Camouflage for blackbag jobs

[WMD]

While destructive opening techniqes have their charme, sometimes you need to be sneaky and nondestructive. This however means it'll take more time, time you spend in front of a door possibly in full sight.

So, how can you escape detection? On the dutch blackbag blog is a nice a story about an FBI job where the entry specialist hid inside a big refrigerator box that was parked outside the target door.
http://www.toool.nl/blackbag/

Any other ideas?

[Rbick]

Well that depends on what type of environment you're in. One of my personal favorites in the ghillie suit (http://www.ghilliesuitplus.com/chameleon-ghillie-suits.html). Our snipers used them quite a bit. Always in training, since we never had a use for them in Iraq. But you could literally walk over someone wearing one of these and not even know it. They could slash your achilles tendon before you knew anything had happened :D.

Another option is digital camo (http://www.hyperstealth.com/CADPAT-MARPAT.htm). In urban settings at night, the Army digital camo worked pretty well. Especially with night vision. Seeing someone with digital camo through night vision in a city is tough. In a wooded area however, the Army digital camo is retarded, and easy to see.

I also heard about a suit being developed that reflects its surroundings, making a chameleon like effect. Not to sure on details for this, but apparently its being worked on. The guy hiding in the refrigerator is pretty funny, and creative. I don't know if I'd have the patients to chill out in a refrigerator for too long though...

[nbk2000]

I think it was a cardboard box that fridges come in, not an actual fridge. ;)

[WMD]

Rbick: Neither Ghillie suits nor digital camo will help you a lot to stay undetected when you're standing next to a door with picks or an impressiong kit for a couple of minutes. I'm talking about working in a normal everyday city, not a war zone. Maybe I should have chosen a better title....

And yes, I meant a cardboard box.

[sobreroHWE]

Doing things in full public view is sometimes disarming enough for by-standers to assume you are not doing anything wrong. I broke in to my home on more than one occasion with my lock pick set, neighbors driving/walking by for 15 minutes. No problems. "my friend" also told me a story about when he got some nice glass/chems from an open classroom with 3 or 4 students quietly studying in the next room. "My friend" walked right past them, glass in hand, with no problems.

Keeping your body language under control is also important. Security people in a retail store will look for some mud watching his back every 5 seconds, or some fat bitch staring at the employees just before she snatches some Twinkies, rather than the calm, cunning Rogue who just looks like hes supposed to be there. The public is very stupid and inattentive.

Printing up a "Joe's locksmithing" or a "FedEx" logo on a $1 shirt with some dirty work pants and maybe some other props, will also help in areas requiring a bit of subterfuge. I have seen both work.

[perrymk]

When I was an undergraduate chemistry student I would do experiments in student labs during class session. Once I found a not too crowded morning lab class and just walked in. Most people recognized me as a student but no one ever asked if I was registered for that particular lab class (I wasn't). I even had the stockroom guy get stuff for me when I ran out or needed something. I think I actually had better attendance than some of the registered students although I never did the student experiments, just my own analysis.

I think the key was I blended in. I was a student, I looked like a student, and I was surrounded by students. If it were an office envirnoment a suit and tie might be better.

[anonymous411]

Brooks Brothers suit, Gucci loafers, impeccable grooming, and an air of calm certainty?

Anyone can find the first two on Ebay for pennies on the dollar.

[Rbick]

Ha my mistake. I automatically assumed the word "Camouflage" to refer to some sort of literal blending with the enviornment. But I agree with sobreroHWE and perrymk. Acting calmly and looking like you're suppose to be there is the key. Confidence will get you a long way. If you act like you know what you're talking about, people will tend not to question you. Same with acting like you're suppose to be there.

I recall back in my teenage days (I was 17 at the time and had yet to graduate High School) when I walked to into the Chemistry building at the local college. I walked right into a class room and struck up a coversation with the professor about thermite reactions. At the time, being in my early stages of interest in energetic materials, I really didn't know much about Chemistry. But I threw in a few terms and pretended to know what I was talking about. We spoke for a while and he never questioned whether I was a student in his class. It turned out to be a good experience, as I learned a lot. Although I never found the chemical storage closet I was looking for :D. Social Engineering is a great Camouflage.

