Cell Phone Spying: Is Your Life Being Monitored?
May 5, 2008 by JR Raphael |
It connects you to the world, but your cell phone could also be giving anyone from your boss to your wife a window into your every move. The same technology that lets you stay in touch on-the-go can now let others tap into your private world — without you ever even suspecting something is awry.
The new generation
Long gone are the days of simple wiretapping, when the worst your phone could do was let someone listen in to your conversations. The new generation of cell phone spying tools provides a lot more power.
Eavesdropping is easy. All it takes is a two-minute software install and someone can record your calls and monitor your text messages. They can even set up systems to be automatically alerted when you dial a certain number, then instantly patched into your conversation. Anyone who can perform a basic internet search can find the tools and figure out how to do it in no time.
But the scarier stuff is what your phone can do when you aren’t even using it. Let’s start with your location.
Simple surveillance
You don’t have to plant a CIA-style bug to conduct surveillance any more. A service called World Tracker lets you use data from cell phone towers and GPS systems to pinpoint anyone’s exact whereabouts, any time — as long as they’ve got their phone on them.
All you have to do is log on to the web site and enter the target phone number. The site sends a single text message to the phone that requires one response for confirmation. Once the response is sent, you are locked in to their location and can track them step-by-step. The response is only required the first time the phone is contacted, so you can imagine how easily it could be handled without the phone’s owner even knowing.
Once connected, the service shows you the exact location of the phone by the minute, conveniently pinpointed on a Google Map. So far, the service is only available in the UK, but the company has indicated plans to expand its service to other countries soon.

Advanced eavesdropping
So you’ve figured out where someone is, but now you want to know what they’re actually doing. Turns out you can listen in, even if they aren’t talking on their phone.
Dozens of programs are available that’ll turn any cell phone into a high-tech, long-range listening device. And the scariest part? They run virtually undetectable to the average eye.
Take, for example, Flexispy. The service promises to let you “catch cheating wives or cheating husbands” and even “bug meeting rooms.” Its tools use a phone’s microphone to let you hear essentially any conversations within earshot. Once the program is installed, all you have to do is dial a number to tap into the phone’s mic and hear everything going on. The phone won’t even ring, and its owner will have no idea you are virtually there at his side.
Legal loopholes
You might be asking how this could possibly be legal. Turns out, it isn’t - at least, not in the ways we just described. Much like those fancy smoking devices designed “for tobacco use only,” the software itself gets by because of a disclaimer saying it doesn’t endorse any illegal use.
I did a little digging with our friends from Flexispy. You won’t find it on the flashy front page, but buried a bit further in the site, the company says you’re fine to use their program only “on a phone that you own, for protecting your children,” or for purposes like “archiving data.” It’s a bit of a contrast from the bold suggestions of “uncover[ing] employee espionage,” “catch[ing] cheating husbands,” and “bug[ging] meeting rooms” that fill the company’s materials. After a little more explanation, their answer as to the legality of the service ends with a broad statement: “Please consult a qualified lawyer in your country for the correct answer to this question.”
Let me make it easier for you: Once you get into listening in to private conversations without either party’s consent, you’re treading rough water that could sweep you straight into jail. Whether it’s an employee or a spouse on the receiving end of your mission, neither federal nor state privacy laws take violations lightly in America. Getting caught could cost you several years behind bars, among other serious penalties.
Detecting and protecting
Finding spyware on your phone isn’t easy. There are dozens of bug detectors available from surveillance companies, but the only true fix is taking your phone to your provider and having them wipe it out altogether. That will restore the factory settings and clear out any hidden software that’s running on your phone.
Security experts say there may be some subtle signs your phone is invaded:
- You seem to have trouble shutting it off, or it stays lit up after you’ve powered down.
- The phone sometimes lights up when you aren’t making or receiving a call, or using any other function.
- You regularly hear odd background noises or clicks when you’re on the phone.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do to safeguard your cell just yet. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until we see McAfee-style programs to firewall your phone and keep intruders out. For now, though, the only sure-fire form of protection is to keep a close guard on your phone. Don’t accept Bluetooth connections unless you know what they are. Most important, make sure no one has access to install something when you aren’t watching. Otherwise, they may soon be watching you when you least expect it.
By JR Raphael
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
You Might Also Like:
- Controversy Erupts Over Secret Cell Phone Tracking
- Cell Phone Security: Using your Phone to Monitor your Home
- Articles and Reviews
- Cell Phone Offers Pedestrian Protection
55 Comments »
Trackback responses to this post
- cryptogon.com » Archives » Cell Phone Spying: Is Your Life Being Monitored?
