Bug Off - Physical Sweeps
Bug Off - Physical Sweeps
Bug Off - Physical Sweeps
Good Flashlight
Flatblade Screwdriver
Magnifying Glass
Also Useful:
Hidden Camera
Detector
Butt Set
[6]
wires to see if they lead to a
recorder. Also note, if you
find a splitter, and didnt
purchase and install it
yourself, it could have a
built-in transmitter thats
eavesdropping on your
telephone calls.
Plug adaptors (photo on next
page) can also have built-in
transmitters. If you dont need
it, pull it out. If you need it,
but didnt buy it, replace it.
Most common electronic
surveillance equipment can be
quickly placed in your home,
office, or vehicle without any
telltale signs.
A Brooklyn rabbi always
knew the latest gossip on his
neighbors. He parlayed this
into a thriving counseling/
advice business. One day
someone from his building
went to the basement. He
found the rabbi sitting on a
wooden crate jotting notes on
a pad. Between his ear and
shoulder he cradled a butt
set, with alligator clips
attached to one of his
neighbors phone lines.
How people learn
information about you
There are a number of ways
that people can learn
information about you.
Probably number one
(surprise!) on the list is gossip.
Almost everyone has one
These Devices from Radio Shack
are used with recorders
that record both sides of
a phone conversation. When
used with a splitter
(center), they can be
attached to the phone
interface where the phone
line comes into the wall,
or at any point in the
phone line by splicing
into the line. To find
these, follow all the
phone lines, including
under dressers, beds, etc.
WATCH FOR!!!!
You can
make a butt
set from an old
handset.
[7]
friend that they feel that they
can trust. Of course, that
friend, in turn, has a friend
that they can trust. Pretty soon,
something confidential you
uttered to your closest friend is
shared with her closest friend
(which may not be you), and
on and on.
Be very careful who
you share confidential
information with, if
anyone.
I did a sweep in upstate New
York. My clients maid caught
someone going through the
trash behind the house. Many
people think that once they
throw something in the trash,
its gone forever. Not so!
Private investigators garner
valuable information about
people through dumpster
dives. Notes, receipts, credit
card bills, drug paraphernalia,
condoms, etc., are often found
in peoples trash. This is why
you should shred or burn
confidential information
before tossing it out.
Sometimes people swear to
me that their cell phone is
bugged, because something
they said on their cell phone
was found out by someone
else. One way that this can
happen is through lip-reading.
Thats right, lip-reading. There
are several ways that this can
be done. A lip-reader can
hear what you say on your
cell phone from 12 feet away
by observing your mouth, and
even further when using
binoculars. A person who
wants to find out what youre
saying on your cell phone
when out in public simply has
to videotape you. This can be
done from quite a distance.
Then all they have to do is
show the video to a lip-reader
to get the translation.
Along this same line, people
can simply overhear you when
in public. You might be talking
to a person next to you, or
having a conversation on your
cell phone. Recently, while in
the supermarket I heard a man
talking on his cell phone.
Standing near him, I learned
where hed be that night, with
whom, what time, and quite a
bit about their sex life.
Finally, and why you bought
this booklet, theres electronic
eavesdropping.
Plug adaptor with radio transmitter
A Note on Computers
The purpose of this booklet is
to locate physical
eavesdropping objects, devices
that you can see. There are
programs that can reside on
your computers hard-drive
that only a computer
technician can detect.
Never open an attachment to
an email from a person that
you do not know. Spyware is
placed on your computer when
you open an attachment. If
you receive email and click on
an attachment and nothing
apparently happens, you may
have allowed spyware to be
placed on your computer.
Be aware of physical key
loggers like those shown
above. Unlike spyware, they
are something that you can
see. Key loggers record every
keystroke that you make,
including passwords, email,
etc. They take a couple of
different forms. One, attached
between your computer and
the cord going to your
keyboard is pictured above.
While the one pictured is blue,
it could also be black or white.
(Filters on computer cables
look very similar, but you can
differentiate them because
they cannot be detached.)
There is a second type that
plugs into any USB port on
your computer (see above).
With key loggers, the person
installing them has to retrieve
them and plug them into their
computer, and then they can
see everything you typed.
