ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE Are you bugged? (C) Copyright 1993 Michael E. Enlow ---------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER This document was written by an expert, quite knowledgeable in the methods and techniques of good, successful investigation. The author has based this material solely upon his discoveries and experiences in the trade but is not an attorney. Thus no legal advice is offered herein. Be cautioned therefore, that this document neither asserts the legality of any of the methods described herein, nor does it advocate any usage of techniques without first seeking competent legal advice and adherence to the law. The author, editor, and service providers, unequivocally disclaim any responsibility for damages resulting from the use of any of the techniques or the consequences of implementing anything contained herein. This writing is provided strictly for informational purposes only. --------------------------------------------------------------- (This is an abstract from The Inside Secrets, a newsletter catering to detectives, attorneys, law enforcement officers and professionals around the world. Want to know how the pro's bug, tap phones, and use other things to hear what you're saying.) I'm now going to show you just how widespread illegal electronic surveillance, or bugging really is. But, let me begin by saying. . . MY INTENTION IS NOT TO SHOW YOU WAYS YOU MAY DO ILLEGAL ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE, BUT ONLY TO INFORM YOU OF HOW IT IS DONE, ON WHAT SCALE, AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS. I, THEREFORE, DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR YOUR MISUSE OF ANY OF THE TECHNIQUES AND/OR CONCEPTS OUTLINED WITHIN THIS ISSUE AND FURTHER ISSUES OF THE INSIDE SECRETS NEWSLETTER. Do you get it? If you take it upon yourself to use the information I share with you and do something illegal, then you pay the price. I am warning you in advance. I am not an attorney and do not claim to be rendering legal advice. If you consider using any of the concepts I disclose, you should consult your attorney to insure they are legal in your jurisdiction. With that behind us, let's move on. Do you know there are only about three to four hundred court orders issued each year for electronic surveillance applications in the U.S.? Yet, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of electronic surveillance equipment suppliers. I wonder how they manage to stay in business? Well, my friend, I'll tell you. They make a lot of money selling electronic surveillance equipment. Their customers are Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, corporations, and a few private investigators, who often illegally use these devices in their investigations--but you'll never know it... A very popular book on electronic surveillance came out in 1967, and it listed some of the buyers of electronic surveillance gear. Everyone was quite surprised to find Avis Rent-A-Car, various hotel chains, Coca-Cola, several life insurance companies, and the like, were allegedly spending millions for specialized bugging devices. But to find out that Walt Disney was a major customer . . .? Hmmm.... In my career, I have discovered numerous illegal electronic surveillance applications. Bugs are everywhere; they're in small businesses, large corporations, people's homes, conventions, everywhere! In fact, if you don't believe me, you can hear for yourself. Use a programmable police scanner to scan the 35 to 50 megahertz bands. You'll almost always find some very strange transmissions. (Things mother wouldn't have wanted you to hear.) Let me tell you more about electronic surveillance. There are many ways of using electronics for surveillance, but first lets take a look at what's called hardwiring. Hardwiring is basically the same as having an everyday microphone plugged into a tape recorder. When you speak into the microphone, everything you say is sent through the microphone's wire and recorded onto a tape. Then, there are electronic transmitters which intercept the signal via microphone and transmit it as a radio signal to a receiver of some kind. (Sort of like a miniature radio station.) There are also more advanced long range listening devices like the laser mic, the shotgun microphone, the parabolic microphone, and others which can pick up a whisper for long ranges (sometimes even miles away). To elaborate on a few types of electronic surveillance applications and the ways to protect yourself from them, I'll expound and tell of a couple of case scenarios. First let's discuss. . . HARDWIRING As I said earlier, this type of electronic interception requires the use of wire to carry the sound to you or some other listening device. There are many ways hardwiring is done. Wires the size of a human hair can be used to transmit a signal from a microphone. They can be painted over, implanted under carpet, in an air condition duct, or behind baseboards, etc., to conceal them from view. At one end of the wire is the microphone, and on the other a tape recorder or even someone who is listening with a set of headphones. This method of electronic interception is the oldest in the industry, yet still practiced today. To make everything a little more complicated, there is also a conductive paint that closely resembles fingernail polish, which will transmit the minute electrical impulses from the microphone to a recorder or headphones. There are so many different hardwire applications that I will not attempt to cover them all. I will just emphasize a bit by sharing with you a couple we've discovered in our countermeasures work. Once, in checking a certain client's business for bugs, we located a very cleverly installed hard-wire system. Obviously someone had access to the office for a considerable length of time, or maybe did a little breaking and entering to get into the office. Anyway, this particular application was a small microphone element about a quarter inch in diameter (found at all Radio Shack stores) placed in a small hole in a picture frame. A hole drilled into the rear of the picture frame held the microphone in place. A small eighth inch hole continued through the frame to allow the sound waves to reach the microphone. A couple of fine wires running from the microphone to the wall were thumb tacked there. At this point, conductive paint, as described above, continued down the seams of the paneling walls to the baseboard. Behind the baseboard the conductive paint joined with an old set of unused telephone wires. A recorder was concealed in the basement near the phone box. Every sound made in our client's office was being taped using a long play tape recorder. Many times agents will change the play and record speed of tape recorders by alternating the internal components. This enables a standard tape recorder to record from 4 to 15 hours on one side of a tape. Let me tell you of another clever hardwire I discovered. We received a call from a lady who, believing that she was bugged, requested a "bug-sweep" of her home to detect any illegal electronic surveillance devices. After a very thorough sweep b y several of my agents, they found nothing. My agents told her there were no electronic surveillance devices on the premises. My men really did a thorough sweep and search. A few days later the lady called again and said she knew without a doubt that she was bugged. She insisted we must have missed something. This time I went to the location and ran every test we had equipment to run. Still--no bug. Then, I began the next countermeasures procedure, a physical inspection of the entire house from attic to basement. As I was searching, I noticed something very unusual. The stereo, situated in the center of the home, was on and the cassette deck was playing. Closer inspection showed that it was recording! However, there wasn't a microphone plugged into the microphone jack and it didn't have an internal microphone. I stopped the tape and played it back. There was a perfect recording of our client and myself as I was questioning her during my search. I checked the back of the stereo and there it was! I noticed one of the speaker wires was routed into the cabinet of the stereo. I disassembled the stereo and the wire was connected to the microphone jack on the inside and connected to a speaker. A SPEAKER WAS BEING USED TO CONDUCT MICROPHONE SIGNALS TO THE TAPE RECORDER! It worked like a charm!