Same thing that's wrong with the present USA:

Unjust taxation of its people.

sounds good, but doesn't work...don't do this if you want to stay out of trouble/jail....

Can you elaborate, please?

Truecrypt might hide the contents/existence of secret info, but there are numerous ways in which this stuff could be ferreted out. Right there in the Windows registry are entries for Truecrypt, for example. Applications such as Word or your web browser may contain shortcuts to Truecrypt files in the "Recently Opened" section. The list goes on and on.

We're basically counting on the fact that whomever is looking at your data is stupid. That's a pretty good bet, but I don't doubt that government software that looks for the above signs can easily be created to overcome the stupidity of the average Border agent.

In fact, the mere existence of a Truecrypt filesystem now casts you under even MORE suspicion than before. . . "citizen, what are you hiding?"

Once the existence of Truecrypt is exposed, you could be asked for your Truecrypt password. At this point, you have the exact same options as you did before:
1) Lie. This is a very, very bad idea.
2) Refuse to give it to them. This is also bad.
3) Give up your sensitive data. Still bad.

No good options.


For more info on defeating Truecrypt, check out his link: http://www.usenix.org/events/hotsec0.../czeskis_html/

The first problem arises when the federal agent asks you for the password and if you lie to him/her, you can be prosecuted...the penalty for lying to a federal agent is up to 5 years in prison and $50,000 fine...now, you can argue that 'technically' you didin't lie, but rest assured that the prosecutor/judge won't see it that way...

secondly, as another poster aptly pointed out, no cryptography makes the content of your hard drive 'invisible'...yes, makes it harder to find, but not impossible...and the CBP agents are constantly updated on the latest methods that can be used to hide items, whether it's in a suit case, in your body, or on your computer/electronic devices...although you may get lucky and a couple of times this systme may work, in the long run it will be a very risky proposition...better to think of other ways to circumvent the government's snooping of your electronic devices...

lastly, in many cases, the CBP agents take an IMAGE of your hard drive, which is analogous to taking a 'photo' of your entire drive...that image is sent to their computer forensic lab/technicians and they will be able to see everything that you have on your drive....also, there are times when CBP agents take your laptop and or other devices, and send them to their labs directly... they then comb through your laptop, get an image of the drive, and seevral days/weeks later will send you back your laptop...and in such cases, the technicians are more than capable to see the content of your drive, no matter how you try to hide them

P.S. when they do ask you about your passwords, the question they will ask is whether that is the ONLY password you have on this laptop, or they ask whether there are OTHER passwords that you use to get into other applications...they mainly do this because some people have passwords for their sensitive documents and applications, i.e.; .pdf, excel, etc....and if you lie to them...well, just don't... the consequences can be very severe...remember, Martha Stewart didin't get convicted and go to prison for insider trading (although that was the initial charge)...she was prosecuted and convicted for LYING to a fedearl agent....

FWIW i am a low stakes player so this isn't my forum, but i am following this thread and feel the need to ask this question. Is it possible to go to your bank and/or have a casino cut you a check or a cashiers check for large sums? I know a cashiers check is almost the same as cash but one piece of paper is much less likely to get you hassled than a brick of cash, no?

Maybe i am paranoid but carrying large sums of cash could make you a target for criminals if somehow people found out you were traveling with money. There has to be a simpler way to move money around than carrying large sums.

Couldn't you just ring PS support to prove the money was yours? Surely they'd have a record of a 15k withdrawal? Or ring the casino where you withdrew it from?

This is pretty sick, it really makes me concerned about travelling with cash.

I drove across the border into Canada with 37k US. They asked the usuals and I let them know I had the money.

They brought me into a building, scanned my passport, asked me to empty my pockets, returned my bag and let me go.

For those of you "rah-rah" Americans that continue to argue that he is lucky this didn't happen elsewhere, I couldn't disagree more. While there is more corruption amongst authority figures in third world countries, agencies like the DEA and the IRS don't even exist, and if they do, they certainly don't have the authority they do in the USA.

This whole thing is kind of enlightening. Previously, if I had been approached in an American airport by guys in street clothes who flash a badge, I would definitely not hand over cash or anything of value and would probably assume I was being robbed, and instinctively fight back.

I think you might have been in the clear if it weren't for your priors. By the sounds of your story, you gave them your name and they took off. They probably ran a record check immediately and had second thoughts about letting you go.

Super sick though, hope it all gets back to you David.

cl0r0x70, Regarding the points you made above you have 2 encrypted volumes - one you admit to and another you don't. The existance of TrueCrypt boot loader proves to the authorities you have at least one encrypted volume and you volunteer the password for that. You deny the existance of the other and it looks like random data. I think that's what this link refers to: http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=hid...erating-system

The link you gave me is good and probably refers to more serious issues (information leakage). I didn't read it in full, but I'm pretty sure if you are careful you can avoid that (e.g., don't mount the non-hidden volumes when booted up from the hidden operating system).

kk405,

You don't lie about the password to the first volume. You expect that they cannot prove that there is a second volume as it looks like random data. As the link provided by cl0r0x70 says though - neither can you prove that there isn't a hidden volume there, so it can ensure a trip to Guantonamo if you're unlucky, presumption of innocence be damned.