[Match]

Brooks Brothers suit, Gucci loafers, impeccable grooming, and an air of calm certainty?

Anyone can find the first two on Ebay for pennies on the dollar.

Yea, no doubt. Look rich ( not drug dealer rich, but wall street rich) and people will let you get away with murder. :cool:

[perrymk]

I walked right into a class room and struck up a coversation with the professor ... We spoke for a while and he never questioned whether I was a student in his class.

Even if he did know you weren't in his class he would likely have talked with you anyway. I have emailed professors looking for copies of their papers and had copies mailed to me. This from professors of universities I had no affiliation with and who could not know if I were a student or a bum on the internet. I have also had professors and other professionals answer questions for a research paper. Many, perhaps even most, professors like to help interested students. I wouldn't abuse the situation but certainly take advantage of it.

[totenkov]

Ghillie suits are good, however in urban areas I am not sure how appropriate they are. If you are sneaking about in the night, best is just black clothing. when committing your dirty deed (or whatever your doing) the greatest fear is usually being seen. However unless you are in a war zone (or area were people are on high alert) it needs to be remembered that people aren't on the lookout for dudes running around in black. Shadows help hide you, bushes and so on.

I have found in the past (especially at night, or in good camo in the day) as long as you stay stock still people can look straight at you and not see you. Even if they are 10 feet away! The eye detects movement, shape and then color. Best to break up your shape as a human because it is easily recognizable.

People are usually stupid. They go about in their lives without really seeing what is going on around them. If you look at people in the mall, were are they looking? Watching other people around them, making sure no one is following them? Hell no. They are watching their feet fall on the ground, oblivious to all those around them.

If you are doing something that is illegal, dangerous or otherwise will excite others to call the cops, chase you/whatever the best thing you can do is stick to the shadows, get it done and leave. Don't let your imagination run wild and loose your head.

[Jacks Complete]

I'd disagree with that entirely. There are thousand's of security cameras, security gaurds, and MoP's (Members of the Public), as well as police (helicopters and foot soldiers of various types) all looking out for "Men in Black with intent".

Dressing in a black get-up says "Cat Burglar" or "Spy" to anyone who ever saw a Milk Tray advert or James Bond film. And, it's not even effective in an area with street lighting! Sure, you look like a big black shadow, but I can see shadows just fine.

Just dress in a regular black/dark set of gear, with a hoodie if you want, and keep your gloves off until you need them, hood down close over your head but walking upright. Don't look like you are wanting to pick a fight, and don't mooch, just act like you are going someplace, and go there, and, honestly, no-one looks twice.

Try the same dressed as a ninja, and you will stick out like a sore thumb. It will also give the police a great ID for looking for you, too!

[Alexires]

Really, all we have said is what has been said before.

Don't attract attention to yourself. That is the basics of camouflage. Ghillie suits are appropriate in some situations, but useless in a mall for instance.

Look like everyone else. Go to your local mall, sit there and watch people walk past. Study how they move, how the walk, where they look, what the look like. Become an expert on the sheeple.

An important part of camouflage is to not catch the eye. Hence, if you are following someone, by all means watch them, but don't make eye contact. Once you do that, you generally shake them out of whatever stupor they are in and bring them back to reality.

Same with liberating things. If you are planning to "liberate" something, follow the RTPB (obviously), but make sure you blend in.

Is it better to be walking down a mall at 1am, wearing a black ninja outfit or black clothing? Or is it better to be there at 1pm, when all the corporate types are out and about for lunch, dressed in your suit and with your briefcase?

Be ingenious and utilise things around you. If you need time at a door, look like a cleaner and have a reason to be there! Otherwise, make sure no one can see you, but make sure it isn't obvious.

For example, the fridge container. People could accept it being there, and while it was out of place (a fridge next to a door), it fit right in and no one questioned it.