- BelchSpeak » Post Topic » CellPhone Spying- Are You Being Monitored?
- RevolutionRadio.org » Blog Archive » Cell Phone Spying: Is Your Life Being Monitored?
- MariukasM.LT » Mobilus šnipas: ar tavo gyvenimas kontroliuojamas?
- Our Strange World - Your Portal to the Unknown » Cell Phone Spying: Is Your Life Being Monitored?
- truthseeds.org » Blog Archive » truthseeds 5/9/08
- links for 2008-05-11 « TheSurfersZone Random Access
- links for 2008-05-11 | Yostivanich.com
- Cell Phone Spying « Jonathan Rogers’s Blog
- Cell Phone Security: Using your Phone to Monitor your Home
- Chicago's Favorite Podcast .:. VIKING YOUTH POWER HOUR .:. Chicago Podcasters With Nuts Like Mothballs
- Controversy Erupts Over Secret Cell Phone Tracking
- On Message with Ben Gross » Blog Archive » Security link roundup 7/28/08
Subscribe by Email
















Wow! I had no idea that kind of technology existed! This article is very informative without dabbling in scare tactics.
Where have you been?
You can’t stop them from eavesdropping on your cell phone conversations — but who cares — do they really want to know what you had for dinner last night?
Your cell phones have an RFID chip and can be used as a GPS tracking device to locate you anywhere in the world. That’s what they don’t want you to know. To stop this completely and cheaply, buy a piece of EMF shielding and wrap your cell phone, credit cards, driver’s license, ID cards and wallet — anything with an RFID chip. You’ll completely foil the tracking. They can’t track you.
All techno-tracking comes to a halt for about $6.00.
Thanks man, very useful!
How con I get the Item that will protect any of my tracking devices from being spied on. Also if you know of a (((REAL))) bluetoothe or any other type of cellphone tracking and intercepting infor device. Please contact me at the address above .thanx sexy geek
“To stop this completely and cheaply, buy a piece of EMF shielding and wrap your cell phone, credit cards, driver’s license, ID cards and wallet — anything with an RFID chip. You’ll completely foil the tracking. They can’t track you.”
Yes, genius, let’s wrap our cell phones in EMF shielding, that *will* stop it from being tracked… And receiving any calls, text messages, making or sending either… Genius.
My passport and cards go into my portable Faraday cage; my cellphone is equipped from the manufacturer with an anti-tracking device. The button with red circle and line.
They can stil track you with your phone turned off. Cell phones emit a signal periodically even when turned off in order to update tower informatin. You’d have to remove the battery.
I don’t know about Europe, but in the USA it’s not an RFID chip that does the tracking, it’s a mandatory (in phones sold after a certain date) GPS that us required by the E911 service. (911 is the emergency phone number that supposedly works anywhere in the USA, like 119 in China or 999 in the UK).
Also, that EMF shielding will most likely keep you from receiving phone calls.
Can anyone tell me if it is possible for someone in the Ukraine to listen in on cell phone calls between two people in the US? I don’t understand how it could be possible, but a friend of mine has reason to believe IT IS occuring. Are hackers sophisticated enough to pull off something like this over such a long distance?
yes i saw those some time ago, i even saw sms spying and bluetooth connections practically giving out all info a spy would need… creepy
Yea ive heard of this before. This is used alot by people wanting to listen into concerts for free. If you do a bit of digging on the internet you will find that there is similar tools that have been developed for hacking mobile phone cameras.
Sweet article. In the state where I live, the child support cops are using the cellphone signals to track down dead-beat dads. This trick has also been used to nab drug dealers and fortunately, save some lives of kidnapped people or adventurers lost in the forest.
i am told the russian mobsters insist that you even take your battery out of your phone before they even let you through the door, this would explain it
Removing the battery is also a common practice in US “three-letter” agencies.
Get a Linux-based OpenMoko phone and you can setup selinux and other stuff that blocks this crap.
FYI: World tracker sends texts periodically to the phone to let the user know. That’s to avoid you borrowing someone’s phone and pairing it with World Tracker then giving them the phone back.
If you are concerned take the battery out. That is the only way to be sure.
Wow, where can I get this right now? With my job as a fugitive investigator, I could use this to catch the escaped rapist and fugitives from court.
Organized criminals have known about this for years now. If a bunch of people the police have an interest in, they can prove later in court when and where the crooks met (from triangulating the cell masts where phones tell the system they close to, plus as someone said above, the cellphone is a neat bugging device when remotely switch into stealth listening mode. Crooks have different cellphones and change them often and whenever they meet, before leaving, they always remove their phone batteries. Your phone gives away your position to within a few feet nowadays. It doesn’t even have to have GPS installed.
