I have everything put together excluding the most important part of my book. My character is a fugitive on the run and he is going to change his name during the course of the book. The only problem with that is, I don't know any methods to changing his name except for the "legal" ways I have found by searching online. That is obviously not what I want because he would get caught by the police before he even had the chance to complete the name change. Any ideas? I only have one idea, I saw this one on TV, where this guy befriended hobo's and stole their Social Security cards and Drivers Licenses while they were sleeping. He never got caught doing it, the only reason he got caught is because his new wife's sister turned him in after seeing his picture on a Most Wanted TV show. Thanks in advance, CHensonWriting
If you Google "change identity" or "how to disappear", you'll find all kinds of sites. Some of these are just ad-type sites, but there are a lot of online DIY articles as well. Take the info with a grain of salt, but I'm sure there's enough "credible" info for fiction
Yeah, the "modern" way of doing it is ID theft by getting a victim's important numbers (social security, drivers license... maybe one or two more) and basically you are able to do anything you want to as that person. Renting places, getting credit cards, applying for jobs, whatever. The only issue with that is if the person is still alive, there's a chance they figure out someone has been doing stuff as them and alert the police about it. I'm sure there are obscure ways of doing it where you bribe a medical examiner to not declare someone dead and then you can use their ID. Another way you could kind of do this is by having the MC contact someone who is good at getting IDs from people for a price. Then you won't have to explain how they did it, just that they did. And honestly, if I were a fugitive... I'd probably have a shady guy I trust not to be a cop to go to for fake IDs. If you watch shows like White Collar, they make it sound like getting a new ID is nothing.... but that it's all about how easily they can keep the authorities from discovering said ID.
Hi, The traditional way, and the way one former politician here in NZ did it (and got caught) is to start looking at graveyards, taking names from them, and then going through the process of forging a new identity from an old one - usually a long since dead baby. However, a better one that I read somewhere, is to pick a country with poor record keeping, find a forger and forge a passport etc from there. Start with the foreign passport, and then get yourself a fake visa to the US if that's where your MC is, and start building a US ID based on it. So get US address, bank account, drivers licence etc. That way even if the authorities catch up with you it'll be immigration who'll want to send you back to Zimbabwe or wherever. They won't twig that you're not who you say you are. Cheers.
Hook up with his underground forger buddies and get cracking on a new passport, SS Card, credit card, License etc.
You can change your identity by simply moving in to someone elses. Steal someone's wallet after videoing their ATM use. This will give you access to all their details. Drivers Licence, Money etc. From there, you'd need to work quickly. Using the contents of your wallet, you can sign up for new bank accounts and phones. You can also rent accomodation. Now, you have enough information to apply for photo ID. Do this. With these details, you can then apply for a resending of "your" birth certificate. Then you can undergo a change of name. Viola! You are now somebody else. How do you like your new identity? P.S. This is not recommended for use in real life. It is a criminal offence. You would also have to stop living as you.
Personally, I would go with the fake immigrant method. My former stepfather had his identity stolen, and the information combined with the immigrant method. The guy made up a Kenyan passport using his name & dob. If your character isn't concerned about having a social security number or anything, it might be possible to get a driver's license from a small town where rules aren't always followed to the letter using non-government ID and the good old stolen wallet excuse. Libraries, retail stores, etc. will often accept mail as proof of identity to obtain a membership card. It would be a simple matter of sending himself a post card.
Thank you all for replying to my thread. There are a lot of good ways here to change names, I might have to incorporate multiples . I have the main character as charming, quick witted, and clever. A high class luxiry car salesman for important figures from around the world. He loses his job and wife in one day so he spends 6 months working up a plan on how to murder his wife, former boss and former co-workers for various reasons. He writes in a journal throughout the book through short chapter entries to express the swarming thoughts inside of his head. It brings the darker side of his personality to light.
one way of doing it is not to tell the reader that the character has changed his identity. it is another way to see if the reader can catchup with your writing.
