Dangers of Joint: Emails, Banks and other Connected Accounts-Notifications
When you are first trying to escape, what will likely get you killed, is not knowing how connected you are to the person your escaping from.
Using ANY App on your phone/tablet/smart watch..or smart home..may send an alert to them, you take for granted, or may not have been told about (due to stalker ware).
-The Tactical Victim-
It’s a Mindset, a New Way of Life 🔒
-Also, you may share accounts with their friends, family and so on and so forth.
If they have legal rights, or are responsible for the payment of these bills, they will likely get notified too.
The emotional-psychological aspect of escaping, is just a third of the battle.
-The logistical battle is the other third.
-That Last Third, is maintaining your anonymity.
All your joint accounts and even separate ones are often attached to:
emails, cards, phones, electronic, paper bills and so forth.
Even if you don’t have any tracker apps on your electrotonic devices, it may still be relatively easy to follow you because of the above and the details I’ll go into below.
At the end, I’ll provide potential solutions.
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How?
They will receive something through one of these means of communication about a payment you made (intentionally or through a weekly/monthly billing cycle), that notifies them of your location.
Your car may have a device (or just your license plate), that pays for tolls too.
As you leave the state, or possibly another part, they may see a different price charged, and be able to tell you have left the state, or are going through different tolls.
Or, if they have access to the account, they may be able to see the location of the charge.
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O.P.S.E.C. Situational Awareness per Connectedness
In order to maintain your short term safety (1 day-1 month), of not being found, you will need to think about ANYTHING and EVERTHING that could notify your abuser to your location.
Ask yourself:
What is billed?
-Write it down, there will be so many and it will be hard to keep track of
What bills/information and notification comes in your/others* mail?
*if other receive mail about a shared property, health insurance account, or anything else, they may be notified.
What bills/information and notification comes in your/their/others email?
What emails, text messages did you both get?
Who else is connected to these accounts?
Does someone else also get notified (co-owner)?
Do You Own a Business?
-Do you both have a Business Address/Email?
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Dangers
Texts, Emails, Notifications to: Phones, Smart Watches, Apps (ex. Banking), Smart Homes and Smart Devices that are connected any of the above, can be of concern too.
Note: Some of these will have a “notification email or number”
-If you go onto the account (if you don’t have access to certain parts, this is of more concern, as it will be hard for you to know what other location based and notification settings they have. Or, You may be a manager, but they are the Account Owner, giving them more power and override).
However, it may show you a “notification email”, which is not the Main Email, but one which will receive notifications.
Self note: Link phone plan and O.P.S.E.C. article here
A Danger Not Discussed Here:
(We are Not including risk of stalker apps, key loggers, phone plan dangers)
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More in Depth Look
While you are trying to escape, here are Some, but NOT ALL, of the risks you will face in the abuser learning you are escaping, as well as catching and potentially killing you.
Your spending, may trigger an email/text to be sent to your joint account(s)
Ex “Purchase at ABC hotel, in town A”, will give away your location
Any apps you both have connected to that email account, phone number or app, will be potential triggers for an email or notification
More Examples
-Fitness and health apps
-Blue tooth head phones/pods
-Location Based Games
-Health Insurance Accounts
-Anything with a location tracker-capability (such as your car)
-Credit Score Account
-A Highway Account (for your vehicle)
-Social Media accounts
-An Email account accessed from a different IP* or device
*and IP Address will identify the city/town your account is accessed from
Any security settings on these apps, may go off when you leave a certain perimeter
-A purchase in another town, which will send an email/text/notification
Be Careful When Making Changes to the Account
You may, or may not, want to make changes to these accounts. Again, you will need to adapt based off your Threat Model.
Why?
They be notified.
Another Option?
Start All Over.
This will likely be the safest and least initially noticeable way. Eventually, the abuser will see bills not occurring, or getting cancelled or, whatever it is. Sometimes that takes longer (depending on the account/application), other times, they may get notified right away.
Sometimes, to be safe, you’ll have to “bite the bullet”, as there may be no other way.
Find out Your Options
Call them (who ever the company is), and see what can be done, what times ranges this or that occurs, how it works and so forth.
→Always Ask to Speak to the Boss/Manager
They will sometimes know what an employee below them doesn’t.
In my case, this is exactly what happened.
I called multiple times, talking to the regular employees, and was told over and over again, everything was secure.
I politely asked to speak to whomever was the top boss.
A mistake had been made, a requirement for them had been looked over, not considered.
That's how I kept being found.
Why?
Most people don’t deal with what we deal with, so they will not think of all the potential options and risks.
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Making Changes to these Accounts
(Or just signing on and accessing them)
-Setting up new Activations, Removing existing ones, and making changes to your account, can set off emails and text messages, and other notifications*
*sometimes paper mail will be sent too: Although this allow for more time (hopefully up to a month, it will make your life a living hell)
I’m sure there are more.
Related Articles
-The Tactical Victim-
It’s a Mindset, a New Way of Life 🔒
