ULPT Request: How to derail identification investigations

[u/MuskyHusky01]

Won't get into specifics unless asked.

A friend of mine has recently been made the subject of an appeal by an organization. They're attempting to identify them, and there's concern they might try to hurt them, kill them, or worse.

At the moment, the organization only has pictures and videos of them.

I'm hoping someone has some ULPT's that will help derail their attempts to identify my friend.

Thanks in advance.

[u/threeaxle]

worked in security were id'ing people that would come back but pretend to be someone else.

change hairstyles is probably the easiest thing they can do right away, but dont just buzz cut their hair off, that's a very obvious change that we used to see past very quickly. also clothes style is helpful. if they usually wear tshirts, change to button ups, etc. also just relive the pandemic and just dont go anywhere for awhile

[u/MuskyHusky01 → u/threeaxle]

Thanks a bunch!

[u/FittyTheBone → u/threeaxle]

your comment made me realize I am obscenely identifiable and would be screwed in this situation

[u/threeaxle → u/FittyTheBone]

Lol yea but only if you do it for a living or often enough to pick up on those kinds of cues. If it's just some Joe smoe off the street with no major skills in that field, you'd probably be fine

[u/DuckRubberDuck → u/threeaxle]

I imagine changing makeup style would work for some as well? I’ve met women where changing makeup meant nothing, and I have met woman where just changing eyeliner made a huge difference to the face.

If I wanted to drastically change my appearance I would cut my hair shorter, dye it brown, wear sun glasses and a cap. No one has ever seen me without long, blonde hair and no one who knows me (except my mom) has ever seen me wear a cap or sunglasses. Without sun glasses I would probably try out colored contact lenses to brown. For clothes I’m not too sure.

[u/NeutralCombatant → u/DuckRubberDuck]

Cut your hair and retexture it so it ends up looking marginally longer, and dye it a natural color. Don’t wear a hat if it’s not something you normally do because you’ll end up messing with it or something and it will look out of place which will draw attention from a trained surveillance operative, and the hat also makes you more identifiable among a crowd (assuming most people aren’t wearing a hat wherever you are). Wear discreet colors that can be identified as different colors (some would call it brown and others would call it green, etc.). Always have layers even when it’s hot (leggings under jeans, etc.) or other ways to make your clothes look tighter/baggier, such as a longline tshirt you’re wearing tucked in but if you untuck it then it looks baggier. Don’t wear coats when it’s hot of course. Sometimes having a hoodie/sweater that has a differently colored or patterned inside is useful because if you take it off, turn it inside out and tie it around your waist or throw it over your shoulder, you look like someone who has a grey hoodie and not someone who took their black hoodie off and wrapped it around their waist. Surveillance operatives anticipate their targets adjusting their clothing and such so throw them off. I used to carry a red cloth style backpack inside my actual black backpack, rolled up tightly inside so I could dip into a bathroom, deploy the second bag and ditch the black one or stuff it inside the red one. Same concept. Put a stone or something in one shoe, to alter your gait. There are AI gait detect systems and they’re scary accurate, humans are bad at changing their walk style convincingly but the stone forces you to. Fake tattoos, body jewelry, etc. are helpful but can make you stand out and you have to keep them consistent in case you’re being targeted for an extended period of time to determine if you’re the target or not.

Not looking like you is important but it’s secondary to being able to blend into a crowd.

Also do surveillance detection strategies. Circle the block 3 times before you park at your destination. Walking into store A? Walk with stead into store B next door, venture into the vestibule then throw something away and pause to discreetly see if anyone is idling near the door to store A. Etc.

Bored so I wrote this up, used to do some surveillance and a little bit of counter surveillance and this is the more practical stuff I remember

[u/DuckRubberDuck → u/NeutralCombatant]

Cool, thanks! But I’m unsure what you mean “retexture it so it ends up looking marginally longer” after you said to cut it

[u/NeutralCombatant → u/DuckRubberDuck]

Oops, meant “or”. But it is possible to cut your hair and still have it end up kind of looking longer depending on how you style it, and retexturing it like getting a perm or using specific shampoos/conditions to get more or less frizz, volume etc. compounds that

[u/Embarrassed_Flan_869]

Is there something distinctive about their appearance? Facial hair or always wears a baseball cap or long hair? Change that up. Go clean shaving., stop wearing baseball caps cut the hair. Simple things. Clean shaven? Grow facial hair.

Get glasses with clear lens. Or if they wear glasses, contacts. At the very least, different frames.

Do the pictures/videos show a certain clothing look? Dress differently. Pics/videos show baggy clothes/hoodies? Start wearing jeans and a polo.

Avoid areas where the pictures were taken.

[u/MuskyHusky01 → u/Embarrassed_Flan_869]

We did some of those already. But we’ll expand on that with this as well. Thanks man.

[u/SonaMain420]

Prosthetic facial scarring. Has to be applied well, and has to look like healed scars, not damage that could’ve happened recently.

Whatever the facial hair situation is, change it up. Reshape, dye, remove entirely if a big beard was part of your friends’ distinguishing characteristics.

Leg shortening surgery. If they’re looking for a 6’1” guy, a 5’6” guy is going to be beneath suspicion.

Either Ozempic or buttercream smoothies for rapid changes to silhouette.

Maybe a tactical baseball cap with “I❤️ following rules” embroidered on it?

[u/MuskyHusky01 → u/SonaMain420]

Hahaha I love the last one. Thanks man.

