We are relocating and wish to keep our relocation whereabouts anonymous. Is there a way to have mail delivered to a U.S. Post Office box so that we may remain incognito/undetected? Is there a way to set up this type of 'mail drop'? If anyone has particulars on how to do this, please advise via post or e-mail.

Thank you.

-- Bobo (blechhhh@aol.com), October 12, 1999

Answers

Find a MailBoxes Etc., or similar type of business in your area. Sometimes storage businesses have mail drops. KEEP AWAY FROM U.S. POSTAL SERVICES! Your whereabouts and personal information is not confidential! Good Luck.

-- personal (personal@personalll.xcom), October 12, 1999.

Do you arm wrestle Bobo?

-- Queen of Saipan (Mogrin@aol.aol), October 12, 1999.

I have used Mailboxes Etc. They require you to fill out a form and the US Post Office requires you to write down your name and address before you can rent a mail box. So if someone is very desperate in trying to find you, they can. It would take some real effort though!

-- freddie (freddie@thefreeloader.com), October 12, 1999.

Keep in mind that Mail Boxes Etc. will NOT forward your mail for you, should you move again. Basically, what you are doing with MBE is subcontracting to have your mail delivered to their box. You can make arrangements to PAY them to forward mail if you move, but this is awkward at best. I don't like MBE.

Having tried this trick (going incognito) many times, I have found that the easiest way to truly disappear is to get NO mail in your name. Assign your electricity, phone, etc., all under a different name. Have the mail deliverd by the post office (US Mail) by filling out one of those dumb little white cards under an assumed name. Don't do this in person. The route carrier will kindly drop off a form in your mail box, expecting you to fill it out and place it back in your box. Go ahead and do so, just fill in bogus information. This is perfectly legal as long as you do not intend to defraud anybody.

Pay with money orders everywhere. Never use checks or credit cards. In fact, don't have any.

You can always have a friend take your mail for you - and then forward it in a manila envelope directly to where you live. This will work if you know somebody you can trust.

I have used mail forwarding services in several states but they all require you these days to fill out detailed information about yourself, including photocopies of drivers licences and the forms themselves must be notorized. There is a way around this with a little ingenuity. I found a notary that signed the document after briefly examining my drivers license - but I did not fill out the form yet. I then completed the form with a new name and address on it and a unreadable signature. Then, scan in your drivers license and modify the name and address and drivers license number. Then print it out and send it in as a "photo copy" of your license. As far as the mail forwarding service is concerned, you are the person on the form. Since they never ever see you in person, this can be done (also a neat trick for anybody else long distance wanting "proof" of your identity that you will never meet in person).

Read Bullet Proof Privacy from Boston Tea Party Bullet Proof Privacy the best book I have ever read on personal privacy. There is much more in this book that you will learn about privacy. Get the book.

There is now a new law in effect by the way. All private box holders must now put PMB as part of the address. The PMB (private mail box) will now identify you as a private mail box address. This will discourage people from doing business with you and supposedly is supposed to help discourage fraud, which is why it is now being made mandatory. They have had to adjust the requirement dates for this twice already, as many people and businesses are objecting to the requirment, but be sure it WILL be required shortly (I forget the latest requirement date).

-- Privacy Advocate (privacy@nowhere.com), October 13, 1999.

Oh, I forgot something REALLY important. Assign ALL your assets into a trust. An unincorporated business trust or offshore trust is best. There are many sources for this information on how to do this.

If your assets are in trust, you are basically judgement proof. Should anyone get a judgement against you, the trust is unassailable and does not have to reveal its assets to anyone for any reason. Probate (should you die) is also avoided. Since you can still control the assets, who cares if you "own" them or not.

The other really great advantage of a trust is it allows you to establish a mail box, bank account or any other contractual agreement in the name of the trust. Your name and identity need not appear ANYWHERE. You, as trust agent, can make contractual agreements (bank account, credit cards, post office, etc.) in the name of the trust. This is the BEST way I have ever seen to "disappear".

-- Privacy Advocate (privacy@nowhere.com), October 13, 1999.

Land of the free and home of the BRAVE... yea, right; talk about mythology.

-- Patrick (pmchenry@gradall.com), October 13, 1999.

Moscow Rules. Remember that: Moscow Rules.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), October 13, 1999.

NO, you don't have to put PMB on your mail box address. You can put PMB or #. NOTHING else. No suite, dept.,apt., room, or anything else. If your box is not PMB or #, you MUST change it. We sorta won this one, but for how long?

-- woodrow j. hughes (woody11420@aol.com), October 13, 1999.

If you want detailed information about the lack of privacy using mail drops located in the United States, go to: www.postalwatch.org This organization has been trying to get rid of the unconstitutional and privacy-violating regulations recently enacted by the USPS.

-- Don Chen (dchen@newbie.com), October 14, 1999.