Silk Road forums
Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: firehawk on December 08, 2012, 09:26 am
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Frequently Asked Questions / F*cking Asinine Questions
So, I've just finished scanning through 2,260 threads in this subforum. Hooray for free time.
About 80% of the threads focus on the following questions. I'm going to provide the typical answers.
1. My package hasn't arrived, what should I do?
There are a couple of possibilities:
a) Your package is on its way, keep waiting
b) Your package has disappeared. LE may have got it, postal service may have lost it. It got sent but it's not going to arrive.
c) The seller didn't send it (and I'll bet you finalized early)
d) LE has it, and what happens next depends on the size of the order and the workload of your LEOs.
In all of the above situations, it's reasonable to:
a) Contact your seller politely and see if they can shed any light on the problem
b) Clean house. Make sure you have no paraphernalia or drugs in your shipping address.
c) Go on with your life as usual; if you are in some way compromised any unusual activity will be incriminating. Remember, you know nothing about the drugs coming to you in the mail.
If you've been through all of these steps, a reasonable amount of time (normal shipping + 5 business days) has passed, and still no package by all means start a forum topic asking for further advice.
2. What do I do if LE come to my door?
Deny any knowledge of the illegal contents of your package. Don't go into detail, don't make up stories, DON'T SAY ANYTHING apart from 'I don't know what you're talking about'. Politely decline any requests to enter your address or accompany LE anywhere. If you're arrested (and your country allows this right) USE YOUR RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT. Politely decline to answer any questions and ask for legal representation.
Providing that you maintain a clean house (no drugs in the house, no paraphernalia, no other illegal material) and a clean computer, you should have very little to worry about in most cases.
Unless, you've moving large amounts and LEO have been building a case. Then you might be in trouble. But, the above response remains the best.
3. Should I use my own name and address?
It depends. Yes with a but, no with an if.
Yes, if you are buying small amounts and can maintain a clean house (no drugs in the house, no paraphernalia, no other illegal material) then it is most likely OK to use your name and address. The key point to this is to maintain 'plausible deniability'. You should have no criminal history, a clean house, and be smart enough to follow the advice in #2 above should things go sour. The benefit of using your address and name is reliability, and plausible deniability. You are much more likely to be able to claim innocence signing for a package at your own door than you are showing up to a PO box in a fake name at 3am.
Variations on this theme are sending mail to your current address under a different name. In some countries this can work, others it will cause problems. The way to find out if it'll work for you is to send test letters to your intended address. If they make it, odds are the package will (excepting LEO interference). A potential spanner in these works is the delivery that unexpectedly requires a signature... Consider that carefully before choosing to go with this method. This option may also affect plausible deniability (easier to claim no knowledge of drugs in your own mail, than drugs in another person's mail that you have kept or opened).
If you're moving large amounts, or if you for whatever can't maintain a clean house, you should probably have something RELIABLE set up that isn't your name and address. It's on you to figure out how, mister Escobar.
4. Should I sign for deliveries?
You should choose a seller who does not require signing for deliveries.
In the event that you're unexpectedly asked to sign, weigh up the situation:
How much did you order? Do you have a criminal history or history of seized packages? Did you use a reputable seller? Did you use your real name and shipping address
If, for example you ordered 500g of cocaine, have a conviction for trafficking cocaine, have had several cocaine shipments not arrive, ordered from a vendor in Colombia with crappy feedback and had it shipped to a fake address; then you would be clearly making a mistake by signing for that package.
If on the other hand you ordered a 3 blotters of LSD, are squeaky-clean, have nothing illegal in your house, ordered from a reputable vendor and had it shipped to your house in your name then it would actually be more suspicious if you DIDN'T sign for the package.
Most cases will be somewhere in the middle. Weigh up the above factors and see where you sit; it's a good idea to have this decision made ahead of time for all orders you make, to avoid being caught out if the unexpected happens.
5. I'm Australian, and...
Good for you. Stop posting the same questions over and over, you're not doing yourself any favors. Anyone would think that Australians make up the majority of SR users from the amount of posts on here regarding Aus.
The general consensus from what I've read:
95% of international shipments make it through Aus customs
Aus customs DO NOT appear to routinely send love letters for illegal drugs, there is only one instance on this board of that happening. Generally they just go missing.
You're much safer to buy domestic (e.g. EnterTheMatrix claims a near-perfect domestic shipping success rate and their feedback backs this up). If you don't like the prices, by all means buy internationally but know that you are taking a risk.
