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Go unnoticed on the internet? We are all watched, but Frank M. Ahearn can help you

Go unnoticed on the internet? We are all watched, but Frank M. Ahearn can help you

Daniel Lopez Nieto, head of Digital Communities in Orange

When Frank M.Ahearn I hear the noise of a police helicopter on the roof of his house, I already knew what awaited him. His tracker years (or if we prefer the term English "skip tracer") of celebrities at the service of the paparazzi had brought him great income, not in vain was one of the best in his field. He had been able to find the same Monica Lewinski after his "episode" with President Clinton and since then his ability to find online information and an innate talent for social engineering had made him an ideal partner for journalists at the heart, but Frank knew he was crossing the threshold of the legality and the helicopter flying over the roof seemed confirm it, they were going to stop him.He quickly picked up the cell phone and dialed all the phone numbers of his lawyer except the latter, and waited for law enforcement to open the door to complete the call.

Related Nothing happened.Later he discovered that it was not him they were looking for but an escaped animal from the zoo.However, this event made him rethink his work, stay on the edge of the law to find clues about where actors can be found or singers would end up taking a toll on him, so he decided to take a total turn to his work.I think that all the knowledge he had acquired would use it now to "make disappear" the people who wanted it.No one better than a expert tracker to give recommendations on how to make us invisible or create a fictional life, because the online world in which he had learned so much was an excellent breeding ground for it.


Since then, his clients would be bankers wanting to disappear on a desert island, women harassed by abusers in freedom, lucky guys who had won the lottery or parents of youngsters who had recorded a risque video that was now within the reach of his high school classmates.But anyone could be his client because, as the motto of the skip tracer says, "no matter who you are, there is always someone who wants to hear from you.Always." In this globalized and digitalized world, with so many possibilities to expose ourselves excessively to the public, vanity becomes vulnerability, any action is recorded on fire on the web and return to recover our anonymity seems like a luxury.But for that there are people like Frank (yes, prepare your wallet).


Who has a friend (on Facebook) has a treasure


Profiles in social networks, even if we have a considerable level of privacy, are a goldmine for professional online trackers. There are more than thirty successful social networks to search for private information and a list of friends to whom we can `` cheat '' asking for information about our life, wanting to contact an old girlfriend, our fanaticism for a singer, a movie, etc.Any small data about our tastes can become the starting point for collect information about us.And in fact, although we are jealous of our privacy, maybe our neighbors, friends and companies like zabasearch.com are not so much when it comes to sharing our photos or personal information.


Let's do a practical exercise.Try to randomly search for a name on Facebook, browse its timeline.Now look for your name on zabasearch.com to locate your address and your phone, then write your address on Google Maps (yes, there it is where he lives), locate his neighbors, search them on Google, look at their profiles... After a couple of searches in the almighty Google, you have all the information at your fingertips.


Frank M.Ahearn comments on the case of a young woman, let's call her, for example, Kim, who was collecting a salary after simulating a medical leave.After a series of searches on Google, our detective discovered that she was a Madonna fan, what was left patent on his Facebook profile and in the forums in which he participated.After, a contest was invented through an unofficial website, he sent an email to the scammer in which he offered participate in a casting for a music video of the singer.His skills as a dancer did not serve to appear in a video of the Queen of Pop, but to prove before a judge the falsehood of her illness.


Go unnoticed on the internet? We are all watched, but Frank M. Ahearn can help you


How to delete our footprint on the internet?


Richard Connell wrote in the mid-20s 'The most dangerous game in the world' , in which he tells the story of a shipwreck who swims to the coast of a practically deserted island, just Inhabited by General Zaroff and his henchman Ivan.Relieved to find human company, the shipwreck discovers the terrible reality: the general is a fan of human hunting and he seems to be his next victim.The rules of this dangerous game are simple, you have a small advantage of time to escape and hide in the jungle, if you manage to survive one night, you will regain freedom.


The shipwrecked strategy is simple: first you have to erase your tracks, then place false tracks on your whereabouts and finally find a place to be safe and sound until dawn.Survival phases are the same that we have to follow if we want to disappear or hide on the web: delete, misinform and reformulate.Here are some recommendations:


  • Search your name on Google and you may discover that you are present on several websites available to everyone.Select each of these entries and perform the appropriate operations to erase your data.Most sites, there is usually an email for legal issues or a contact for clients.

  • There are those who call each service company that they have hired to force them to change their data (for example, deleting a letter from their name) and thus avoid being found by those who have access to the database. Each one sets the limit he deems necessary for his safety.

  • Be careful what you throw in the trash at the door of your house. Anyone can get invoices, magazines you subscribe to, invitations to events, etc.It can serve as an excuse to perform a call to a specific company and claim sensitive information.In fact, asking specific questions is relatively straightforward.

  • Mislead with fake travel photos, duplicate profiles with your name , and create networks of non-existent friends.There are thousands of profiles wishing to have new friends.Show your creativity, it can be a lot of fun.

  • Do you know services like https://www.guerrillamail.com/es/about, in which we can create an email account that will expire in a couple of hours? It can be useful on certain occasions.In addition, you can share a Gmail account, in which to write messages that are always kept in draft.This way, communication is possible without sending any email from that account.

  • No one prevents you from creating free email accounts with domains from other countries. Even though you've never lived there, only you know that.

  • Do you use dating apps? You should have an exclusive email for this type of service.

  • Create an alert with your name on Google , every time someone mentions you, an email will arrive.

  • Assume that every new person you meet is someone to distrust until proven otherwise.It's something basic, we know, but if you take a look at Frank M.Ahearn'How to disappear's book ', you will take more than one surprise.

Frank M.Ahearn 1-Stalker 0


Vera's case is one of the jobs that Frank M.Ahearn feels most proud of.This young woman had been mistreated by her wealthy husband, who was about to leave prison.The future was not very promising., since the aggressor had been in charge from the jail of keeping the woman and her child terrified, and also threatened to make her life impossible for everything that had happened.


Although the police forces were aware, the young Vera decided to hire our star tracker.Soon the machinery started up, little by little Vera was creating a series of false tracks that led her to a apartment in another country, whose rent was associated with a bank account in his name.If someone got access to his account he would discover that basic telephone services, insurance, or electricity were in the name of employees of companies that lived thousands of kilometers.The strategy of dismissal was going to cost the stalker time and money.But, in addition, another bank account was created, through the old telephone of the harassed, which was also linked to the account of a friend of Frank who was traveling around the world shopping in Chicago, Utah or New York.For all that, finding Vera was going to be complicated.


The fake clues that complemented Vera's disappearance included online information, dummy rentals and a bunch of phones diverted to other phones.Now Vera lives quietly, away from her stalker.Thanks to Frank M.Ahearn and his work.


Bibliographic reference: How to Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, And Vanish Without A Trace, Frank M.Ahearn.

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