Silk Road forums

Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: Veetano on June 27, 2013, 12:43 am

Title: Can tracking labels really be traced, or have they been before?
Post by: Veetano on June 27, 2013, 12:43 am
I read somewhere that if you get your own Label #400 tracking labels from the website such as stamps/usps that they could be tracked to the batch they were made and find out who that batch was sent to. Is this true? Is this just theory, or has this actually been done before? I am paying a friend of mine to allow me to send about 200 to his house(they are free online), and the only tie would be to him.

If the cops busted a package, could they trace pack the tracking label origin, and use that to get a search warrant? Is this even possible or just over-thought paranoia? If I sat down and thought all day I could come up with a million ways the cops might catch a person even if they used the most secure method.

I've debated ordering some to some abandoned houses that way there is absolutely no connection to me, but I cannot find any unoccupied houses for the life of me....
Title: Re: Can tracking labels really be traced, or have they been before?
Post by: DealerOfDrugs on June 27, 2013, 02:32 am
No one knows for sure.
Title: Re: Can tracking labels really be traced, or have they been before?
Post by: Miah on June 27, 2013, 02:41 am
It's theoretically possible 
Title: Re: Can tracking labels really be traced, or have they been before?
Post by: Veetano on June 27, 2013, 02:58 am
The question is, is it grounds enough to get a search warrant if they can be traced back to a house that they were delivered to? Say a friend ordered it for you or you snatched it from the mailbox of a house that was being sold and was empty at the time, but now has people in it?
Title: Re: Can tracking labels really be traced, or have they been before?
Post by: DealerOfDrugs on June 27, 2013, 03:10 am
It's theoretically possible

This is correct. So it should be assumed.
Title: Re: Can tracking labels really be traced, or have they been before?
Post by: DealerOfDrugs on June 27, 2013, 03:12 am
The question is, is it grounds enough to get a search warrant if they can be traced back to a house that they were delivered to? Say a friend ordered it for you or you snatched it from the mailbox of a house that was being sold and was empty at the time, but now has people in it?

Lets hope that friend keeps their mouth shut when being interrogated and threatened.

Getting it dropped to a address that has no connection to you would be the best route.
Title: Re: Can tracking labels really be traced, or have they been before?
Post by: hoobydoobydoo on June 27, 2013, 03:16 am
Yes it is possible to track most labels/stamps ordered with a credit card via online websites.

It is also possible to track stamps purchased from the machines at USPS with a credit card.

The only ones that don't have any tracking information associated are stamps purchased in person from a USPS worker at the counter.
Title: Re: Can tracking labels really be traced, or have they been before?
Post by: Veetano on June 27, 2013, 03:43 am
Yes it is possible to track most labels/stamps ordered with a credit card via online websites.

It is also possible to track stamps purchased from the machines at USPS with a credit card.

The only ones that don't have any tracking information associated are stamps purchased in person from a USPS worker at the counter.
Yes but what most people don't realize is the label #400 tracking labels are free, with free shipping on the websites that offer them. I just ordered 200 today 4-5 different times to different addresses, at absolutely no cost to me, or no connection to me. Since they are free I will likely invest much time into finding a house I can grab them from.

The question is, is it grounds enough to get a search warrant if they can be traced back to a house that they were delivered to? Say a friend ordered it for you or you snatched it from the mailbox of a house that was being sold and was empty at the time, but now has people in it?

Lets hope that friend keeps their mouth shut when being interrogated and threatened.

Getting it dropped to a address that has no connection to you would be the best route.
I already had an extensive talk with him about this. Likely this is a last resort and I will soon find a house to grab them from.

If anything, I might start doing this and then selling them on SR for a cheap price..... they are absolutely free and if a person can get them from a random house then they are basically untrackable and many vendors here on SR would find that very handy.
Title: Re: Can tracking labels really be traced, or have they been before?
Post by: thyme on June 27, 2013, 06:25 am
Except that then they are taggable as label 400s that have been bought on SR.

Even though your intentions are commendable, it's a potential setup that LE could use with minimum effort; very easy to 'pre-tag' tracking numbers in the system. I am *not* saying this is your intent, note.

I have other no-doubt-overthought concerns about label 400s, but I think that buying/selling them on the bottleneck of SR is a bad idea, like any other serialized item that can be tracked to someone's ultimate delivery address.

Interesting question, though: which is more likely, an enterprising USPIS/LEO who sells/tags these, or some inspector/LEO having the sense to track them back on the remote chance that they were actually purchased to a legit address via a non-vanilla-card? And then, if 400s were mailed from USPS to you, taking the chance that they were shipped to a real address and not a sham, and chasing that down? (Possible, therefore not ideal, and could go into a db, so really-really not ideal. But being narrowed down to the set of "labels bought on SR" seems even less desirable, on first glance, as that's *clearly* worth the time to track down. Again, Veetano, I'm not accusing you of this, it's just the item itself in context that seems risky.)

