The notion of assuming a new identity has morbidly fascinated me for quite some time. What would it take to live life as someone else? I decided to do a little research half expecting the process to be extremely difficult due to every sort of documentation now being computerized. To my utter surprise, taking on a new identity isn’t that difficult once you know how to bypass restrictions and checks.

First of all, let me clarify that there’s a huge difference between forging fake documents like birth certificates, drivers license etc. and “Ghosting”. Fake documents will only get you so far! They won’t help procure new social security number or get a passport. Fake documents are mostly detected by trained and tutored eyes, so if your goal is to disappear off the map, this approach is simply not feasible. This brings me to the aforementioned term “Ghosting”.

1) Ghosting entails assuming the identity of a deceased person. It involves finding a really low key deceased person which if alive would be roughly your age by now and assuming his or her identity. This is a multifaceted approach which requires meticulous research work of selecting the deceased person who is ideally died of unnatural causes outside their state of birth, a long time ago. The death certificate in this scenario would be filed with the state in which the accident took place; the victim’s home state would be unaware of the death. From there on, the strategy involves requesting re-issuance of birth certificate pretending to be the person. Since the person has been deceased for a while, the request for a birth certificate is unlikely to arouse suspicion. Once obtained, the birth certificate paves the way for acquiring further documentation to give credence to assumed identity.

2) The next way falls under the legitimate category and involves convincing law enforcing authorities that you require a new identity. You’ll have to provide proof that your life is in jeopardy unless you are given a new identity and relocated somewhere safe. Once convinced, law enforcement agencies will provide all the relevant documents required to assume a new identity. This involves getting a new social security number too! In short, you’d be transplanted somewhere distant with no links to attach you with your past.

There are numerous websites that claim to provide ironclad new identities and untraceable documentation for a new identity. Experience has taught me that most of these are scams and never produce the desired quality of documents. So, be aware of them.