6. How long does shipping from X to Z take?
Google it. Honestly...
If you must know specifics, PM your intended vendor.
7. Some packages failed to arrive, is it safe to keep using this address?
Short answer, no. It may just be unlucky that you didn't get your packages (see #1 above), but the key word is SAFE. No, it is not SAFE. You can continue to use it, but at increased risk.
It's not impossible to get a new receiving address. This would be a good prompt to explore your options.
8. I got a letter from LE, what do I do?
If you got a letter, three things are likely true:
a) Your receiving address is no longer safe
b) The package that was intercepted was not, on it's own, worth arresting you or raiding your house
C) You can do yourself no good by saying ANYTHING
Shred the letter, clean your house, go on with your life. Take a month or two off, and get a new receiving address if you choose to come back. If LE show up at your house, follow the advice in #2
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So, hopefully this post will be useful to some people and cut down on the same questions being asked over, and over again.
firehawk
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STANDING OVATION.
Seriously, I've read nearly as much of the forum as you have, and this is a pretty succinct summary right here.
As an Australian, I'd like to apologize for a great number of my countrymen contributing to the "asinine" questions.
Our domestic drugs are just about the most expensive in the world, and I think some of my fellow Aussies go a bit loco when they see these international prices that many of you enjoy.
Anyway, this thread ISN'T about Australia.
Long live The Road!
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STANDING OVATION.
Seriously, I've read nearly as much of the forum as you have, and this is a pretty succinct summary right here.
As an Australian, I'd like to apologize for a great number of my countrymen contributing to the "asinine" questions.
Our domestic drugs are just about the most expensive in the world, and I think some of my fellow Aussies go a bit loco when they see these international prices that many of you enjoy.
Anyway, this thread ISN'T about Australia.
Long live The Road!
Thank you ;D
I've got a lot of time on my hands--in which I unfortunately can't get high--so writing this up has also been a way to solidify it in my head.
If anyone has any additions or comments I'd love to hear them.
BTW the 'f*cking asinine' thing just occurred to me as witty; they're legitimate questions... Just not a new thread for each every day 8)
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Great effort!! +1 for you :)
shame the noobs won't read it though and will just keep on asking their stupid fucking questions and creating threads for issues that have been discussed to death a thousand times already.
sorry if that sounds rather negative but my optimism has been dampened after 2+ months on the road, I even created a thread similar to yours when I first came on here and found my feet. Now I just alternate between noob bashing and/or helping if I'm in a good mood, it does get rather tiresome though.
8)
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Thanks samesamebutdiffernt!
Yeah, I kind of knew that most the originators of the dumb threads won't read this post... It's a shame.
A bigger shame is that these 'low hanging fruit' types are going to be the reason SR disappears one day.
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Nicely done. This should be the text that you have to read and agree to when you create a forum account. :)
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Nicely done. This should be the text that you have to read and agree to when you create a forum account. :)
For Australian members, at least.
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Thanks. A very concise and succinct answer to many questions a newcomer may have to ask.
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*bump*
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Edited: Minor grammatical changes, expanded a little on alternate names at real address.
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You're being modest, firehawk, having clearly made some reasoned determinations as to what is good and bad advice, apart from repeated. Eg: signing for packages, and how it can be *more* suspicious not to. I was just saying in another thread that personal circumstances can dictate the wisest choice, and you've done an excellent job of laying that out on several counts. This should be stickied.
Of course, the other most frequent topic is anything and everything about bitcoins - acquisition, transfer, tumbling, anonymity, speculation, scams.
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Oh, there was one thing I wasn't sure about. As mentioned, I liked that you took a considered approach to what is the most suspicious behaviour in a given set of facts. What I don't get is this common answer:
Shred the letter, clean your house, go on with your life. Take a month or two off, and get a new receiving address if you choose to come back. If LE show up at your house, follow the advice in #2
What law-abiding citizen ignores a letter from LE, presumably asking the recipient to get in touch? Or is the idea here that you will deny, too, receipt of this letter? It's the one thing that doesn't really seem to fit, suspicion-wise, unless you figure the damage done by engaging in conversation with LE is always going to be greater than that done by ignoring the letter.
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My reasoning behind that response is that it's a lead for LE. I base that on the assumption that a letter would only come if the LEO considered the item they seized to be not, on it's own, worth pursuing you for; they tend to be of a "We found this and we're keeping it, don't do it again" nature rather than "We found this and we're getting ready to arrest you if you don't explain yourself" nature.