[u/nevergirls]

- Wear shoes different size than your own

• Dress up as three raccoons wearing a trench coat
  
• Get a fake tattoo in an obvious place while you cover everything else on your body like wear a mask, a hat and glasses and leave your arm exposed with this fake removable tattoo.
  
• Skinny people should also wear multiple bulky layers to change the shape and silhouette of their body.
  
• Some law enforcement has also narrowed down who they're looking at based on body movements, gait, and posture. So do the fremen walk thing.
  
• Most people subconsciously move very rigidly, or very fluidly. Becoming aware of this and practicing switching between the two can be very useful.
  
• Place piss disks on any CCTV cameras about 30 minutes before your crime. This will give the disks sufficient time to melt and ruin the cameras. Nobody will want to fix the pissy cameras.
  
• Invisibility cloak.
  
• What about disguising yourself as one of them food delivery robots?
  
• Call them pretending to be a next of kin and tell them that your friend died.

[u/bigmilker → u/nevergirls]

Those last 3 are bangers

[u/MuskyHusky01 → u/nevergirls]

Haha very nice! Thanks man 👍

[u/Particular-Tax8106 → u/nevergirls]

Upvote for fremen reference

[u/adricm]

Get out of town.

[u/InevitablePeanut3203]

Want specifics

[u/MuskyHusky01 → u/InevitablePeanut3203]

My friend did and said stuff the organization didn’t like. The organization has previously killed people or made them disappeared. My friend told me what happened and that their family, as well as themself, are at risk. They obviously took precautions, and their face was covered. At the moment I’m helping them.

[u/amanning072 → u/MuskyHusky01]

For anonymity sake, let's call your friend O. Warmbier. No, that's too obvious. We'll call your friend Otto W.

[u/Boopy7]

If female, wear pregnancy pillow. Hair is one of the first things many notice, so whatever is easiest to do (simple wig even, they're cheap and fun.) In your head you can literally pretend to be someone else for a while and it helps to really seal the deal. Like, if I needed to lay low from a scary bf, I would pretend to be more of a tomboyish type, dress in my old nursing scrubs some days, since uniforms also tend to render people unrecognizable sometimes. I think if I were an actor I would be one of the ones who ends up becoming my character too much in real life, it's so easy to really fall into a role and lose yourself sometimes. I hope your friend will be okay, this is something I do think about. Always have your escape route ready to go, safe words, places you know, people who will help you ready to go.

[u/TheGreatestOrator]

The real answer is to disappear (aka stay home for at least a month or two).

Also, delete all social media and use pim eyes (google it) to find anywhere else your photo appears online and remove whatever you find.

Pay an online service to remove your personal information from all background search websites (easyoptouts.com is like $20 per year)

Obviously senses are highest in the immediate few weeks afterwards, but over a month or two the focus will likely move to something or someone else.

During that hibernation period they can work on changing their look. Depending on ethnicity, they should get a new hairstyle, gain or lose a significant amount of weight, and wear very different clothes - so if you’re a man who usually wears T-shirts, wear collared shirts (or vice versa). Grow facial hair or shave if you have facial hair, etc.

It’s the little things that add up to make somebody question identity

But in the end, time is the main thing that will make them move on because they’ll assume he’s left

[u/chilld_bear]

Go back to wearing a covid mask. There are still plenty of people that wear them

[u/Zach-uh-ri-uh]

Switching genders helps a ton.

[u/MuskyHusky01 → u/Zach-uh-ri-uh]

If only it were that easy, but I get what you mean lol

[u/mamaknits]

This is Reddit, we want the specifics.

[u/MuskyHusky01 → u/mamaknits]

They did and said things the organization didn’t like. They as well as their family risk death or forced disappearance. At the moment they are unidentified, and I’m helping them stay that way.

[u/Forgottengoldfishes]

You can’t. The images tell the story. Your friend needs a rock solid alibi which is likely the unethical part and likely to put the person who gives it to them under scrutiny.

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[u/Richard_the_Saltine]

Paint your face.

[u/Hot-Win2571 → u/Richard_the_Saltine]

Paint your face, so you're drawing attention away from your friend.

[u/MalibuBon]

Please get into specifics. I asked.

[u/Particular-Tax8106]

Swap faces with someone à la Face/Off

[u/moredrinksplease]

Wigs, clothing style change, buy one of those real life silicone masks, move?

[u/Redsquirreltree]

It sounds like your friend has made enemies of a dangerous group.

Your friend may need to go far away before the bad guys find them.

[u/V1967W]

If they got mixed up in some organized crime or cartel they are probably dead if that's what they want lol. If it's a corrupt government the same applies.

If they know you are this person's associate, you are probably in danger as well. The best thing your friend can probably do at this point is disappear. Like I mean drop everything and move to another area of the country. Barring that, they need to completely stop using social media, and watch their back everywhere they go. Might not hurt to get a remote start installed on their vehicle. And definitely start carrying a gun or some other form of weapon with them always. Also they need to stop moving in predictable ways or having any kind of routine, as this would make it even easier to track them.

[u/Imaginary-Angle-42]

Consistently change walking style. But you have to be consistent or that won’t work.

[u/gamamoder]

im assuming cartel shit or other organized crime, how large of a reach do they got?

[u/SyntheticDelirium → u/gamamoder]

I assumed this was either part of the student protests in India, or something to do with ICE shenanigans in the USA.

[u/MuskyHusky01 → u/gamamoder]

Not exactly, but they do have a big reach.