By seeing everything as if you were seeing it for the first time and by trying not to fit it into the archetype you have built for everything. This way you are both aware if someone is doing these things to you, and you also learn about how the sheeple operate.

[nbk2000]

I'm sure everyone has seen one of these besides doors to businesses:

http://www.barcoproducts.com/images/upload/items/large/UR38HT202.jpg

It's big enough for a non-fat person to curl up into, and with a little modification, someone could be waiting...;)

[Jacks Complete]

Might be kind of gross or even painful when someone dumps some rubbish or a cigarette butt on your head! It would also look way out of place if it was right in front of the door.

Now, as a turret weapon, it would have some big advantages! And if you wanted to, you could make it from strong concrete and steel, and it is a bunker! (Yes, a one man and very small bunker, but it's better than just standing there!)

[nbk2000]

You put it by the target door well in advance, so people get used to it being there. Since nobody in a corporate setting is going to bother finding out why a garbage receptacle has appeared by the front door, no one is going to suspect it.

When is the last time you saw a garbage can and said 'I must find out who put that there!'...really. :rolleyes:

It is, of course, epoxied or bolted into place, right where you want it to be.

After it's been there a few weeks, it'll be as if it's always been there. :)

Then, the night before the appointed time, you 'move in', having removed the trash container, and putting a false top on that has that 'overflowing with garbage' look, which is actually just clean trash that's attached to a black mesh screen, so you can see out and get some air, with no one trying to throw trash on your head.

How to keep derelicts from trying to recycle? Hmmm...good question. Snake rattler? I know a swarm of wasps would do it for me.

Anyways, when your target approaches the door first thing (like opening the bank), you magically appear out of thin air. :)

[Jacks Complete]

Not quite what I meant. If you are going to pick the lock, you would want to be right in front of the door, where the lock is, rather than off to one side. If you are right in front of the door, with a bin, then people are going to wonder, because you can't put something permanent in front of the door like that, else people can't use it!

If it's for an ambush, then that's different, and it being a few feet away is fine.

[sobreroHWE]

Because of this thread I decided to get off my ass and get to work. "My friend" "found" a real FedEx shirt and hat. I will try to post some pics of "my friend" looking suave in his new get up, while doing something "rogue".

It occurred to me that in addition to being able to complete some overt task while in public view, a false uniform may also help you get into a targets home WITH their permission (for an attack,bugging op) With a full closet, anyone could move effortlessly, in and out, of a potential witnesses conscience memory.

[panzerkampfwagen]

Although blending in is usually the best way to avoid suspicion, sometimes intentionally drawing attention to yourself can be more effective. I remember that a pyro family (interesting story, four kids, grandma and grandpa and the parents (a family that makes bombs together stays together)) tried to blow up a casino with a home-made bomb disguised as the kind of thing that you do not want to mess with. It was about five feet tall, four feet wide, made out of stainless steel plates, and had 130 switches and over a hundred blinking red lights and weighed a almost a ton. It went "undetected" for over 48 hours before it was armed (by the father, disguised as a generic electrical repairman). No one questioned it because it was too suspicious to be suspicious. The plot was only realized after they called in the bomb threat. No suspects have been arrested, and it happened in 1988.

In other words, if you walked through a major city in a gigantic taco or hotdog suit, do you think that anyone would be suspicious? The last time that you saw someone in some ridiculous outfit, like a cartoon character suit or in blatantly emo clothing, did the word "assasin" ever come to mind? If it did, lay off of the pot. In other words, it is possible to have such a ridiculous disguise that you cannot be caught.

I wonder what would happen of you wore a t-shirt that said "definitely not an assasin" on the front. You might actually get away with it. Dark humor has become so common, particularly in t-shirts that people would just think that you have a twisted sense of humor. Come to think of it, who would suspect the guy in the Santa or Easter Bunny suit?

