What NOT to do.

I just watched the first episode of a show on the History Channel, called "Off the Grid". The premise is two 'regular' Americans are being 'chased' by a team of security experts. If they get away and complete 4 tasks, they win a Million Dollars. If they get caught, they go back to work Monday, knowing they're really stupid.
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Tomorrow night (Thursday, Dec. 8) at 11 p.m. ET/10 p.m. CT, a new show premiers on The History Channel that pits two regular Americans against an "A-team" of surveillance experts in a race to stay hidden. It's called "Off the Grid", and the catch for this reality TV show is that the two contestants win a million dollars if they can remain hidden from the surveillance experts for a single day, while completing a few essential tasks in downtown Los Angeles. It's a real-life game of cat-and-mouse for the biggest purse prize in cable TV history.

Armed with only very basic information about the two contestants, a team of surveillance experts led by human tracking expert Kevin Reeve, is tasked with learning enough about the contestants to find where they might be and then to go out and actually bring them in. At Kevin's disposal are Rob (an experienced hacker) and Matt (a proven corporate security IT specialist). These guys can infiltrate your cell phone, gain access to public records information and generally put the digital eye on you. Also on the team is Dave, a former Navy SEAL who works a day job training SEAL teams in California. They're exactly the four guys you wouldn't want tracking you in an urban environment.

Despite their backgrounds and knowledge, co-producer Charlie Ebersol (who also produced NBC's terrorist-tracking program "The Wanted") said it's still a tough job for these guys to pursue people who want to remain hidden. He added that it raises bigger questions about being hidden in today's electronic environment.

"One of the reasons that this show is so appealing is that we all live in a digital world and people are starting to realize that what they do and where they go can be tracked," said Ebersol, who says the program is like a reality TV version of the movie "Enemy of the State".

The first two contestants got caught because the repeatedly used cell phones and credit cards!
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They were both 'professionals', meaning, supposedly people with education. (educated does NOT = Smarts!) But having said that, they committed some really stupid mistakes. Like taking an 'anonymous' phone call from a guy (actually one of the electronic trackers) who kept them on the phone for 5 or 6 minutes under the guise of 'helping' them evade capture. It's an interesting thing to watch, IMHO, if for two simple reasons.

First, it shows you what NOT to do if you want to go off the grid or how to avoid being tracked.

Second, it shows just HOW broad the capabilities of LEO's and investigators are in the 21st Century, electronic, everything tied together, modern world. At any rate, HERE is an interesting article from the Security Industry, about the show, and surveillance capabilities.
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Schteveo