The owners of our private investigation agency have decided to share their secrets about how to hide from a process server. This is because we see so many people trying to avoid our officers of the court, and many defendants and respondents are not even good at it because we catch everyone. So, for those looking to avoid a process server and succeed, you need to read what our private detective agency is sharing below and to diligently follow their advice and counsel.
Reasons Defendants/Respondents Avoid Process Servers:
The biggest and only reason someone avoids process servers is because they do not want to receive the court papers or other legal documents. Indeed, most times, court papers only bring bad news and can carry significantly detrimental consequences for their recipients. Thus, defendants must either do nothing or hide poorly and receive those legal papers or successfully implement our suggestions and delay or completely avoid the serious consequences altogether.
Mistakes Respondents Make When Trying to Hide from Process Servers:
Whenever rookie defendants try to hide from process servers, many of them fail. They do the wrong things and make newbie mistakes that cost them serious amounts of money, custody of their children, etc. To help defendants learn how to avoid these mistakes and successfully hide from a process server without detection, they need to stop making the following missteps:
Answering the Door:
One of the biggest mistakes that defendants who are trying to avoid process servers make is answering their doors. Whether at work, home, or in a trailer off grid, this is one of the biggest mistakes respondents make that allow process servers to serve them with court papers or other legal documents. This is especially true, if the individual failed to professionally install CCTV cameras and to check to see who was knocking on their door or ringing their doorbell, prior to answering.
The best rule of thumb is for evasive defendants to never answer the door to anyone, anytime, anywhere, unless they are expecting someone and have first checked their video cameras/doorbell cameras prior to answering the door. The one single time that evasive respondents become lazy answer the front door of their home or office without doing this is the exact moment a process server in Edmond will appear with a smile and court papers in hand.
It is even helpful to have someone else present who does not live with you that the process server in Oklahoma cannot subserve to answer door for you and lie to process servers near me who answer. Indeed, someone with a great cover story can be extremely helpful in throwing someone off track. Confirming that the address is invalid or bad can often help prevent the Oklahoma process server from returning with court papers in hand.
Failing to Change Up One’s Daily Routine:
The best process servers will become familiar with a respondent’s routine. From knowing when they will pick up their kids, go to and from work, and even where and when they go to the gym to stay healthy, the private eyes and process servers at our PI agency are exceptionally adept at scouting out defendants’ routines. Thus, respondents who fail to change up their routines each day and remain unpredictable face the greatest risk of having a process server find and serve them.
Failing to Secure CCTV Cameras at Home/Work/Vehicle:
One of the most legally fatal mistakes that evasive defendants make when trying to hide from process servers is not installing CCTV cameras at their home, in their personal vehicles, and, if possible, at work. Knowing who is approaching is imperative to having access when entering and exiting one’s property. Without Ring cameras or other video camera devices in place, an evasive defendant must blindly face entering, exiting, and visitors. This is an incredibly risky, reckless strategy that can and often will prove extremely financially damaging.
Posting Social Media Locations & Whereabouts:
One of the best ways to find missing people, in our humble opinion, is to search them out on social media and other internet sites. From finding out what someone looks like to seeing the photos and locations of their birthdays, holidays, and Friday night escapades, there is a wealth of helpful information out there to help locate a missing person quickly. When one finds herself/himself/themselves to be in the crosshairs of a process server’s grasps, wise, seasoned, street savvy individuals will refrain from posting their personal information on social media and will even intentionally post misleading photos, locations, etc. to help throw attorneys and process servers off course.
Not Removing Personal Data from Major Databases:
Another major faux pas that evasive defendants make when trying their hardest to avoid a process server is not removing their personal data from skip tracing databases. Nationwide skip trace services are one of the first primary, first lines of defense for combatting evasive defendants. They are quick, inexpensive to run, and are useful investigative tools for process servers and private detectives alike.
The best way for defendants who want to hide from a process server to remove their names, addresses, phone numbers, and other personal information is to enlist the services of companies like Cloaked, which will contact many information databases on one’s behalf. The service is inexpensive and quick, and it can cover a broad array of website data brokers which will sell your information to those wanting to find it.