[nbk2000]

Turn yourself into a vending machine! :D

http://www.treehugger.com/20crime_slide01.jpg

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/urban_camouflag.php

[sobreroHWE]

That looks like it might solve someones "what to wear if I need time to pick a lock" problem. Just make it look like it was just delivered and has a good reason for sitting in an awkward place.

[lock]

Wow, check this out- http://www.ezpicking.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=830

Burglars-in-a-box busted after Canada robberies
Fri Oct 26, 2007 4:27 PM EDT

TORONTO (Reuters) - Two men and a woman who used an ordinary cardboard box to break into over 200 Toronto area fast-food joints were caught by lucky timing, police said on Friday.

The trio arrived at their target with an oversized cardboard box, which they propped up against the restaurant's front door. One person hid in the box and used specialized tools to break into the restaurant, while the others stood guard with a police scanner and two-way radios.

"They were able to, by experience, literally remove the glass from the pane of the door and then set the glass aside," said Detective Sergeant Reuben Strober of Toronto Police, adding that the burglars managed to disable most alarm systems at the same time.

Even if the alarms were triggered, the suspects got away before police arrived. Over the course of their crime spree, they made off with some C$250,000 ($260,000), police said.

Strobel said the three were finally caught after police responded to an unrelated call in the neighborhood.

They face 355 charges.

[Kaydon]

Casual.

That's key.

If you're scoping out the 'hood, dress like a meter reader and read meters.

If you're in public, observe people. If it's not 30 degrees out don't wear a big bulky leather jacket, etc. Wear what everyone else is wearing. Some colors scream 'suspicious character' like black clothing. In stores people wearing hoodies get watched.

Some stores like target have people dressed like everyone else but they're security personnel who walk around the store scoping out suspicious characters.

Remember though, it isn't stealing until you leave the business.

But if you're after homes, you've got a couple things facing you if you're spotted, B&E, Trespassing, etc.

Blend into the area you're after.

Hell you could even impersonate a cop, you'd just better not get caught and fit the role. I know around here any moron could fit the role of our local police.

NBK's trash can idea is bloody brilliant. Great idea with thrash attached to the mesh. Only problem is what business it's in front of could try to empty the trash and you'd be a bit fucked. How the hell would you explain that?

[WMD]

Thanks for all the good replies so far. I think however some are a little bit besides the point. Of course it's nice to blend in and everything but as soon as you're standing in front of a door fumbling around with tools everyone looks suspicious. The one possible exception being maybe someone with a "24-7 emergency locksmith" jacket and a "rightful owner" bitching about how the entry is taking so long. What you need to keep in mind though is that with blackbag jobs, unlike normal burglaries you want to be able to get in and out several times without being detected.

So far the box in front of the door seems like the best idea. If it's a delivery entrance, parking a van in front of the door might work as well to shield yourself from suspicious eyes.

[Kaydon]

There used to be a show on Discovery Channel called It takes a thief. Where these two guys would "rob" families homes when they were gone - you had to sign-up to be robbed of course.. It seemed like mostly a crock, but what they would do is take a plain old van and put like so-and-so TV repair, plumbing, etc. When the family leaves, just pull up, rob the place and stuff all the goodies in the van and haul ass - using a fake license plate of course.

[Prutzel]

hmmm...what about this:


http://www.time.com/time/2003/inventions/invinvisible.html

[nbk2000]

Requires an LCD projector to be set up a distance away from the scene, to project a copy of the scene, onto a non-perfect reflective coat.

Oh, and it's needs to be powered.

[megalomania]

I looked at every invention Time chose for its 2003 lineup, and only the cell phone camera has actually made an impact on society. I still think cell phone cameras are dumb, but more often than not some citizen turns up with footage of police brutality or fedgov terrorism. Reverse big brother at its best.

Notice how very impractical it is to have a special reflective outfit on and set up an LCD projector. You would also only be invisible from the direction of the projector, yes? I wonder how the police would use this to disguise the approach of fedgov murderers if the projector has to be shining from the targets position.