If you don't respond to the letter, you can always say (through your lawyer later on) that you never got it or even just never got around to it. If you do respond, you're engaging LE and maintaining their interest, as well as giving them a concrete statement that they can use against you.
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Frequently Asked Questions / F*cking Asinine Questions
So, I've just finished scanning through 2,260 threads in this subforum. Hooray for free time.
About 80% of the threads focus on the following questions. I'm going to provide the typical answers.
1. My package hasn't arrived, what should I do?
There are a couple of possibilities:
a) Your package is on its way, keep waiting
b) Your package has disappeared. LE may have got it, postal service may have lost it. It got sent but it's not going to arrive.
c) The seller didn't send it (and I'll bet you finalized early)
d) LE has it, and what happens next depends on the size of the order and the workload of your LEOs.
In all of the above situations, it's reasonable to:
a) Contact your seller politely and see if they can shed any light on the problem
b) Clean house. Make sure you have no paraphernalia or drugs in your shipping address.
c) Go on with your life as usual; if you are in some way compromised any unusual activity will be incriminating. Remember, you know nothing about the drugs coming to you in the mail.
If you've been through all of these steps, a reasonable amount of time (normal shipping + 5 business days) has passed, and still no package by all means start a forum topic asking for further advice.
2. What do I do if LE come to my door?
Deny any knowledge of the illegal contents of your package. Don't go into detail, don't make up stories, DON'T SAY ANYTHING apart from 'I don't know what you're talking about'. Politely decline any requests to enter your address or accompany LE anywhere. If you're arrested (and your country allows this right) USE YOUR RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT. Politely decline to answer any questions and ask for legal representation.
Providing that you maintain a clean house (no drugs in the house, no paraphernalia, no other illegal material) and a clean computer, you should have very little to worry about in most cases.
Unless, you've moving large amounts and LEO have been building a case. Then you might be in trouble. But, the above response remains the best.
3. Should I use my own name and address?
It depends. Yes with a but, no with an if.
Yes, if you are buying small amounts and can maintain a clean house (no drugs in the house, no paraphernalia, no other illegal material) then it is most likely OK to use your name and address. The key point to this is to maintain 'plausible deniability'. You should have no criminal history, a clean house, and be smart enough to follow the advice in #2 above should things go sour. The benefit of using your address and name is reliability, and plausible deniability. You are much more likely to be able to claim innocence signing for a package at your own door than you are showing up to a PO box in a fake name at 3am.
Variations on this theme are sending mail to your current address under a different name. In some countries this can work, others it will cause problems. The way to find out if it'll work for you is to send test letters to your intended address. If they make it, odds are the package will (excepting LEO interference). A potential spanner in these works is the delivery that unexpectedly requires a signature... Consider that carefully before choosing to go with this method. This option may also affect plausible deniability (easier to claim no knowledge of drugs in your own mail, than drugs in another person's mail that you have kept or opened).
If you're moving large amounts, or if you for whatever can't maintain a clean house, you should probably have something RELIABLE set up that isn't your name and address. It's on you to figure out how, mister Escobar.
4. Should I sign for deliveries?
You should choose a seller who does not require signing for deliveries.
In the event that you're unexpectedly asked to sign, weigh up the situation:
How much did you order? Do you have a criminal history or history of seized packages? Did you use a reputable seller? Did you use your real name and shipping address
If, for example you ordered 500g of cocaine, have a conviction for trafficking cocaine, have had several cocaine shipments not arrive, ordered from a vendor in Colombia with crappy feedback and had it shipped to a fake address; then you would be clearly making a mistake by signing for that package.
If on the other hand you ordered a 3 blotters of LSD, are squeaky-clean, have nothing illegal in your house, ordered from a reputable vendor and had it shipped to your house in your name then it would actually be more suspicious if you DIDN'T sign for the package.
Most cases will be somewhere in the middle. Weigh up the above factors and see where you sit; it's a good idea to have this decision made ahead of time for all orders you make, to avoid being caught out if the unexpected happens.
5. I'm Australian, and...
Good for you. Stop posting the same questions over and over, you're not doing yourself any favors. Anyone would think that Australians make up the majority of SR users from the amount of posts on here regarding Aus.
The general consensus from what I've read:
95% of international shipments make it through Aus customs
Aus customs DO NOT appear to routinely send love letters for illegal drugs, there is only one instance on this board of that happening. Generally they just go missing.
