3 ms·

Isn't buying a SIM traceable by itself? if for example the shop has CCTV recordings or the email where you got the eSIM

by 2rsf 1y ago

bigiain 1y ago
Normally, unless (as I mentioned in another reply) you buy your SIM at a going-away party for a foreign student or backpacker who's leaving the country and doesn't need a local mobile number any more. (Then you just need to worry about the CCTV recording of the place where you pay cash tor the pre paid Visa cards you use to top up the prepaid SIM...)
- jajko 1y ago
  That would be properly dumb thing to do, giving trivial-to-track thing very much tied to your identity to some random folks... why on earth would anybody smart ever do that? Then you suddenly end up locked by ICE or worse when having layover stop at Miami for example.
  - fuckaj 1y ago
    Basic police work gets you. They know the sim owner. Know its a backpacker. Find their last location. Interview who was there at the party. Etc.
    - bigiain 1y ago
      If you become of enough interest to the sort of people who will interview everybody who was any a party at a bar to try and identify who someone that's left the country gave their SIM to, you're probably well beyond fucked already. Amateur opsec can help prevent you getting identified if you leave footprints in dragnet surveillance - like if you were at or near a protest. If you're planning on committing crimes serious enough to have "basic police work" set loose attempting to identify you individually? Good luck with that. I hope you're getting better advice than posts from randoms on internet forums.
      - fuckaj 1y ago
        True. Replace "crime" with "things that motivate the government to investigate you". They arent the same but overlap alot of course. In 2025 the non intersecting area got larger.
        bigiain 1y ago
        > "things that motivate the government to investigate you" Yeah, as I wrote elsewhere in this discussion: "running a global drug cartel, or criticising Saudi Royal Families, or defending the rights of Palestinian children to not be bombed"
  - bigiain 1y ago
    > why on earth would anybody smart ever do that? Because they're leaving the country tomorrow and don't plan on ever coming back. And you offered them a round of drinks or two for them and their other friends. (Thinking about it, you're probably right - I still feel that's "safe" in Australia, I doubt I'd be prepared to do that in 2025 USA. But then I'm not intending to visit the USA in the near/medium term future, or possibly ever again.)

Isn't buying a SIM traceable by itself? if for example the shop has CCTV recordings or the email where you got the eSIM

by 2rsf 1y ago

Isn't buying a SIM traceable by itself? if for example the shop has CCTV recordings or the email where you got the eSIM

Normally, unless (as I mentioned in another reply) you buy your SIM at a going-away party for a foreign student or backpacker who's leaving the country and doesn't need a local mobile number any more. (Then you just need to worry about the CCTV recording of the place where you pay cash tor the pre paid Visa cards you use to top up the prepaid SIM...)

jajko 1y ago
That would be properly dumb thing to do, giving trivial-to-track thing very much tied to your identity to some random folks... why on earth would anybody smart ever do that? Then you suddenly end up locked by ICE or worse when having layover stop at Miami for example.
- fuckaj 1y ago
  Basic police work gets you. They know the sim owner. Know its a backpacker. Find their last location. Interview who was there at the party. Etc.
  - bigiain 1y ago
    If you become of enough interest to the sort of people who will interview everybody who was any a party at a bar to try and identify who someone that's left the country gave their SIM to, you're probably well beyond fucked already. Amateur opsec can help prevent you getting identified if you leave footprints in dragnet surveillance - like if you were at or near a protest. If you're planning on committing crimes serious enough to have "basic police work" set loose attempting to identify you individually? Good luck with that. I hope you're getting better advice than posts from randoms on internet forums.
    - fuckaj 1y ago
      True. Replace "crime" with "things that motivate the government to investigate you". They arent the same but overlap alot of course. In 2025 the non intersecting area got larger.
      - bigiain 1y ago
        > "things that motivate the government to investigate you" Yeah, as I wrote elsewhere in this discussion: "running a global drug cartel, or criticising Saudi Royal Families, or defending the rights of Palestinian children to not be bombed"
- bigiain 1y ago
  > why on earth would anybody smart ever do that? Because they're leaving the country tomorrow and don't plan on ever coming back. And you offered them a round of drinks or two for them and their other friends. (Thinking about it, you're probably right - I still feel that's "safe" in Australia, I doubt I'd be prepared to do that in 2025 USA. But then I'm not intending to visit the USA in the near/medium term future, or possibly ever again.)