[andrewfong]

The more interesting story here is how he was able to confuse authorities for years by creating a slew of fictitious identities online. A good chunk of the privacy debate focuses on anonymity, but stories like these suggest that increasing the noise-to-signal ratio may be even more effective.

[fleitz]

This is why spies disguise themselves as average people rather than martini drinking playboys.

[Pitarou]

That, plus the fact that it was the social contacts that broke him.

If you could break all social and family ties, you could probably get away with a lot. But you'd also be alone and vulnerable in the world. Tough choice.

Maybe the master criminals build up separate identities with separate networks of social relationships.

[Systemic33]

That would make p̶s̶y̶c̶h̶o̶p̶a̶t̶h̶s sociopaths pretty much the créme de la créme, which doesn't come as a surprise, given their prominence among the world most grisly killers.

[Pitarou]

That makes sense. Psychopaths burn everybody close to them, so their relationships have a pretty short shelf-life anyway.