I'm whats known as a social engineer. Which means I make a living with deception and illusions to achieve a goal. Its usually to break into a place and cause a massive security breach. Now I have a business that helps strippers and providers ( long story how I got into this wold) so in this thread I'm going give you tools and tips I hope you find useful and I'm going to try and be as practical as possible. I'm going to skip the psychology stuff for now and focus on tools.
Call safety
For me I need to pre-text a person or entire organization and my first step would be to call and see what info I can get out of someone without revealing who I am because I might fail over the phone and have to try in person. For this I would use a tool called spoofcard: http://www.spoofcard.com/
This service allows me to change the number and name on a caller ID using the same phone and I buy in credits like a pre-paid phone. So its like having unlimited pre-paid phones at my disposal. I can also change my voice and add background noise to the call, all through their system. So I needed to pretend to be from another firm and forgot the password to the system, hoping the desk lady would unquestionable get it for me I can create a realistic scenario. This service also records calls as well for later review.
2. Twilio. This is an calling platform which allows you to buy numbers which you can call or text, they also record calls but since this is an app platform you'll need to build an application around it. I created one for the local businesses I work with so they can see all call analytics and map where the call came from and all possible data you can get. I put providers on my platform to make their life easier. This is very similar to Google Voice but you have all the control and can program things the way you want.
IP sniffing
I also work in the adult dating niche and if you've ever been to one of those sites, they automatically grab the IP address for your area and then change the text to the city your ISP is being provided from. To change your IP the best tool is Hide My Ass: www.hidemyass.com If I use spoofcard to get a Manhattan # then to be safe I want to get a NYC IP address as well, especially if I visit my targets site because I don't know what counter measures they have or how strong the security is, so I need everything to be air tight. HMA also has anonymous email and referrer.
If you go to one of my sites or clients site I will know exactly where you are, where came from and how you got there UNLESS you hide referrer. I use this to get my providers valuable info.
Cameras
For my stripper clients being recorded is a big concern, so I have my own set of counter surveillance tools for camera detection but I will cover the basic functions you can find online.
The mini camera detectors are really cool, but they're only useful for sweeps. In most cases you be in a situation where you can sweep. So you will need an RF detector. For my case the RF detector will flash a light to alert me of a tapped room. New ones are small enough to be put on a keychain or you can see the light through your pants without looking suspicious. You can get a false positive because not all low frequency devices are hidden camera, but thats for your situation to decide. But you will know someone has a tiny device thats doing something. It will pick up phones, close by routers etc...
This is also use for helping others, a friend of mine had an overbearing girlfriend and though she didn't trust him. Well, we used this and found a hidden recording device in his car and a nanny cam in the room which he though was a normal clock.
Physical
Concealed weapons are a great confidence booster if you know how to use them. Not legal in all areas EXCEPT one tool, that falls into the gray area...Its called The Stinger:
http://www.amazon.com/Comtech-Stinge.../dp/B006U4CPUS
Its made of plastic but its design will cause major damage if hit. So its technically legal everywhere and doesn't look like a weapon.
Screening
I usually attempt to Pen test ( penetration test) my clients to test their screening process to make sure the other team of not a skilled but can legally lie agents can't easily break my barriers and it takes time and money to do operations. The more time and money it takes to break the barrier the less interested they'll be because the prize money is the same for a much easier target but this doesn't have to affect your clients or potential clients. If you have a set script and procedures that are multipurpose with layers you'll be better off and will greatly decrease your risk. ( like this paragraph)
If you aren't sure, always give a dummy task. Sometimes a security team will try and trick me while I'm trying to trick them the best way to try and get someone to blow cover is to see how they respond to what seems like a meaningless task, it will be difficult for them to hide their frustration because they had such a strong agenda and will hesitate more than normal.
Websites
Very important credibility tool, when I'm "undercover" and need to be a hot shot IT guy and make up a resume ( to as truth stretching as legal possible) I will build a professional site that has all the text that matches what I want other to believe. Because most 9-5 workers due diligence its to go to my own site to check me out. This isn't just a shameless plug for my own web services that can be found in the services for providers section but also a tip. If your going to beef up your security don't have a website that looks like a the chick who was bused last week or have something from a network of site like: escortsitesforfree.com or something because you are putting yourself at risk because you don't know what others are doing and you don't want to traced to using the same platform in the same way. Because If I were hunting you, I can build a case file quickly and put you on defensive to on claim ignorance and I can probably discredit that.
A strong FAQ section can save you ass and reframe everything including escort posts if you frame it.
Same goes for hobbyist, you can create a sequence of safety phrases and scenarios so you aren't framed in such a negative light.
Proxies
If your on another level you can operate via proxy, when I have to vanish from the world and regenerate as a new person. I operate via many proxies.
services like: https://www.earthclassmail.com/ allow me to register my mailing address as something different than my personal address so no ordinary person or operation would go through the trouble of finding me. Again with enough time and money I can be found. But the average person isn't going to go on a US tour trying to track me down from the proxy address to the real one. I can do this with almost any item, even a car.
Hopefully my shadow operations have helped you do what you like to do much better and safer. This was posted randomly out of good will and no spelling or grammatical errors will be addressed at this time.