This may just be the oddest question

[JeffKeane]

Hello! (I felt this section was the most relevant given what I'm trying to accomplish but if this thread is better suited for another section please move)

Backstory:
There is a game called Entropia Universe. It's essentially a second/virtual life mmorpg. My original account was banned (for accepting trades from other players, giving me free items / creating an 'unfair advantage') after investing about 4 years of time, effort and money into it. After about a year of fighting it, I began considering starting over. Not a huge deal, except they only allow one account per person, and if your account is banned you can't play again. Easy enough to just say 'I'm someone else', new ip address and email etc. The problem is, I'd need to end up donating/investing money to get started in the game (roughly $5-15k), and once my real name is linked to the account I suspect I'd be banned again. So I'm trying to find workable solutions that will allow me to create and fund a new account while maintaining anonimity, because I enjoy the suffering I guess.

What I have considered:
[x]Moving on -- Non-starter, too much of a masochist
[?]New email, New IP, New PC, Prepaid Card Visa card -- The only issue with this one is finding a prepaid service that allows 10k~+, it is not feasible to do multiple smaller level cards and keep having to filter them in and out as that would arouse suspiscion.
[?]Same as above except using crypto payments instead of prepaid visa -- they do allow for bitcoin, eth and some others. The problem I've encountered with this one is there is a much higher fee for paying in crypto.

What I'm hoping for:
To be able to have a way of paying for the game/funding the account, without revealing my name. [I have looked into services like BLUR, but I would need a credit card, also not in my name]

Looking forward to some feedback, can provide additional information if needed. Prefer legal solutions, not opposed to the other though. Thanks!

 

[Sols]

How do they verify the identity of users? For example, how would they know a card is yours?

 

[JeffKeane]

How do they verify the identity of users? For example, how would they know a card is yours?

For use of credit cards I would presume they match the name on the card to the name on the account, but I don't know for certain. I just wouldn't want to leave any doubt.

There is also this to potentially contend with (in case of suspicious activity, they may request government issued ID):

 

[void]

can't you simply use the identity/card/anything of your brother/father/friend?

 

[Sols]

For use of credit cards I would presume they match the name on the card to the name on the account, but I don't know for certain. I just wouldn't want to leave any doubt.

There is no way of doing that, unless you are the bank that issued the card.

There is also this to potentially contend with (in case of suspicious activity, they may request government issued ID):
View attachment 3983

This is where things get difficult, if such an identity check where to take place.

The only way around that would be to use another person's identity, or a synthetic identity. The most common is what @void said and just use friend's or family member's ID. Just don't go doing anything illegal with it, if you want to be invited back to family gatherings in the future.

 

[JeffKeane]

can't you simply use the identity/card/anything of your brother/father/friend?

It's a bit complicated to ask a close person to let me use their identity and also then explain that I need to funnel ~10k through their bank account. I certainly don't have friends like that

There is no way of doing that, unless you are the bank that issued the card.

I'm not an entity, just a consumer in this situation. I would be highly surprised if they don't see a name on a transaction. The only solution I've found for this would be BLUR, but BLUR is going to want my real information before obscuring the card, of which I'm not sure if they hide the name or just the card #/location

No true/clean solution yet but I appreciate the thoughts.

 

[Sols]

I'm not an entity, just a consumer in this situation. I would be highly surprised if they don't see a name on a transaction.

When you type in your card details online, you can put in any name you want. There is absolutely no way to get the name on file with the bank/credit card company. I have seen and been inside the belly of the beast. Being able to see the true cardholder name would be a dream come true for a lot of companies, but that information is protected by bank secrecy and data protection laws.

There is something called AVS which applies to some cards issued in US, Canada, or UK, whereby the seller gets a response from their payment gateway saying how closely details of the address match what's on record. These are practically always limited to just matching numbers (so for example street number, not street address). Some Amex cards allow for a name matching but even then the seller doesn't extract the full data.

They might be able to match card numbers across accounts. That's not a trivial thing to do and a common blind spot many online merchants have. Using a completely new card would be best, though. Depending on where you're resident, there are different ways to get new cards.

But providing a fake name when paying with your own card won't work if they ask you for your ID.

Companies like Abine/Blur and Privacy.com that provide virtual cards are not permitted to disclose your identity to any third parties unless compelled to by law.

 

[fanban]

can't you simply use the identity/card/anything of your brother/father/friend?

I was going to suggest the same.

 

[Forester]

When you type in your card details online, you can put in any name you want. There is absolutely no way to get the name on file with the bank/credit card company. I have seen and been inside the belly of the beast. Being able to see the true cardholder name would be a dream come true for a lot of companies, but that information is protected by bank secrecy and data protection laws.

This is a very interesting information for me...

@Sols, do you have in mind that the name you fill into the web form at the payment gateway is not checked against the record of your card?

As far my current experience and knowledge goes
a) In many cases, I am not asked for any name by the payment gateway, just for the card number, expiry date and CVC. (Usually, the name is to be filled into some another form before, at the seller's pages.)
b) Regardless for what I am asked, until now I live under impression that the seller does not obtain any other information from the payment gateway that “transaction approved” or “transaction not approved”, all the other info is confidential between me and the card issuer.
c) Wrt to the abovementioned, until now I also live under impression that if I am asked for name then it is checked against the card record, so if I e.g. mistype, then the transaction will be rejected... Wrong?

 

[Sols]

This is a very interesting information for me...

