Ever thought about escaping your life? I have. I’ve even fantasized about faking my own death on occasion. In the same way that FBI agents sometimes have to get into the mind of serial killers to solve cases, former skip tracer Frank Ahearn explains how he gets into the mentality of those who fade out in his book How to Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish without a Trace. So is it possible to permanently – and legally – check out? Ahearn explains why it may only take a second to vanish, but staying gone requires a lot more legwork. Read more
Case Studies
Lord of the Scam: The story of ‘Fast Eddie’
He was the international playboy who threw fantasy porn discos, filled swimming pools with cognac and entertained VIPs including Kate Moss and Princes William and Harry, but in reality ‘Lord’ Davenport – aka ‘Fast Eddie’ was a con artist who scammed his victims out of millions. The Daily Mail reports that the 46-year-old, who is currently doing an eight-year sentence for conspiracy to defraud, was the ringmaster of a £34.5million pound fraud. But on his website, Davenport still claims to be ‘one of London’s most flamboyant and best known entrepreneurs as well as a true English gentleman from an established British family’. After attending one of his huge parties in his heyday, I believe he was able to pull off scams on such a grand scale by using many of the same techniques as Michael Caine’s posh con artist in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Read more
Case Study: The Love Potion Scam
Living in Los Angeles, a town where psychics are only outnumbered by yoga studios, I know that a lot of people believe that the occult can help solve relationship problems. I’ve been there; after a particularly bad breakup I was one of those people Googling ‘Voodoo Curses To Bring Your Ex Back Tonight’ at 4am. I’m not questioning whether it’s a rational idea to believe that ordering a raccoon penis bone online will balance your relationship (that’s another post), but I do want to protect emotionally vulnerable people from sending money into a vacuum. Because lately I’ve been noticing more and more ‘fake psychics’ using the comment section of legitimate love advice sites to troll for victims. Many people who send money and can’t get it back never come forward because they don’t want to admit that they got dumped, then duped. So how can we spot scammers? And is there any way to find a legitimate psychic? Read more