But what is the cost on all this? where and how would i get more info into being able to track the person, hear or receive copies of text or numbers they are calling if possible. is it a device i can order, or go through someone else?
Even if you take the battery out , the cell phone can still respond to a charging electromagnetic wave which will enable it to send out brief signals of its location and owner. Also the capacitor that holds a charge can keep specific circuits alive for quite some periods!
i want more information om cellphone spying where can i get
There is F-Secure Mobile and I have been using it for some time. Two products can be very helpfull F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus(TM) and F-Secure Mobile Security(TM).
Is it “David Gerardo” or “David Geraldo”? Looks like the Q-waves being sent from CIA headquarters are working. That, or maybe they’ve found a way to send messages through your bong, pal.
Comment by Primordial Soup-Nazi
“Is it “David Gerardo” or “David Geraldo”? Looks like the Q-waves being sent from CIA headquarters are working. That, or maybe they’ve found a way to send messages through your bong, pal.”
My name is David Gerardo, and you gave yourself away by asking me that very detailed question “Pal”. I did actually have to debug their interface protocol, and yes I can still detect their monitoring despite the me helping them monitor me better :-). I have nothing to hide, that is why I helped them. That still doesn’t take away from the fact that series of laws have been broken by the fact that I am being monitored in this way. Q-waves, Standing waves or Horizontal I have found a way to stop Illegal monitoring and it can be proven scientifically. My question is…why would an American Patriot who put his “butt” on the line for our Country be treated this way? What would you do if you were being harrassed by unknown agencies (and yes I count at the very least 4)where IFF (identification friend or foe)is non-existant? I live in a foriegn country and travel around the World……where I have also had strange encounters. It is scary when our government can not even detect other monitoring methods and my family and I are being used as walking EM labs. Walk a mile in my shoes……and see if you can still go to work everyday, try and take care of your family and stay sane at the same time!
David Gerardo Hanysz,
I bet your tinfoil hat and screendoor lined home won’t stop the beta waves from the SDI satellites under control of Homeland Security. In a recent photo of Conci Rice, I could see the small tracking box she uses to keep tabs on both you and the rest of your family.
Why is it that paranoid dolts who believe the government can scan their brains with particle wave guns love to rant about it on the internet where their IP address can be traced to their home?
Take your meds. If your’re not on meds, get on them.
“Comment by BelchSpeak
2008-05-12 09:32:09
David Gerardo Hanysz,
I bet your tinfoil hat and screendoor lined home won’t stop the beta waves from the SDI satellites under control of Homeland Security. In a recent photo of Conci Rice, I could see the small tracking box she uses to keep tabs on both you and the rest of your family.
Why is it that paranoid dolts who believe the government can scan their brains with particle wave guns love to rant about it on the internet where their IP address can be traced to their home?
Take your meds. If your’re not on meds, get on them.”
Let me put it this way, I know my I.P. address is known to whomever really want to find out what it is (There is no such thing as computer or I.T. Security) and I use my real name BECAUSE I have nothing to hide. I will undergo any type of drug induced, electronically monitored hypnosis initiated truth-analyzing test they have, but it has to include the Y…..(Why are you accusing me of whatever it may be,and how did you get that information?}. If you would have read my article thoroughly, then you know Y I won’t take their Med’s. (I have been given enough Med’s to last a lifetime and some facilitate the EM interfacing).
These frequencies are measurable, just need to know which range is being used, autos can for them, auto-resonate the source and bingo, we’ve fixed the problem of illegal monitoring. If our home could switch from a double layered faraday shield to a antenna (outside layer) \ faraday shield {inside layer) using the right control circuits, parameters and hardware(open\closed relais for example), we could ensure that our private lives stay private.
Comment anyone?…..And, or, not, nand, nor, who{Hoot), what, where, when, How, Y, et al, etc.,Y Loop Function,?
Apply this algorithm to all of your daily lives, to every single letter of the alphabets and numbers in your respective languages (Operating systems) while you are feeling, thinking, speaking, reacting, acting, Surviving upon, etc., correlated to the first language at the time and place (Location, location , location for the business minded )that you are speak of IT, (Neon Signs in the desert).
Then you will be able to begin to interface with the multi-universes,((because it is an Electro Magnetic, Plasma conductive Universe, which is multiplied (by?), 4D, which can equal to Y, (which is also relative by the way)).
REM (”Just for starters. up-starts AND,OR,NOT,AND NOR Inititial public offerings?).
et whatever other criteria you want to add to this eQuation. What is your
processing capability? Enter user name and password to access the DGH operating system AND don’t forget your HU 8 (human energy)portion, quotient, etc., etc., et al. (Whew….;-), Nuff written for now and I will await your reply.