Another option to hide one’s personal information from the public’s view is to directly call databases of some of the most common skip tracing companies and ask them to hide it. They may or may not honor the request, but those skip trace database companies include, but are not limited to, the following:
The ones above are just a short list of some of the major databases that many private investigators in Stillwater, Oklahoma use to try to find missing people. This is not a complete list, but the companies we listed above are a starting point for process servers in Muskogee to use to locate people with. Thus, evasive defendants need to ensure these companies and others remove their personal information from there as soon as possible.
Failing to Secure a P.O. Box at a Private Company as One’s New Primary Address:
Another tactic that many defendants fail to use to hide from process servers is securing a post office box from a private company like UPS to list as their primary address. That way when a process server in Norman, OK or a private eye in El Reno tries to do a skip trace to locate the individual the legal professional is trying to serve, it will show up their P.O. box address rather than their residential address. This technique is especially helpful when the respondent has just moved from their previous address, because now process servers and licensed private detectives truly have no idea where the defendant might be.
One fatal mistake that many evasive defendants make when securing a post office box is getting on at the United States Post Office. It is a bad idea to get a P.O. box at the USPS, because the best private detectives and process servers in OKC, OK will simply go to the employees at the front counter of the United States Post Office where the P.O. box is at and will fill out a special form that will give them full access to the owner and physical address of the person renting the post office box at the USPS.
It does not even cost the PI anything to obtain it, and if the defendant was not smart enough to get a P.O. box at a private company with special privacy policies that prohibit the disclosure of this information to anyone, then it will make the evasive respondents incredibly vulnerable. Thus, people avoiding process servers must always ensure they secure P.O. boxes from private companies to use as their primary residential addresses, and even when they do, they must make sure to use someone else’s name and/or address as the associated physical address for added protection.
Forgetting to Change Addresses & Register Utilities, Rents, & Mortgages in Another Person’s Name:
Skip trace databases thrive off the registration of utilities, newly filed property deeds like homes and automobiles, the filing of taxes, etc. When someone moves to hide from a process server, it is vital that the person lists the utilities and other items the owners of our private investigation agency in Piedmont, Oklahoma, listed above in someone else’s name. If they do not, it will make it easier for process servers in Elk City and private detectives in Moore to locate them via skip tracing.
Staying Self-Employed or Working the Same Job Without Cover Safeguards:
Self-employed defendants can be an easy mark, because the best process server will use their services and need to make money as an excuse to meet with defendants and serve them with court papers. It is imperative that self-employed respondents screen each caller, looking up their phone numbers and checking OSCN to see if they are licensed process servers in Oklahoma. They can also run their phone numbers on Google to see if they come back to any listed process serving companies or private detective agencies in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Another option for small business owner defendants with larger operations is to have other people screen their phone calls, prior to directing them to the defendant/their boss. Highly paid, loyal employees and coworkers, whether they work for or with the respondent, are less likely to give up the defendant and can provide excellent cover.
The defendants who get caught are careless, failing to screen new clients. Their staff or coworkers may be happy to give them up, especially if they do not like them and if the defendant has not previously alerted them to the possibility of incoming process servers. So, evasive defendants must always take care to cover this important base to successfully hide from process servers.
They Foolishly File Mail Forwarding Requests with the United States Post Office:
Another tactic that process servers will often use to find defendants is to do a forwarding mail check. When someone moves from a home and files a mail forwarding request, our process servers and skip tracers can simply file a special form that gets access to the new address they asked the United States Post Office to send their mail to. This is a classic mistake that far too many defendants in civil and even criminal cases make.
Posting One’s Number Online:
Our criminal private investigators always shake their heads when they see people they are looking for post their phone numbers online. This allows them to call and catfish them, and even if they do not post their numbers online, many individuals link their phone numbers to their social media accounts. That action still allows cheating spouse private detectives and skip tracers to do a quick search of their phone numbers to find hidden profiles where evasive defendants and criminals have created new social media accounts with different name aliases. This number registration is a classic newbie mistake.
Failing to Change Vehicles & Clothing:
People who are truly trying to hide from a process server should also change their vehicles and clothing, registering their vehicle in someone else’s name, renting one, or borrowing one from a friend. That way its use will not trigger the registration of a new name and address associated with the defendant in skip trace reports. Likewise, if an adultery private investigator does a license plate check to find the vehicle owner’s name and physical address, it will also not come back to the evasive defendant who is avoiding the private detective.
