When a PI is hired (usually by a law firm) to locate your bank account, he will start by running a database search to get a history of your addresses. He will also check civil records filings in the county court houses where those addresses are located because they may reveal the name of your bank.
If he fails to find your bank account near your current residence, he will then search banks and court records near your former addresses and expand from there in concentric circles. Because it is a time consuming and expensive effort, he will probably stop searching after the first bank account is found. (Most PI's charge a separate fee for each bank account located.)
Another possibility is that the PI will hire a confederate to pick up your garbage. (Yes, some people still just tear up bank statements rather than shred them!) He may also pull up your credit report, which can be a trove of banking information.There are many more ways that an unusually smart (or crooked) PI can track down your bank account.
To reduce the chances that your account will be found, close your present account. Then open a new one in a state far from where you live, and bank by mail. Do not use a credit card tied in to that account. Then, if you wish to keep extra savings in a secure location, open a second secret bank account in Canada. Bulletproof security!
More information, along with step-by-step instructions about how to open hidden bank accounts in both the U.S. and Canada, is contained in
Invisible Money.
Labels: hidden bank account, invisible money, keep your assets, secret bank account, shred bank statements. tracking a bank account
Privacy blog post by JJ Luna at 12:03 AM
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