I think the person you're replying to is more just poking at potential holes in the parent's post or pointing out common mistakes. I find the incredulousness that the parent would miss on a tiny detail rather odd, since it happens to people even with the best laid plans, or simple items we simply overlook. These would be pretty common and easy to forget task if you think in a mode of "in operation" versus "out of operation", and even if you are "in operation" all the time, mistakes still happen.
I've re-read the parent's post a few times and it doesn't sit quite right with me as being as secure as they make it out to be, at least not to the point that you can "[sleep] quite soundly knowing [your] location was untraceable even with government-level resources aimed at tracking us down."
Operating on two assumptions that the government was both interested in finding you and willing to spend resources, I think that the majority of the above is just security theatre. The transaction at the POS associates the pre-paid cards, the phones, and the pre-paid plans for the phone. Even if they don't buy data for the phone, if it's 3g enabled, as far as I know, this is easily traceable to some accuracy.
So even if the invidual isn't directly linked, a location, time, and purchase are all associated. This gets you CCTV of the store and a general build of the person, even if they're bundled up. From there, the blanket surveillance cameras are likely enough to get a general direction of where the individual went, and probably enough to think to check local taxis or ride shares, etc. Plus, activating the phone itself is a potential threat as there is some degree of tracking available via cell phone signals. [1]
Honestly, even if there's not a direct link, I think there's enough to get you in the ballpark for where to be looking if the assumptions about who is looking for you with what resources, and this even avoids having to use expensive and out-there methods and techniques; these are already used readily in day to day police business, and even by private corporations. Just look up stories about lost children at Disney World and see how fast they could find children with just cameras and staff on the ground during the 90's. It's even easier now with all the technology Disney includes in the experience, but with just CCTVs recording to tape, they usually had a resolution within an hour.
Seems to me it'd make more sense to just have a patsy do the errands for them and pass it along so that it goes from buyer through some agents ultimately to the user.
I've re-read the parent's post a few times and it doesn't sit quite right with me as being as secure as they make it out to be, at least not to the point that you can "[sleep] quite soundly knowing [your] location was untraceable even with government-level resources aimed at tracking us down."
Operating on two assumptions that the government was both interested in finding you and willing to spend resources, I think that the majority of the above is just security theatre. The transaction at the POS associates the pre-paid cards, the phones, and the pre-paid plans for the phone. Even if they don't buy data for the phone, if it's 3g enabled, as far as I know, this is easily traceable to some accuracy.
So even if the invidual isn't directly linked, a location, time, and purchase are all associated. This gets you CCTV of the store and a general build of the person, even if they're bundled up. From there, the blanket surveillance cameras are likely enough to get a general direction of where the individual went, and probably enough to think to check local taxis or ride shares, etc. Plus, activating the phone itself is a potential threat as there is some degree of tracking available via cell phone signals. [1]
Honestly, even if there's not a direct link, I think there's enough to get you in the ballpark for where to be looking if the assumptions about who is looking for you with what resources, and this even avoids having to use expensive and out-there methods and techniques; these are already used readily in day to day police business, and even by private corporations. Just look up stories about lost children at Disney World and see how fast they could find children with just cameras and staff on the ground during the 90's. It's even easier now with all the technology Disney includes in the experience, but with just CCTVs recording to tape, they usually had a resolution within an hour.
Seems to me it'd make more sense to just have a patsy do the errands for them and pass it along so that it goes from buyer through some agents ultimately to the user.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_tracking
Edit: Included the wiki link I forgot :p