Of course, it's a big gamble to take and probably not worth the benefit for most people.

We can only speculate whether NSA and/or FBI can decrypt the stronger publicly available encryption algorithms, but it may mostly be more hassle for them than it is worth it for anyone reading this thread.

That would be a big problem for me as I barely remember all the stuff I have passwords for, let alone the passwords .



I agree with the basic premise that for most people disk encryption with TrueCrypt to hide information from the US government isn't a good idea as they probably won't know what they are doing well enough to do it right, nor does the benefit of hiding it outweigh the risks of getting caught.

I still plan on doing it to not let my information be stolen in case somebody steals my computer or similar, just haven't gotten around to it. My laptop's HDD is hopefully encrypted by the Lenovo BIOS HDD encryption; not sure how safe it is though.

Tax dollas at work amirite?

You can always Western Union money to yourself when traveling instead of carrying it on a plane. I've done this, but never with more then $9000. It was a while ago, but i vaguely remember getting a money order when i went to pick it up and cashing it BOA. It's a bit of a hassle, but better then a run in with the DEA

http://www.flyclear.com/ ftw?

My worst post ever. But mf'ing when large amount of money are at stake seems questionable.

I wonder what would've happened if Viffer showed them Youtube clips of him on High Stakes Poker or something?

probably would have made no difference...due to his history, the agents on the spot presumed guilt rather than innocence, and decided the burden of proof is on him...

A close friend of mine had an experience with the DEA with a large sum of money and was fine. He wasn't a poker player or anything, but I think it was pretty obvious to the feds that he was involved with some bad people. They gave him a receipt and he gave it to the people he worked for.

Why don't you just keep the money in your bank and withdraw it when you get to LA? Why not wire transfer it to the casino?

We all read about the lack of privacy so many new measures that have been passed in the last few years offer... it's a reality that we have to think a little bit more before we act these days, especially when it comes to carrying 10k + in cash in your pocket. You're in a foreign area of the country (or at least not in your home town or home state I don't think) treat it as a foreign country if you're going through all that security.

The government keeps close tabs on all wire transfers of 10k+. Maybe some of us don't think it's Uncle Sam's business every time we want to shuffle money from one place to the other. It's our right, and completely legal, to carry US currency from point A to point B anywhere within our borders. Let's not lose sight of the fact that this is supposed to be a free country. We have the right to be outraged at this, practical considerations aside.

lolusa

hope you get everything back man.

To all the USA haters, Canada isn't much better. I was flying to Amsterdam with a layover in Ottawa, Canada. When I boarded in Chicago I was only given one ticket(to board plane in Chicago). Both of my friends got two, one to board in Chicago, one in Ottawa. I told the lady who worked for the airline, she said not to worry it didn't matter.

I land in Canada and go the the lines to board my connecting flight. I get to the front of the line, tell the agent that I wasn't given boarding pass, he laughs and says I'll have to go into customs and talk to agent.

The agent takes me into back room and informs me that I am not allowed in Canada because I have been deemed "high risk". I don't know what I was a risk for but I guess because I had an arrest for drinking and driving I was not allowed to enter Canada. I wasn't even going to Canada except for a connecting flight.

The agent said I had to pay $400 for a one week visa. I refused to pay and he said, "Sir, you have two options, Pay the money, or go to jail" I paid them $400 after about three hours in this back room and just barely made my flight.

So maybe they are better than the US but they are still not innocent, I think wherever you are people in positions of power will almost always abuse their power.

This is a fair statement. Canada has a good history of Police corruption/questionable practices... The RCMP have really tarnished their name..

Incidentally, DUI is a more "serious" offense in Canada than in the US. A Canadian immigration official once explained that a lot of Americans get a hassle coming into Canada with DUI charges. The flipside is that a lot of Canadians with pot possession charges get a hassle coming into the US.

Cliffnotes:
DUI = Serious Business in Canada;
Possession = Serious Business in US

Based on the experiences I've heard from both Canadian and US friends, these seems accurate.

/trainwreck.

That's a good point.

The one gripe I have that reality is very different than the ideal world most of us would like to have.

While we don't think it's Uncle Sam's business if we wire xfer 10k+ somewhere, I would rather have my money wire transferred and deal with possible tax headaches than having to carry the money and having something like this happen.

Also, for all we know this wasn't even a legitimate government employee, correct?

They take my money and I didn't do anything wrong, I would beat the **** out those mother f'ers. Why didn't you just knock them out? Seriously like fight them for the cash? Make a huge deal about it.
Man that is just so f'ed up

haven't read whole thread so sorry if this has been answered-

but why on earth do they need to take your watch? Also, link/pic of your watch =).

This may be a dumb question but if you're an American citizen and you tell these people that you're an Online Poker Player, isn't that going raise some red flags as well given the fact that it's illegal in the states?

it is NOT illegal to play online poker as an American Citizen...it is illegal for financial institutions to transfer money to and from gambling sites, including poker sites...