Since apartment companies track who visits, I'm curious what everyone does to have so many identities. I've setup a few using Google voice/email, but my driver's license is still the same and some take photo copies.

Use nicknames of your first and middle names. If you are female, say you were recently married or divorced and you can do anything with your last name.

Ooops



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2019 01:36PM by bgriffin.

I've found they always ask for your Drivers license, and for your email and phone. I never get away with false info., as some of my jobs have required to report if they called back. Not doing them any longer, happy to say.
They don't pay enough here for the time and trouble.

Multiple aliases is easy for women; difficult for men, but a nickname does not have to resemble your real name. My dad's name was Eugene, but everyone called him Rusty. I did some apartment shops for a company in CA last month and the agents did not even ask for my ID.

Seems everyone I ever did was a target in CA.....go figure.

I have a rather fearless male shopper friend. He used his driver's license but said that he was recently divorced and, since he had taken his husband's name, he had recovered hi family name in the divorce settlement, but his DL was not yet changed. Everything needed to be in his family name only, because the memories associated with his married name were so bad. This is exactly the scenario most women used to explain why the DL surname is no longer correct. Why do I say that my friend is brave? Because he does this in South Carolina.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2019 08:22PM by walesmaven.

You can start with last names beginning with "A" (for Anderson), go through the alphabet with names for each letter, ending with "Z" (for Zebulon). That gives you at least 27 different surnames, including your own. Using either your first name or middle name, if you have one, can give you some interesting aliases.

I started doing this to keep track of the aliases I was using. I knew if the last one I used started with a "D" (for Davis), then the next one would begin with the letter "E" (for Elliot). Keep a log of names so you'll know where you are, or at least consult your records of the last shop where you needed to use an alias. And I used aliases across different shops and different companies--not just apartments. Doing that kept me on track, too, since I didn't have to remember whether I had used a "O" alias (for Odessa) on an apartment shop with MS Company 1, or a fitness center shop with MS Company 10. It was simply the last alias shop, so the next alias to come would be one starting with the letter "P" (for Petrovian). Ideally, the alias name would not be too memorable because it was very unusual and/or matched that of a famous person (like Obama or Buttigieg or Blagojevich). If you can't think of a surname starting with a particular letter, try the name of a small town or a tree.

And of course, if they needed to see my drivers license, then I have been recently married or divorced and their request is a reminder to visit DMV with the divorce decree or marriage license to update.

By the time I finished with the "Z" name, it was time to start over again. The log helps here, too, to keep from reusing the same name.

The name part is easy. Are you setting up email and phone numbers for every ID? Gmail and Google Voice or are there other options?

I saved my DL from when I was married. It expired 10 years ago but no one ever looks at the expiration date. I watch if they copy my DL, make some security/identity theft objection to make sure either I get the copy or it's shredded I use my real first name, a nickname and my initials which happen to spell another nickname. I have 10 Gmail addresses, 2 real phone numbers, 2 Google voice numbers and 2 text free phone numbers.

You can get free emails through outlook.com (Microsoft), and yahoo.com. Your cable ISP probably has an email address for you. Some paid email accounts (iike earthlink.net) allow you to have five or more different email addresses. And if your have your own web site/web address, you can have many email addresses.

Phone is a bit harder. I have heard of apps that generate phone numbers, but I don't know whether these numbers will forward calls to your real phone.

As Tstewart3 mentioned Google Voice, it's free and does forward to your real# if you choose to. With Google Hangout, you can choose to get a text and email and voice recording of the message. It's a great way to filter out the spam and shop calls without being bothered to your real phone#.

I see a lot of Red Flags here.

The agents ask for your ID to protect themselves, it is a safety (asset protection) measure. Many keep it in a locked file in the office, returning it after the tour. There are new scan tools that are safer both ways. The software verifies the ID is legit and not expired. The server the image is saved on is supposed to be local, making it secure. The images should be wiped depending on the company's policies as well as local and Federal NPFI laws.

The workarounds require manual intervention and typically sign off by another agent or manager.

Lol he is surely brave, but I admire him

Hilarious but effective. I am new to apartment shopping so would you help me understand why one would need to create so any aliases ?

Susan,
I teach a similar method for creating, managing and remembering names for my new home shops. AND I do categories. So I may work my way through the alphabet of surnames, using authors, or baseball players, or whatever. And, the first name has to begin with the letter that comes before the first letter of the surname. So, if the surname if Hemingway, my first name might be Georgiana, or Gloria. For surname Jones, I would be Irene, or Isabel. Etc. For surname Adams I would be Zelda or Zoe. I have taught this system at several IMSC conferences. Any shopper can then pick a category where they are already familiar with a ton of surnames so it will be customized to their easiest to remember last names.

Why so many names? New home builders link all of the visitor data bases in their system. And they keep that data base active. So, if I visit big national builder A as Zoe Adams, I can never again use that name at any of its subdivisions. If I am doing three new home locations in a day and they are all for different builders, I will reuse the same name for all 3. Then if the agents compare notes because one of them thinks they have been shopped, at least they will not discover that someone driving my vehicle but with 3 different names, has visited.

Sales agent also will search the email addy that you provide at sign in to see if it is in the data base. So, if I am going to use Zoe Adams, I activate an email for mszoeadams@aol.com.

The same goes for banking and financial service shops where aliases are needed.