuala Lumpur and set up his office in the center of the city; he also rented a four bedroom house in a nice residential area. While the night life in Kuala Lumpur is excellent, David eventually found himself a little lonely living alone. It was during a discussion with one of his Malaysian customers that he learned of a good dating website and decided to try it out. At this time, David was around thirty-eight years old, with a good build, fresh faced, and relatively handsome. In addition, he drove a new BMW and lived in a superb home. All this information went on the dating website.
David married a Singapore Airlines stewardess (it’s still the best airline in the world).
When I met David some six months later, he was sitting in his house with the most stunning girl snuggled up to him. He told me the story of how they met. Within a matter of minutes of him uploading his details, he had some five hundred hits. By the next morning, this had gone into the thousands. Smugly, he went through the offers and selected the cutest girls living within the city limits. The next few weeks were a bit heady as David went out almost every night with a different girl, all of whom wanted to be his new partner.
Then he met the woman sitting next to him on the couch. She was a stewardess with Singapore Airlines and just about as gorgeous as a woman can be. They married. David even converted to Islam to placate her parents (it was in name only, as he still drinks), and they both live happily to this day.
Once you have disappeared, stay below the radar and remain anonymous. Don’t do anything that will bring you to the attention of the authorities. Guard all your information and don’t leave useful intel on your laptop or mobile phone that others can use to identify who you really are. If you think you are being followed, check it out without them knowing you have spotted them. If you act like a fugitive, then you are a fugitive. That said, a few tricks to instantly disguise yourself will always help throw anyone following you off the trail.
Embrace your newfound life and befriend the local population, speak their language, marry a local, learn, and become part of their society. Most importantly, stick to your cover story. If you have planned it right, there is no reason why people should not believe you unless they can do some serious background checks, such as DNA testing.