Just go to the PO counter and ask for them if you want to use them, and say you hate standing in line and work weird hours and you don't mail the 10K per year packages to justify a mailer ID and by the end of that they'll give up and hand you the damned things because there are, like, 30 other people in line behind you with stuff to mail. Bonus points for not-memorable street theater if you show up with some Etsy/whatever packages to mail at the time and also buy priority stamps and regular and require  receipts for your CPA and separate a couple of things out because they're for home and not for work and then have to fiddle with your paperwork to keep it straight. Like the guy in front of me the other day.
Title: Re: Can tracking labels really be traced, or have they been before?
Post by: Regicide on June 27, 2013, 06:39 am
Not directly on your topic but when tracking packages, consider this:

If a package is intercepted and u've been tracking it with your static IP address, you can't say you weren't at least expecting something (best argument may be that u ordered a sample of some legal RCs; thats why you don't have financial record of it). That said, using Tor can make the tracking number suspect when a package within the US or North America is tracked from Lithuania or Russia.

If you want to track a package, get a friend to do it, or use a local proxy, or a proxy/VPN of the country of origin.

I had an intercepted package and used my home static IP, I know it was the RCMP (Canada Federal LE) due to relations with workers at the post office. They were just out to bust the sender and probably found the tracking numbers during the arrest (this vendor isn't around anymore)/ After doing this they contacted Canada Post and it was intercepted after my local mail carrier got it and the supervisor took it halfway thru their morning sortation. - If I was american i'd probably have the DEA busting down my door, but I got nothing, no phone call (they know theyre gonna get no info off me for a gram of a substance).

Also I have had no packages checked since and had packages with stuff from SR arrive safely within the same week and the following one.
Title: Re: Can tracking labels really be traced, or have they been before?
Post by: Veetano on June 27, 2013, 02:54 pm
Except that then they are taggable as label 400s that have been bought on SR.

Even though your intentions are commendable, it's a potential setup that LE could use with minimum effort; very easy to 'pre-tag' tracking numbers in the system. I am *not* saying this is your intent, note.

I have other no-doubt-overthought concerns about label 400s, but I think that buying/selling them on the bottleneck of SR is a bad idea, like any other serialized item that can be tracked to someone's ultimate delivery address.

Interesting question, though: which is more likely, an enterprising USPIS/LEO who sells/tags these, or some inspector/LEO having the sense to track them back on the remote chance that they were actually purchased to a legit address via a non-vanilla-card? And then, if 400s were mailed from USPS to you, taking the chance that they were shipped to a real address and not a sham, and chasing that down? (Possible, therefore not ideal, and could go into a db, so really-really not ideal. But being narrowed down to the set of "labels bought on SR" seems even less desirable, on first glance, as that's *clearly* worth the time to track down. Again, Veetano, I'm not accusing you of this, it's just the item itself in context that seems risky.)

Just go to the PO counter and ask for them if you want to use them, and say you hate standing in line and work weird hours and you don't mail the 10K per year packages to justify a mailer ID and by the end of that they'll give up and hand you the damned things because there are, like, 30 other people in line behind you with stuff to mail. Bonus points for not-memorable street theater if you show up with some Etsy/whatever packages to mail at the time and also buy priority stamps and regular and require  receipts for your CPA and separate a couple of things out because they're for home and not for work and then have to fiddle with your paperwork to keep it straight. Like the guy in front of me the other day.
I hadn't thought about that. Good point though. They are free anyways so it likely would not be hard to get them sent to an address and go claim them. Perhaps get them sent to a house in some neighborhood, track them, show up there and knock on the door(have a friend do it) and apologize saying you mistyped your address and the package got sent to their house and was delivered today under the name so and so. Most people will recognize, oh yah, I did see that piece of mail. Since its legit USPS mail there would likely be no suspicion, but the reason for mixing up the address must seem legit/likely.

Not directly on your topic but when tracking packages, consider this:

If a package is intercepted and u've been tracking it with your static IP address, you can't say you weren't at least expecting something (best argument may be that u ordered a sample of some legal RCs; thats why you don't have financial record of it). That said, using Tor can make the tracking number suspect when a package within the US or North America is tracked from Lithuania or Russia.

If you want to track a package, get a friend to do it, or use a local proxy, or a proxy/VPN of the country of origin.

I had an intercepted package and used my home static IP, I know it was the RCMP (Canada Federal LE) due to relations with workers at the post office. They were just out to bust the sender and probably found the tracking numbers during the arrest (this vendor isn't around anymore)/ After doing this they contacted Canada Post and it was intercepted after my local mail carrier got it and the supervisor took it halfway thru their morning sortation. - If I was american i'd probably have the DEA busting down my door, but I got nothing, no phone call (they know theyre gonna get no info off me for a gram of a substance).

Also I have had no packages checked since and had packages with stuff from SR arrive safely within the same week and the following one.

Tracking them isn't the issue. Tracking is just wanted so that in the event someone claims they didn't receive a package, I can go to a public wifi and track it.