Changing one’s clothing is also helpful, because it is important not to always look the same or to be conspicuous. As one can clearly see, there are so many things that savvy defendants must do to avoid detection by kidnapping private investigators and other legal professionals who are great at what they do and who have extremely determined, well-funded clients.
Not Alerting Trusted Staff, Family, and Friends to Cover for Them:
As mentioned earlier, another rookie mistake that newbie respondents who are hiding from process servers in Bethany, Oklahoma make is failing to alert their employers, employees, and/or coworkers about the possibility of incoming court papers. While it can be embarrassing for people one works with to know about their private business, by not telling trusted, loyal, trusted colleagues can really backfire if the OKC process server catches them off guard. Of course, if the coworkers, employers, and employees are terrible and/or do not like the defendant, they may be extremely willing to give them up to the officer of the court anyway.
Best Techniques to Hide from a Process Server:
There are some preventive measures than people who are avoiding process servers can do to help hide from a private eye and avoid an Oklahoma process server. Aside from not making the rookie mistakes the owners of our PI agency just mentioned above, the following is a partial list of the many countermeasures that respondents can also do to help avoid courtroom antics and repercussions:
Move to Another Country:
It is possible for a process server to serve court papers to fleeing defendants who have gone overseas via the Hague Convention procedures. However, it is much more difficult to locate a missing person who has fled overseas, and as such, the owners of our private investigation agency in Altus highly recommend that fleeing defendants move overseas. It will be much harder to prosecute both civil and criminal cases, and some law firms even specialize in helping clients with financial means relocate successfully. Other legal firms can also help fight extradition, which is also useful to those fleeing criminal charges.
Some countries do not extradite wanted criminals to the United States, so seeking citizenship there or at least having the financial means to pay people enough to hide you can be a great way for fleeing criminals to avoid justice. People fleeing criminal charges in the USA would do well to consider relocating to a country in this list as soon as possible.
Move Often:
Civil and criminal defendants who move often can frustrate process servers, plaintiffs, parental kidnapping private investigators, and skip tracers. Constant location changes make skip tracing and locating missing persons exceedingly difficult, making process serving or apprehension by law enforcement officers more difficult.
Live on the Street or Bounce from One Hotel to Another Frequently:
Defendants with no valid home address make service of process especially difficult. Skip tracing becomes impossible, and process servers and rape private investigators will not know where to deliver the court papers and other legal documents.
Relocate to Another State Where Litigation Favors Civil & Criminal Defendants – Some States Do Not Have Extradition Agreements:
Some states are more favorable to debtors, while others have no extradition agreements with other states that make them slightly safer for fleeing criminals. This does not mean that a plaintiff cannot still pull money from the defendant or that the government in the new state will not extradite the person back to the requesting state, but it lowers the chances.
Use Burner Phones That Lack Formal Registration & Active GPS Location Tracking:
Burner phones that do not require registration and which do not give off emergency 911 location access are ideal for both civil and criminal defendants on the move. Plus, they are cheap and allow defendants in both civil and criminal cases to dispose of them quickly and buy another one, should they become compromised.
Sweep Your Home/Vehicle/Office/Computer/iPad/Phone Often for Hidden Listening & Audio Devices/ & Tracking Devices:
For those seeking to avoid process servers, criminal private investigators, and law enforcement officers, hire a private eye to run sweeps for hidden audio listening devices and CCTV cameras, as well as GPS tracking devices. Check your home, office, and vehicles regularly. One can also have scans run on their electronic devices for extra added security.
Communicate with Others on Secure Messaging Apps Like Signal, Telegram, & WhatsApp & Use VPNs:
Another way to avoid detection from law enforcement, process servers, and sexual assault private investigators is to communicate solely on secure messaging apps like the ones mentioned above in this subtitle. These have strong privacy policies and connections, and even governmental officials and military members often use them because they are extremely secure.
VPNs are also excellent tools for masking one’s location, and sites like TOR have apps and websites which can help mask one’s identity and location. They are inexpensive to use and easy to install.
Get a Driver’s License & Register to Vote in Another State:
While this is yet another technically illegal method, one way to throw legal professionals, both in the private and public governmental sectors, off a person’s trail is to obtain a driver’s license and voter registration in another state. This can trigger misleading addresses on skip trace databases, and many state and local governments will allow them with simple bank statements with a new, unverified address or even a simple attestation.
