It may seem simple to buy something in cash and be safe doing so but there are a few things you should keep in mind. This short but sweet guide will cover how to buy gift cards and burner electronics(such as phones, internet, and devices) in the safest, most anonymous manner possible. It is especially important if any of the following apply to you:

• You are buying a computer, phone, or internet to be used on the darknet or hacking activities
• You are buying a gift card to be used for dangerous activities

Buying The Item:

Electronics

• Best to buy from a thrift store. This ensures the serial number is not tied to any merchant where video camera footage or other evidence of you could be found. They are also less likely to send footage to a server. It is trivial for law enforcement to get this information so heed these words.

Gift Cards:

• Only buy one gift card per trip and spread out card purchases multiple weeks/months. Not doing so can link them all together shedding light on ALL your activities for EVERY card.

• To lower risk of being tracked you should age your gift cards. This means waiting a month or even longer before using them. This limits(though does not eliminate) the risk of there being camera footage.

• Gas stations are a good place to buy gift cards if available. They're very unlikely to keep cam footage for long.

All Items:

Whether it is electronics or a gift card you should observe the following:

• Do not bring your phone with you nor get to the location via rideshare apps(Uber, Lyft, etc...) or your own car. If you do take your own car park away from cameras and/or remove your license plate. This helps prevent deanonymization through wifi pinging, location data, cell tower pings, ride history, and license plate as well as provide plausible deniability by having your phone say you were at home at the time of purchase.

• Scope the area out so you know exactly where the item is.

• Keep your head down.

• Wear something that conceals your face and ideally the majority of your body. You WILL be on camera and you need to assume those videos will remain on a server forever.

• Do not touch anything in the store.

• Do not buy anything else besides the item(and if doing multiple items make separate purchases on separate days)

• Do not use a rewards program number

• Throw away any clothes, jewellery or other identifying information(or just don't wear them) that was used when buying the item. Go to a thrift store if you need cheap throw-away clothes.

Using Electronics

• When registering prepaid internet be careful of GPS on the device. It is highly likely that mobile internet makes use of GPS or at the very least cell towers. If this is the case the only thing you can do is use it at a place away from your house.

NOTE: I highly recommend you check out Calyx. They offer unlimited high-speed 4G internet for a year. They are privacy focused, you can pay in crypto, they don't log serial #'s, they run TOR exit nodes and much more. I do not believe their device collects GPS(will update if I'm wrong).

• Always register over a VPN and obviously with fake information.

• When registering a phone at first start up make sure you are connected to a router VPN or using public WiFi(with no cameras) until you can install a VPN app.

• A burner phones number should only be used if absolutely necessary. Otherwise use a virtual number from an app like burner or textme, paid for with Play Store gift cards.

That wraps it up. Though these steps are simple they MUST be observed. In my next guide we'll discuss how to use a gift card anonymously and provide even more layers of separation by using fake payment information & virtual cards. This will make sure if a breach happens a criminal doesn't have your personal info nor will a company in day-to-day activities. Until then enjoy and happy and safe hacking.