[8]
Outside
Determine if the phone cable
coming to the junction box on
the outside of your house
comes directly from the
telephone pole, or from an
underground conduit. If it
comes from an underground
conduit, then you must locate
the telephone junction box in
your neighborhood.
In rural areas the phone line to
your house likely comes
directly from the telephone
pole. In urban areas there is
probably a junction box close
to your house.
Typical junction boxes are
pictured below. Some modern
ones are round. They can be
opened with a flat-bladed
screwdriver. (It is not illegal to
check your telephone line for
wiretaps.)
Inside youll find rows
of terminals with red
and green or yellow
and black wires
attached to the
terminals. Youre
looking for your
telephone line.
Occasionally, the
terminals are labeled
with the corresponding phone
numbers. If theyre not, using
your butt set (purchased from
Radio Shack, Home Depot,
the Internet, or your
homemade butt set), attach the
alligator clips to each pair of
wires (green and red). If you
hear a dial tone, dial
1-800-444-4444. A
computerized voice will tell
you the number that youre
calling from. Do this until you
find your phone number. (No
dial tone indicates that the
terminal is not in service. If
you hear conversation on
a line, disconnect quickly.)
(Dont do this exercise in the
rain. Phone wires carry only
about 48 volts of direct
current, but that still can
produce quite a kick.)
When you find your line, mark
it for the future. If there are
other pairs of wires attached to
the terminal on your line, and
they go to another terminal,
your phone is tapped. Follow
the wires to the other terminal.
Then clip your butt set to the
terminal and dial
800-444-444. Now youll
SWEEPING A HOUSE
Whether sweeping a house, small ofce, or
vehicle, always be consistent and methodical.
Junction Boxes
Neighborhood and house
junction boxes are pictured
to the right. You can open
them with a screwdriver. (It is
not illegal to check your
telephone line for wiretaps).
Spy
Finder
Hidden Camera
Finder at
Work
[9]
know the number of the
person who tapped your
phone!
Look carefully at your
terminal. Compare it to the
other terminals in the junction
box. See if there is anything
unusual about yours, or if
anything is attached to your
line.
Second, go to the phone
junction box on the outside of
the house. This is also a very
easy place to tap your phone.
If you open the phone junction
box, youll see the main cable
coming into the junction box
from the telephone pole
distributing box, or the
neighborhood junction box.
There will be a ground wire
leaving the box to a water pipe
or other suitable ground. This
wire will likely go into the
ground and may be attached to
a visible pipe driven into the
ground. There are also red and
green, and yellow and black
wires going into the house.
Landlines, including cordless
phones, use these wires once
they go into the house, at the
telephone interface, which is
described later.
There are two things to look
for. First, look for colored
(they may be enclosed in a
gray or black cable) wires
going into the ground, a
bush, or to your neighbors
house. The colored wires
should be going into the
house and nowhere else.
Also, look for anything
attached to any of the colored
wires in the junction box.
What youre looking for is a
transmitter. If the transmitter
happens to be powered by the
phone line there will be no
battery attached. The
transmitter could be quite
small, and wrapped in black,
or other-colored tape. A
transmitter will contain small
circuit board, diodes and
other parts that may be
unfamiliar to you.
Enlarged for viewing
Again, this is a popular place
to tap a phone. Some
eavesdroppers will actually
bury a recorder in the ground
below the junction box, or
place it under the porch or
deck. Be sure there are no
colored wires going
anywhere besides into your
house.
Note: A person could also go
to your junction box at
night, clip a butt set to your
phone line and eavesdrop on
your phone conversations in
the dark.
If you live in an apartment, go
to the basement and locate the
phone closet. Youll find a
telephone junction box there.
Most are unlocked. (If locked,
call the phone company and
ask them to come and check
your line for static. Then go
to the phone room with the
service person and have him
check your line.) Using your
butt set, follow the instructions
above regarding the
neighborhood junction box.
Basement
Next, go into your basement,
or wherever the telephone
interface is in your house. This
is just opposite the wall where
the telephone junction box is
on the outside. There is
usually a small plastic box
(white or beige) with a cable
that contains at least one pair
of red and green and at least
one pair of black and yellow
wires coming in from outside.
The next step is very
important, and a little tricky.
