Different Ways to Create a New Identity
Starting fresh with a new identity can change your life, offering a clean slate and new opportunities. Whether you seek anonymity, safety, or a new beginning, several paths exist to consider. Let’s explore the benefits and drawbacks of each option and what to expect when adopting a new identity.
Advantages of Buying a New Identity
Increased Safety and Security
A new identity enhances your privacy and security. This change is crucial for those escaping dangerous situations, abusive relationships, or identity theft. Adopting a new identity safeguards your personal information and ensures anonymity in various situations.
Connection to New Networks and Opportunities
A fresh identity opens new opportunities, including job prospects and professional networking. It allows you to access resources that might have been out of reach, helping you expand your professional and personal horizons.
Access to Various Resources
You can access financial resources, educational opportunities, and other valuable assets with a new identity. Starting over without past prejudices or credit issues holding you back significantly enhances your life prospects.
Forms of Identification for a New Identity
When creating a new identity, consider utilizing various forms of identification:
- Driver’s Licenses: Essential for driving legally and often used as a primary form of identification.
- Passports: Necessary for international travel and recognized globally as a primary ID.
- Social Security Cards: Required for employment and access to certain government services.
- National Identification Cards: Issued by some countries and used for various purposes.
- Birth Certificates: Foundational documents are often used to establish identity.
- Religious Documents: In some cultures, documents like baptismal certificates can be proof of identity.
- Citizenship Papers: Establish nationality and access rights within a country.
Legal New Identity vs. Fake or Counterfeit Identity
Legal New Identity
Legalizing a new identity involves changing your name and identity through official channels. This process can include:
- Name Change: You can legally change your name through a court process by submitting a petition, paying a fee, and sometimes publishing a name change notice.
- Witness Protection Programs: Law enforcement agencies may provide a new identity with new documents and relocation assistance to individuals who testify against criminals.
- New Citizenship: Acquiring citizenship in a new country can sometimes involve changing your identity, especially if you take on a new name. This might include naturalization processes or marriage to a foreign national.
Advantages of a Legal New Identity
- Legitimacy: Government and private entities recognize a new legal identity, allowing seamless societal integration.
- Reduced Risk: Legal identity changes are recognized by law, eliminating the risk of criminal charges or legal penalties for identity fraud.
- Stability: A permanent and stable legal identity change provides a solid foundation for a new life.
- Social Acceptance: Friends, family, and new acquaintances are more likely to accept a legally changed identity.
- Professional Opportunities: Employers prefer hiring someone with a legally recognized identity, offering more job opportunities.
- Financial Access: Banks and financial institutions require legal identification for various services.
- Travel Freedom: A legal passport allows international travel.
- Healthcare and Benefits: Access to healthcare, social services, and other government benefits requires legal identification.
Fake or Counterfeit Identity
Creating a new identity illegally involves using forged documents. This can include:
- Fake IDs: These are purchased through illegal channels and are used to assume a new name and identity.
- Counterfeit Documents: Forged passports, birth certificates, and social security cards used to construct an entirely new persona.
Legal Ramifications of a Fake Identity
- Criminal Charges: Using fake documents can lead to serious criminal charges, including identity fraud, forgery, and impersonation.
- Imprisonment: Convictions can result in significant prison time.
- Fines: Legal penalties often include hefty fines.
- Deportation: If caught using a fake identity in a foreign country, you may face deportation and a ban on re-entering.
Detailed Case Studies
Case Study: Kim Jong-Nam
Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, used multiple identities to travel and live abroad.
Strategies Employed:
- Multiple Passports: Jong-Nam carried several passports under different names, including those from other countries. This variety allowed him to travel internationally without raising suspicion.
- Alias Usage: He used various aliases to book flights, stay in hotels, and conduct daily activities. This meticulous planning involved changing names and backstories regularly, making it difficult for authorities to track his movements.
- Safe Havens: Jong-Nam frequently travelled to countries with less stringent entry and exit controls, such as China and Malaysia. These countries offered him anonymity and safety, providing environments where his presence would not be quickly flagged.
- Avoiding High-Risk Areas: He avoided countries with strong ties to North Korea, where he would be easily recognized or reported. Instead, he stayed in countries where he could blend in more easily.
- Cash Transactions: Jong-Nam often used cash to minimize his digital footprint, reducing the chances of being tracked. By avoiding electronic transactions, he left fewer traces that could be used to locate him.
Outcome:
Jong-Nam’s approach allowed him to maintain anonymity and evade North Korean authorities for years. However, his fate ultimately took a tragic turn when assassins killed him in Malaysia in 2017.
Case Study: Richard Lee McNair
Richard Lee McNair, a prisoner, is renowned for his remarkable escapes from prison and his use of multiple identities to evade capture.
Strategies Employed:
- Multiple Escapes: McNair first escaped from a North Dakota jail in 1987 using lip balm to slip out his handcuffs. In 1992, he escaped again from a county jail by crawling through a ventilation duct. His most famous escape occurred in 2006 when he mailed himself out of a maximum-security prison in a makeshift “escape pod.”
- Forged Documents: McNair forged documents such as driver’s licenses and birth certificates to create new IDs. These fake identities allowed him to blend into different communities.
- Alias Usage: McNair used various aliases to secure jobs, rent apartments, and conduct daily activities, making it challenging for authorities to track his whereabouts.
- Crossing Borders: McNair frequently crossed state and international borders, using his forged documents to avoid detection. He travelled through the United States and Canada, where authorities eventually captured him.
- Maintaining a Low Profile: McNair avoided using credit cards, bank accounts, or any other means that could be traced back to him. Instead, he relied on cash transactions to maintain his anonymity.
Outcome:
McNair’s ability to create and maintain new identities allowed him to evade capture for years. However, law enforcement officers apprehended him in Canada in 2007 after a traffic stop.
Case Study: El Chapo’s Sons
The sons of the infamous drug lord El Chapo, Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán, have been known to use new IDs to continue their operations.
Strategies Employed:
- Frequent Identity Changes: To avoid law enforcement, Iván and Jesús Alfredo regularly change their identities, using fake passports and IDs to move undetected.
- Alias Usage: They use various aliases to conduct business, travel, and communicate, ensuring their true identities remain hidden.
- Operational Secrecy: They maintain a low profile by avoiding high-profile public appearances and using encrypted communication methods.
- Crossing Borders: Like their father, they frequently cross international borders to evade capture, using their new IDs to avoid detection.
- Utilizing Safe Havens: They often operate in regions protected by local authorities or where extradition to the United States is less likely.
Outcome:
Their ability to create and maintain new IDs has allowed them to continue their illicit activities despite intense law enforcement scrutiny. Their use of new identities helps them evade capture and protect their operations.
Conclusion
Creating a new identity is challenging but achievable with the proper methods and resources. A new identity can provide increased security, access to new opportunities, and anonymity for professional or personal reasons. Legal avenues offer the most stability and security, while illegal methods, though sometimes effective, carry significant risks and consequences.
For more information and expert assistance in creating a new identity, visit Amicus International.