On Burying Treasure

Malthusian wrote: »

No, the idea of doing anything else looks even more daft, because if the police don't even suspect you of committing a crime then there's nothing to stop you walking into the nearest police station and asking for their protection. Now, sadly we all know the police are a bit useless at that, but even if they refuse to do anything, you don't need to go home and wait to become a victim. If it's not the entire machinery of the state chasing you but a single man or group, there is nothing to stop you fleeing to a friend or a relative or a random AirBNB and carrying on using your credit cards and online banking.

Many years ago I had the experience of being the victim of a set up low speed car accident where two of those involved were walking in front of and behind me to keep me in the correct target zone. The group had also done things like bugging a place where I was living and getting members employed in relevant jobs to help them achieve their objectives, to which I was only peripherally relevant. The police were very well aware of this group and me. The group was very senior political refugees and their former professional support staff, with police and other relevant experience of their own.

The police knowledge probably constrained what they would do in my case but there can be some very serious and capable non-official actors where just living in a random AirBNB or with a relative would not be sufficient. Or harmful, my experience with this group included a couple of people of the right racial profile following me a hundred plus miles of a train journey to my parents' home. By that point they stood out like sore thumbs due to the changing character of the riders and left the train.

I was rather more comfortable living abroad for a decade or so after that. Imperfect but they didn't have any particularly strong animus towards me.

Nothing legally wrong for me there, in fact an individual I believed to be an undercover officer suggested that I apply for a government job I'd been indirectly tested for a while earlier. I declined.

Card use can be tracked and given their record of getting people hired into useful to them jobs I wouldn't want to be using a card that might disclose my location. During the relevant time I once had reason to think it desirable not to potentially have my location be more precisely discoverable that way and travelled a fair distance to avoid the possibility when I wanted some cash. Today I'd also be leaving my mobile phone behind, given the very wide availability of tools that allow tracking of a phone's location by anyone with enough money to spend.

So yes, if I wanted to hide from such a group I'd be obliged to almost immediately stop using any existing bank or credit accounts. Buried treasure not in a location I was known to have frequented would be useful.

Known to have frequented would also be a potential risk to buried treasure since at times their activities included following me around.