@Sols, do you have in mind that the name you fill into the web form at the payment gateway is not checked against the record of your card?

Exactly.

a) In many cases, I am not asked for any name by the payment gateway, just for the card number, expiry date and CVC. (Usually, the name is to be filled into some another form before, at the seller's pages.)

They usually submit the name you stated somewhere else when processing the payment.

b) Regardless for what I am asked, until now I live under impression that the seller does not obtain any other information from the payment gateway that “transaction approved” or “transaction not approved”, all the other info is confidential between me and the card issuer.

Not possible.

c) Wrt to the abovementioned, until now I also live under impression that if I am asked for name then it is checked against the card record, so if I e.g. mistype, then the transaction will be rejected... Wrong?

Wrong.

Try it. See what happens.

 

[Forester]

b) Regardless for what I am asked, until now I live under impression that the seller does not obtain any other information from the payment gateway that “transaction approved” or “transaction not approved”, all the other info is confidential between me and the card issuer.

Not possible.

OK.
In such a case, could you share the information, what data are sent to the seller? A card number, I presume; what else? I must admit, I am really curious

Try it. See what happens.

I will, definitely
To tell the truth, I was decided to try it before posting my questions (as the simpliest way to check how it works ); but “the seller“ (a parking lot operator) was not interested in my name at all, just in a license plate (BTW, this payment was definitely succesfully processed without supplying any cardholders name by the operator to the payment processor; the operator had definitely no clue who was paying him. )
Thanks for all the information.

 

[Sols]

OK.
In such a case, could you share the information, what data are sent to the seller? A card number, I presume; what else? I must admit, I am really curious

To the seller? Definitely not the card number, unless the seller is fully PCI-DSS compliant (Home). Sellers get nothing other than what you provide them, except for an AVS response if you're using a qualifying card (US, Canada, UK) and some details around whether the transaction was successful (some details vary and are determined by the card issuer).

 

[JeffKeane]

When you type in your card details online, you can put in any name you want. There is absolutely no way to get the name on file with the bank/credit card company. I have seen and been inside the belly of the beast. Being able to see the true cardholder name would be a dream come true for a lot of companies, but that information is protected by bank secrecy and data protection laws.

I had no Idea about that - I thought they'd be able to match the name when purchasing to the name on the card.
So the closest [legal] solution now would then be to create the new account in the name of a family member, add that family member as an authorized user on my CC, then pay using their name and my CC, and the merchant would not know I was behind it until/unless they required an ID? Does that sound about right?

 

[Forester]

To the seller? Definitely not the card number, unless the seller is fully PCI-DSS compliant (Home). Sellers get nothing other than what you provide them, except for an AVS response if you're using a qualifying card (US, Canada, UK) and some details around whether the transaction was successful (some details vary and are determined by the card issuer).

Thanks for the further clarification. (So, it seems to me – finally, as the consequences are concerned – not being so far from my original belief, although it is untrue that seller obtains plain YES/NO /and the identification of the transaction, of course/...)

So the closest [legal] solution now would then be to create the new account in the name of a family member, add that family member as an authorized user on my CC, then pay using their name and my CC, and the merchant would not know I was behind it until/unless they required an ID? Does that sound about right?

Taking into account the information posted by @Sols, yes, it sounds well and it is definitely perfectly legal (on condition that the family member agrees with abovementioned).

 

[EliasIT]

very good question, just wondering if this is a solution that indeed fit your needs?

 

[JeffKeane]

very good question, just wondering if this is a solution that indeed fit your needs?

If that's directed to me - I do believe that's a viable solution for that aspect of the problem, yes! Still need to coordinate getting a new IP, PC etc.
Do you ask for any specific reason?

 

[Samman Kaseeb Sleiman]

If that's directed to me - I do believe that's a viable solution for that aspect of the problem, yes! Still need to coordinate getting a new IP, PC etc.

Why new IP? IP can't be linked uniquely to a person. Under a single shared IP, there can be a whole neighbourhood that accesses internet. Although this pariticular game might ban people by IP - who knows.
Or why not use a VPN or residential proxy?


Why new PC?
For that matter - new home, new toothbrush, new car, cut off your hair, get plastic surjery, change your sex.

 

[JeffKeane]

Why new IP? IP can't be linked uniquely to a person. Under a single shared IP, there can be a whole neighbourhood that accesses internet. Although this pariticular game might ban people by IP - who knows.
Or why not use a VPN or residential proxy?


Why new PC?
For that matter - new home, new toothbrush, new car, cut off your hair, get plastic surjery, change your sex.

New IP because I'm currently playing on another account and don't want them linked in anyway. They do monitor user activity based on IP.
New PC incase they link the MAC address.
They ban for VPN usage.

Any other stupid questions, feel free to keep them to yourself.

 

[Forester]

New IP because I'm currently playing on another account and don't want them linked in anyway. They do monitor user activity based on IP.

Understandable.

New PC incase they link the MAC address.

If this is the only reason, be advised that a MAC address is easy to change, even repeatedly (the particular method/s/ depend on your operating system).

 

[Samman Kaseeb Sleiman]

New IP because I'm currently playing on another account and don't want them linked in anyway. They do monitor user activity based on IP.
New PC incase they link the MAC address.
They ban for VPN usage.

You don't know what you're talking about.

MAC address is at no point exposed via internet.
VPN usage can be detected only if it's public well known one.
Linking IP addresses - ok, maybe. But one IP is always shared by many users - this is simply how internet works.