One-by-one, follow all the
wire pairs coming out of the
interface. They may go
directly to one phone, or
several extensions in the
house. The number of wires
will depend upon how many
phone lines you have, and how
many extensions.
If a wire goes up into a wall,
or some other inaccessible
place, dont worry about it.
[10]
What you are looking for are
bugs or wiretaps that are easy
to place.
Always be on the lookout for
a bug spliced to a phone line.
These transmitters are
usually wrapped in
electricians tape, so as you
examine the phone lines
coming from the telephone
interface, look for fat
sections of the phone wire,
covered with black, or
another color, electricians
tape.
This is why you need to
follow each wire with your
fingers. If you simply eye the
wires, a clever wiretapper will
splice a recorder or transmitter
several feet down the wire and
hide that part of the wire under
something.
As you follow the paired
wires, be sure that they go to
a telephone, or just end with
nothing attached to them. Of
course, paired wires with
nothing attached to them are
possible places for future wire
taps, so you should keep an
eye on these.
If you find a pair of wires
going to a recorder, bingo!
The recorder may be battery
operated, or be plugged into
the house current.
As a second line of defense,
locate all the outlets in the
basement. There are two
important things to check on
the outlets. First, if there is
anything plugged into them,
follow the cords. You should
know whats on the other end
of every plug.
Sometimes you may miss a
recorder attached to your
phone line when trying to
follow all the wires. But,
youll still catch it when
following all the cords that are
plugged into outlets.
Remember, if a person uses a
battery operated recorder, hell
have to have access once in a
while to change the batteries.
Therefore, sometimes running
the recorder off the house
current is more convenient.
Also, while checking the
outlets, you may find a
recorder that is not attached to
a phone line. The first bug I
ever found was like this. I
found a plug in an outlet, and
traced the cord to a small
wooden box fastened to the
basement ceiling. The wooden
box had a door and a latch and
padlock. Fortunately, it was
unlocked. I opened the door
and found a tape recorder
inside. A wire went from the
top of the box and through a
hole in the basement ceiling. I
knew I was below the living
room, so I went upstairs, and
slid the couch away from the
wall. I discovered a small
microphone under the couch,
with a cord going to the
wooden box in the basement.
Examine the telephones
themselves by taking the cover
off. Some phone covers snap
off, but most have about four
screws on the bottom that will
have to be removed. If there
are any alligator clips in the
phone, such as black-plastic-
enclosed clips as in the photo
on page 13, know that your
phone is tapped. There should
be no alligator clips or
electrical tape on any wires.
All the wires should have a
permanent look. There should
be no loose wires or sloppy
wiring.
In any room where
eavesdropping is a concern,
take the face plate off all the
outlets.
If you have a home office in
the basement, or any kind of
room where you fear
eavesdroppers, take the face
plate off the outlets in that
room.
On the next page is a typical
wall outlet. There is often
electricians tape around the
box containing the outlet. This
is normal. But youll notice
that there is nothing else in
there. On the Internet one may
purchase wall outlets that
contain a miniature
microphone, transmitter, and
antenna.
[11]
Typical wall outlet (dark lines are
shadows)
Train your flashlight carefully,
looking at all sides of the
outlet. If you see anything
attached to it, even a thin wire
(the antenna), you may have
located a bug. A mismatching
outlet would be a strong clue
that something is amiss.
Unless you know what youre
doings, suspicious outlets
should be replaced by an
electrician.
There are several other
electrical devices that could
house a transmitter. They
include power strips and plug
adapters to expand your outlet
for insertion of two or three
plugs. If you find any of these
attached to an outlet, and you
didnt purchase it, or dont
know where it came from,
replace it with one that you
purchased.
Ground Floor
Now, go upstairs. Carefully
follow all the phone wires as
you did in the basement.
Know where every wire
comes from and where it goes.
Check all the outlets. Inside,
start in one corner, and work
around the room. Know what
is plugged into every outlet
Look carefully for:
Recorders
Unaccounted-for cell
phones
Transmitters hidden in
ordinary objects
Total RF (radio
frequency) spectrum
sweep - 200 Hz to 12
GHz
Infrared transmission
sweep
Laser beam
transmission sweep
Microwave (X-Band)
transmission sweep
Microphone sweep
Acoustic leakage
inspection