You might be able to use something like this to hide you from notice from behind, but imagine what could possibly go wrong... you are skulking around wearing a funny looking parka shining a very bright light on yourself. Nothing could possibly go wrong there.

How much would a projector cost to project a scene far enough, and bright enough to hide you? The cheapo home theater ones cost a fortune, this would probably have to use an industrial or theater grade projector costing tens of thousands of dollars!

[javainmycoffee]

In many places fire codes require multiple entrances/exits; one is usually a back door or a service entrance. Pretend you're a bum sleeping a few feet away until you know no one is coming. This wouldn't work for personal residences but in a city street setting or store robbery it might work.

[wolfy9005]

Dress up in one of those big silver foil suit's that they use to walk near volcano's, etc. You'd probably get some laugh's, and you'd be able to go into some door's that normal people cant. The biggest thing is confidence. Just because the sign say's "door alarmed" doesnt mean it's actually alarmed(ive seen security guards walk through the fire door's). The bin idea is good, but make it look like it belong's there. No point having a crappy looking bin infront of a multi-million or even multi-billion dollar company's tower now is there?(unless it's at the street, but then you'd have rubbish thrown at you, kicked, etc)

[Charles Owlen Picket]

I think you bumped into an idea with the security guards uniform..... Certainly that opens doors due to the actual lack of data a real guard would have....he would not be a cop, he could be "new on the job", or waiting for a supervisor.

[Jacks Complete]

Security guards usually walk into the firedoors they walked out of, having turned them off with a key. But feel free to try it. You can tell us how it went when they let you out on bail.

I have a t-shirt that says "Network security STAFF" written big across the back, and a vague logo on the front. Very funny, but I feel more like a target when wearing it. Same with the "locksmith" one. Plain-ish, washed a few times black, with a logo on it blends far better.

[IriOfTheSnow]

Along with NBK's trash can idea, Michael Moore used an interesting trash bag urban camo that would fit any where in an urban enviroment: by the street, by the front door, ect. Any out-of place look it hold would be chalked up to negligent thinking on half of the trash owners. Seems to be much more versatile.

Here's the video: http://http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=27588 (http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=27588)The bag is used is about a third of the way through.

Seems easy enough to make, a black trash bag filled with some paper, cardboard pieces, maybe a bottle, some mesh, and maybe some cement slurry to bind everything.

[wst50]

for the binbag idea, use a kiddie play tunnel. Have some poles that you can hook through holes at the 'top' (it'll be on-end) of the tunnel, to give it height. A bag could sit on top, with a hole in the bottom, the edge of the hole glued to the bottom edge of the tunnel (the top tied off to simulate a bag). To assemble, get in (with the poles), hook them into the holes at the top, let go of the tunnel, and you're ready to wait.

In a delivery area (ie. for warehouses), plain cardboard boxes would be perfect for camo. Deliver a large load of boxes from a van, some containing a person, others containing tools, and some empty (decoys). Quite a few loads could build up relatively un-noticed. Though leaving them in a covered area would be a good idea, cardboard doesn't like rain.

[sbovisjb1]

I'd disagree with that entirely. There are thousand's of security cameras, security gaurds, and MoP's (Members of the Public), as well as police (helicopters and foot soldiers of various types) all looking out for "Men in Black with intent".

Dressing in a black get-up says "Cat Burglar" or "Spy" to anyone who ever saw a Milk Tray advert or James Bond film. And, it's not even effective in an area with street lighting! Sure, you look like a big black shadow, but I can see shadows just fine.

Just dress in a regular black/dark set of gear, with a hoodie if you want, and keep your gloves off until you need them, hood down close over your head but walking upright. Don't look like you are wanting to pick a fight, and don't mooch, just act like you are going someplace, and go there, and, honestly, no-one looks twice.

Try the same dressed as a ninja, and you will stick out like a sore thumb. It will also give the police a great ID for looking for you, too!

Don't dress suspiciously. Dress nondescriptly and act normally. I would suggest instead of breaking into a house, if you want to kidnapp someone, nab him while he is away from his house.