Drag Out the Civil/Criminal Proceedings, Wearing Down the Plaintiff’s/Prosecutor’s/Victim’s Will to Pursue the Legal Case:
All wars become wearisome with time, and eventually many people lose interest, financial ability, and the witnesses to prosecute both civil and criminal matters in the courts. Thus, wearing people down by staying strong and utilizing all these tips we have mentioned in this article, when applied diligently and consistently, can help save the day and win the war of attrition.
Check Into a Mental Health Facility:
Law enforcement officers and process servers alike are not supposed to have access to people in mental health facilities. While some do not follow this protocol, choosing to check into a mental health facility can also benefit civil defendants and criminal fugitives living life on the lam.
Legally Change Your Name & Have the Records Immediately Sealed:
Provided the civil defendant has no felony convictions and is not currently facing criminal charges, many judges will allow individuals to change their name and even seal the records for privacy reasons. While this is illegal to do when fleeing civil and criminal cases, it can be an option in some circumstances. However, many judges will not allow it when active civil cases are open, either. As such, even civil defendants may have to go to another state to apply for the name change and sealing of the records, to enjoy success.
Enter a Federal Witness Protection Program:
For those who have witnessed a serious federal crime or who otherwise have information that law enforcement would find helpful enough to allow someone to enter the federal witness protection program, civil and criminal defendants can end up with a whole new identity but can never return to their old life.
Move to a Remote Property with a Fence, Locked Gate & “NO TRESSPASSING” SIGN:
Local ordinances prohibit process servers from entering property with fencing that surrounds it and which have a “NO TRESPASSING” sign on a locked gate at the entrance to the property. Even if a process server jumps the gate in such a situation, a judge might declare it invalid. Likewise, local police or sheriffs’ deputies might even cite the process server with a trespassing ticket.
Move Into a Gated Community with a Stationed Guard on a Private Road:
Fleeing civil defendants with financial means often hide behind gated communities, whether at apartments or in residential areas. Many security guards who are posted at the front gate will not want to lose their jobs, and they often must call the residents to see if they wish to allow the process server to enter. If they decline or tell the security guard to tell the process server there was no answer, it can frustrate the efforts of the process server and her/his/their client to achieve valid service of process.
Put Your Assets into a Private Irrevocable Trust:
Many defendants in civil cases involving divorces, child custody, and debt collection matters will often move their assets into irrevocable trusts and other hidden locations. Yes, there are some legality issues involved with it, so criminal and civil defendants in vulnerable financial positions should always consult with a civil attorney and/or bankruptcy attorney in Oklahoma to get the best possible legal advice.
Castle Up in Your Home or Office:
Siege serves whereby a process server in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma waits down the road from a home or office for a defendant to enter or leave to get good service are time consuming and expensive. Wise defendants who are unable to flee can load up supplies inside, utilize CCTV cameras, only travel after midnight and before 5:00 AM, and wait out the process server until the client runs out of money to pursue the case.
File for Bankruptcy Protection:
Some civil defendants file for bankruptcy protection by hiring bankruptcy lawyers. They may illegally move their assets to safer locations first, or their lawyers may advise them that this is unnecessary or, of course, simply unlawful. The owners of our private detective agency in OKC just want to make others fleeing debt collection cases aware that this is one possible legal remedy for severe financial debt cases.
Move Your Bank Accounts Overseas or at Least to Smaller Banks in Other States:
While also typically illegal, some judgment debtors move all their financial assets overseas to avoid anyone garnishing their bank accounts. Others choose small banks with no local branches close to where they live, so the chances of a process server or romance scam private investigator successfully locating their financial assets and garnishing their bank accounts significantly decreases.
Liquidate Your Assets & Hide Them:
Selling properties, jewelry, and other assets is essential in helping to prevent debt collectors from finding them. Just be careful not to inadvertently leave a paper trail where people can find them or where prosecutors can charge people who do this with crimes for illegally hiding assets.
Become Self-Employed to Avoid Garnishees Serving Your Place of Employment:
Many debt collection agencies will try to garnish a debtor’s bank accounts and place(s) of employment. Small business owners can significantly reduce their net income by hiring the best accounts and tax lawyers to help them legitimately take advantage of every tax deduction. Thus, when courts demand to see a defendant’s income statements, the respondent can legally and legitimately claim little or even no income profits. This can help protect one’s earnings, because those who earn too little money often qualify for garnishment exemptions on their income/wages.