You're much safer to buy domestic (e.g. EnterTheMatrix claims a near-perfect domestic shipping success rate and their feedback backs this up). If you don't like the prices, by all means buy internationally but know that you are taking a risk.
6. How long does shipping from X to Z take?
Google it. Honestly...
If you must know specifics, PM your intended vendor.
7. Some packages failed to arrive, is it safe to keep using this address?
Short answer, no. It may just be unlucky that you didn't get your packages (see #1 above), but the key word is SAFE. No, it is not SAFE. You can continue to use it, but at increased risk.
It's not impossible to get a new receiving address. This would be a good prompt to explore your options.
8. I got a letter from LE, what do I do?
If you got a letter, three things are likely true:
a) Your receiving address is no longer safe
b) The package that was intercepted was not, on it's own, worth arresting you or raiding your house
C) You can do yourself no good by saying ANYTHING
Shred the letter, clean your house, go on with your life. Take a month or two off, and get a new receiving address if you choose to come back. If LE show up at your house, follow the advice in #2
==========================
So, hopefully this post will be useful to some people and cut down on the same questions being asked over, and over again.
firehawk
+1 Great FAQ and much needed, if you may allow us to link to this post when new customers ask such questions - we are getting a huge influx lately.
Matrix 8)
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Of course!
Pleased that I can help.
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If you don't respond to the letter, you can always say (through your lawyer later on) that you never got it or even just never got around to it. If you do respond, you're engaging LE and maintaining their interest, as well as giving them a concrete statement that they can use against you.
Yeah, that's what I figured, and I think I agree. Though it pushes me even further into the fake name camp
(discussion here: http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=91972)
because there is zero suspicion attached to a love letter with somebody else's name on it. I mean, you wouldn't even open a letter for that "previous tenant" (etc), would you? But if it's your name on the letter then I agree, as much as you're not improving your situation re: continued/future LE scrutiny, it's probably worse to engage with them at all.
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Ah, yes I've been following that thread.
Personally, I use both.
I use my details for domestic orders, and a previous occupant's details for international. The rationale is that the associated risk with domestic orders is very low (for what I order, anyway), so I prefer the reliability of using my details. For the international orders I only order small quantities at a time, which wouldn't get more than a love letter. If I do get a love letter, or customs come knocking, I can explain that so-and-so doesn't live here and frankly I'm sick of people coming around looking for them. I actually get a lot of mail for so-and-so, including from government agencies. This is something that previously annoyed me but now I use to good effect ;)
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Excellent job. I've been browsing the forums for several months now, and have to say I agree with everything outlined here. Should be stickied!
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Burp.
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*bump* this needs to be bumped every day!
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*bump* this needs to be bumped every day!
Are there any mods here?
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So, I've just finished scanning through 2,260 threads in this subforum. Hooray for free time.
;D
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Ok, so if i was just getting qp amounts to my house, would that not be safe to keep it in the house? If it's just a normal house that gets mail normally and the same people have been here for over 5 years? Why would it matter that I didnt leave it in the house, if the package only came once or twice a month? Is there really a big risk of having it in the house? And what about using someone elses name, just because they get more mail and packages often, and they live in the house with you?
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*bump*
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I feel like it's appropriate right about now to be all bumpity bump up in this bitch.
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What % of packages do you think reaches a U.S buyer if they are buying from Europe? Just wondering if the significant price decrease is worth it, or if ordering from the U.S for roughly double price is the better option. Delivery time is not an issue
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Are there any mods here?
My understanding is that we are without mods at the moment so I'll just bump this for you
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Bumpity bump, in lieu of stickiness.
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Fantastic thread, definitely bookmarked. Thanks for taking the time to do this! ;D
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I wrote down my thoughts on why the police are not likely to go after you if you're not selling huge amounts of drugs on here at this thread:
http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=98660
It's in a similar vain to the FAQ in that it's information to put people at ease and generally help out. Enjoy ;)
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*bumping again*
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*Bump* because I liked it.
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This was freaking awesome man
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Pretty much all sum up, really nice, thanks bro.
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Uhm, instead of bumping this thread, wouldn't it be better to put the knowledge in the wiki? Or at least make a page on the wiki and link this and other useful threads.
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Great post, and it was fun to read
And you are right about the title, it was witty, it is why I stopped by
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+1 for firehawk. Like you, browsing the depths of the SR forum (until SR comes back online).
Oh and BUMP ;D
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bumped from across the agesf