Your Cell Phone Can Be Used to Eavesdrop on You – Even When Turned Off!
by
Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. (friend
Anne on Facebook! 
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17 Comments, Last updated
08/04/2011
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Did you know that your innocent-looking little cell phone can be used to listen in on your regular conversations – conversations which aren’t even taking place on your cellphone but just in the room in which your cell phone is sitting – without you even knowing? Known as a “roving bug”, this technology can be used for eavesdropping even when your mobile phone is turned off! This is no urban legend – in fact the evidence came out in some genuine legal evidence, at the Federal court level just this past week. It turns out that the Feds had been using this method of eavesdropping, which is now known as a “roving bug”, to eavesdrop on some mobsters in a sting of the Genovese family. The defense objected, and this past week the Federal court ruled that the use of the roving bug technology was covered under the federal wiretapping law. “The FBI can access cell phones and modify them remotely without ever having to physically handle them. Any recently manufactured cell phone has a built-in tracking device, which can allow eavesdroppers to pinpoint someone’s location to within just a few feet,” explained counterintelligence security consultant James Atkinson. And to use the cell phone’s microphone as a room bug. It’s all done by sending a piece of software, remotely, to the cell phone – something which can be done without your ever knowing it was sent and installed on your phone. “A cellular telephone can be turned into a microphone and transmitter for the purpose of listening to conversations in the vicinity of the phone,” confirms the U.S. Commerce Department. And because the cell phone can be used in this way even when it is turned off, the only way to disable it is to actually pull the battery out of the cell phone. “If a phone has in fact been modified to act as a bug, the only way to counteract that is to either have a bugsweeper follow you around 24-7, which is not practical, or to peel the battery off the phone,” explained Atkinson. According to Atkinson, high-level executives often remove the battery of their cell phones for this very reason. Makes sense – if the FBI can get the software to spy on you, you can be sure that industry spies can too.
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Just goes to show what our Government has been doing for the last 40 years. Also our televisions can be used to spy on us. If you a have camera on your computer it can spy on you also. It’s old news for the Government.
Comment by Ardeaich2202 — 8/4/2011 @ 6:34 pm
my brother s lost.he is carrying a cell phone but it is switched off.how can o find his location.??please help.
Comment by sonam — 9/21/2010 @ 8:14 pm
i feel ,no i know that people are following me. i change my phone number but it still seems to be happening. i told my cell phone company about it, but they don’t seem to believe that a tracking device could be possible. so im asking questions wherever i think i can get a straight answer. how do i know if my phone is being tracked,and how can i stop it?
Comment by maxine — 7/25/2010 @ 5:08 pm
i am being spied on hacked gone thru two pcs, and three cells. My life is ruined i feel dead. I had my taxes stolen, direct deposit, someone took my id and is using it to transfer funds,and spy on me by spyware pc and i think cell pretty sure. I havent seen my two kids in 2 yrs
Comment by mariam — 7/20/2010 @ 9:56 am
I have more tech questions about this. How do I contact by email?
Comment by jw — 4/6/2010 @ 9:37 am
lost my cell. how can i get the location
Comment by tamil — 3/1/2010 @ 9:45 am
Hi, My name is Renee and I have a question for you. I saw your question on the internet patrol. See, my Mom and I have been followed by a number of people, and we think its the people across the street. They are big drug dealers, and my parents use to be friends with them. Now they are not because they found out about the drugs. I know its easy to get someone’s phone number if you want to. Do you think the signal of her phone can be tracked of where she is at? I feel we are a threat. We always see different people following us. Thank you for your time, Renee
Comment by Renee — 11/16/2009 @ 8:58 pm
I couldn’t help but notice that the quotes you used didn’t say anything about the phone having to be turned off for this to work. Atkinson didn’t say the phone could be off; he said that to stop it from working, one could take out the battery. Perhaps this would simply disable the installed bug?
Comment by J. Peaslee — 10/28/2008 @ 12:05 pm
I have know a guy who used his police scanner to ease drop on cell phone conversations. Lets face it cell phone are not a secure form of communications. I do have a Question are wireless phones do they also have security issues.
Comment by Randall — 5/28/2008 @ 8:54 pm
lost my cell. how can i get the location
Comment by bhagchandjain — 1/30/2008 @ 9:25 pm
The only thing left to know now is how to remove this bug and keep it off… anyone?
Comment by Bash — 1/14/2008 @ 4:26 am
It’s a little hard NOT to know that the bug is there.
A cell that normally takes tons of photos is suddenly out of memory.
Your workmate knows verbatim what you said in Sunday School and you know God didn’t tell her….
Comment by Me — 6/23/2007 @ 11:47 am
how did you know it was there?
Comment by Lynn — 5/30/2007 @ 10:36 am
I have got a copy of the roving bug on my phone blue-toothed onto it by nefarious people without a life of their own.
Comment by it’s for real not just the fbi is doing it — 5/4/2007 @ 2:57 pm
No wonder Bush hates us.
Comment by Jesse — 12/8/2006 @ 6:10 pm
This is disturbing news. If the “good guys” can do this you can bet the bad guys can too.
Comment by David L. — 12/8/2006 @ 3:16 pm
Do you provide the Fed Court case number for the people who want to review the case? Thanks
Comment by Arthur Lin — 12/8/2006 @ 9:54 am