Create Different Shell Companies for Your Businesses in Someone Else’s Name:
While also technically illegal, some debtors who are small business owners will also create shell companies while draining out their old companies of all assets. They may even register their new companies in someone else’s name or may hire a shell company to function as their registered agent. Some judgment debtors do not even create new company listings, opting to work by their individual name recognition only.
Only Travel Around Town Late at Night & Very Early in the Morning:
By only traveling after midnight or well before 5:00 AM, most defendants will avoid all but the best process server near me and the most determined, financially affluent plaintiffs in civil cases. Most process servers in Mustang will not do waiting and watching/siege serve during these hours, and while the time limitations we mentioned are restrictive, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Clear Out the Living Room of Your Property & Leave the Windows Open, Putting a “FOR SALE” Sign on Your Lawn & a Lockbox on Your Front Door Handle:
Another way to trick a process server is to pretend to put one’s home up for sale. Leave your curtains open and empty everything out from the living room, so if a process server in Yukon, OK comes by to deliver court papers, they may think the person already moved out. By putting a “FOR SALE” sign out front with a fake number and a faux lockbox on the doorknob of the front door, it is even more likely that this trick may confuse the process server or fraud private investigator. Thus, it can become easier to hide from the process server.
Fake Your Death/Publish a Fake Obituary Online:
Faking one’s death is an extreme measure, but it can certainly have its uses. Posting online obituaries and making public notices of death set to the “public” privacy setting can be extremely useful tactics which can help one hide from a private investigator or process server. It might scare the civil or criminal defendant’s family or friends, but if the person lets them know the reasons for doing so before making the post public, it can lessen its negative impacts on family members and friends.
Seal/Expunge All Your Online Civil & Criminal Records:
While this is not always feasible, it can certainly help both civil and criminal defendants to seal or expunge all their criminal records. Anything one can do to rid the internet of their footprints which can lead back to the whereabouts of the civil or criminal defendant is certainly a helpful, initiative-taking measure.
If You Are Transgender, Immediately Begin Your Gender Transition, Immediately Changing Your Name & Gender Marker:
The transgender population is extremely small, and one of the owners of our private investigation agency in Ardmore, Oklahoma is indeed a female who is transgender and lesbian. The other owners are also members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Most people are not transgender, but if a civil or criminal defendant is transgender and is also facing civil or criminal charges, there is no better time than the present to begin one’s transition and change one’s appearance.
Of course, judges may not allow name changes and the sealing/expungement of civil and criminal records while active cases are occurring. Additionally, many states do not allow gender marker changes anymore, because they are full of uneducated, illiterate, unintelligent MAGA Republican idiots, and if the person who is transitioning gets sent to jail or prison, there are often unconstitutional prohibitions on gender affirming care and housing with one’s true gender. Thus, this can expose transgender people to rape and health issues related to hormone therapy depravation.
Another downside to this idea is that it feeds into negative stereotypes of transgender people that village idiots thrive upon, casting them as bad people seeking to hide from bad things or engaging in nonexistent pedophilia or whatever in our 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Dye Your Hair, Get Facial Surgery, & Change Your Eye Color:
Dying one’s hair and getting plastic surgery to change what one’s face looks like can also help civil and criminal defendants hire from process servers, indecent exposure private investigators, and law enforcement officers, etc. A judgment debtor or criminal defendant living life on the lam can also change her/his/their eye color, either through special contacts or by having a small surgery that can make the change permanent. While these are more extreme measures, they can prove to be effective in certain situations.
Remove Identifying Tattoos:
Removing tattoos can be time consuming, expensive, and painful, but their removal can also help make it harder for police, human trafficking private detectives, and process servers to properly identify someone they are looking for. This is just another of many feasible tactics that, when used in combination with the other tips we listed above, can prove especially effective in helping to hide from those seeking to locate you.
Conclusion:
Hopefully, these tips will help those seeking to hide from process servers and digital private investigators at our private investigation agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The harder you make our job, the more we earn! Evasive tactics can make it more difficult on our clients, but at least we know the tricks to be able to find defendants in civil and criminal cases who use these techniques. Happy hiding!