“Comment by joe public
2008-05-17 02:37:54
If someone can hear your conversations from your handset and connect your handset to theirs, will the service provider charge you for airtime used? After all, you are sending your conversation to someone.
If the service provider doesn’t charge you for airtime when someone is eavesdropping on you, then can’t this easily installable software be used to acquire free cellphone service when installed on two or more handsets?”.
Come on people. let’s not be so naive. I will take this one step further…. Elephants, the “Current” largest land Mammals on Earth communicate via Elf (Extremely low frequencies, Do you see the Metaphysical connection there?),:
Extremely low frequency (ELF) is the US Navy and Soviet/Russian Navy to communicate with submerged submarines used the band of radio frequencies from 3 to 30 Hz. ELF.
Explanation
Because of the electrical conductivity of salt water, submarines are shielded from most electromagnetic communications. Signals in the ELF frequency range, however, can penetrate much deeper. Two factors limit the usefulness of ELF communications channels; the low data transmission rate of a few characters per minute, and to a lesser extent the one-way nature due to the impracticality of installing a huge transmitter on a submarine. Generally ELF signals were used to order a submarine to rise to a shallow depth where it could receive “some other form” of communication.
The Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) is the frequency range between 300 hertz and 3 kilohertz. Many types of waves in the ULF frequency band can be observed in the “magnetosphere” and on the ground. These waves represent important physical processes in the near-Earth plasma environment. The speed of the ULF waves is often associated with the Alfven velocity that depends on the ambient magnetic field and plasma mass density.
This band is used for communications in mines, as it can penetrate the earth. [1]
Earthquakes
Some monitoring stations have reported that a spike sometimes precedes earthquakes in ULF activity. A remarkable example of this occurred before the Loma Prieta Earthquake in California in 1989. Researchers are attempting to learn more about this correlation to find out whether this method can be used as part of an early warning system for earthquakes.
Earth Mode Communications
ULF has been used by the military for secure communications through the ground. NATO AGARD publications from the 1960s detailed many such systems, although one suspects the contents of the published papers left a lot unsaid about what actually was developed secretly for defense purposes. Communications through the ground using conduction fields is known as “Earth Mode” communications and was first used in WWI. Radio amateurs and electronics hobbyists have used this mode for limited range communications using audio power amplifiers connected to widely spaced electrode pairs hammered into the soil (telegraph anyone?). At the receiving end the signal is detected as a weak electric current between two further pairs of electrodes. Using weak signal reception methods with PC based DSP filtering with extremely narrow bandwidths it is possible to receive signals at a range of a few kilometers with a transmitting power of 10-100W and electrode spacing of around 10-50m.
See also
Voice frequency
By changing the electrical conductivity of the air itself, (Air pollution), Worldwide agencies can exploit
These types of air quality Pollution, Corruption by “Airplane Contrails mixed with Barium oxide ” and or Certain manufacturing air quality output levels et al, to increase air conductivity which could result in propagation of certain frequencies that could interface with our metabolisms. That means they don’t need cell phones or television, a satellite will do! The local cell phone, television microwave relay station or radar installations wave output transformed down to a certain area and your body frequency can do the job!
How about creating an Earthquake at the nearest fault line at the push of a button? Where have you all been?
Let’s take this horror scenario to the next step…
ready for this? I DON’T THINK SO! How about resonating the SUN…ANYONE? with the right frequency and a Di-pole antenna, anyone could resonate the sun and cause a Solar Outburst that would devastate the EARTH. See Tesla.
Talk about Sci-fi huh? Probable? you bet! It is only a matter of TIME. Oh shit, gave away another key. Somebody stop me!…. (Mask),:-).
Consider this message as an initial countdown to Armageddon as there is no such thing as Information Technology security, Nuff said!
There is a technology available in Asia that allows you to overhear all conversation on a cell. It works that way, if you can access a SIM card from a cell phone, you can take the SIM to somebody and duplicate it. Bingo, the cell phone is yours now, you can completely hear all conversation in and out from the cell phone no matter how far the cell phone is.
The Question is, when have we taken technology too far?
Imagine if…one day mankind is wired like a cell phone
with no off button and somebody was to make a copy of your “SIM”, that would mean they can see what you see, hear what you hear, feel what you feel and hear what you think 24/7.
That is not the worst thing, Like a GPRS modem, they could download what ever they want to, tell your eyes not to see that oncoming truck on the wrong side of the road that you mysteriously wandered over onto….
or not see an on rushing car whilst crossing the street.
Like Bearden said, it is like going through a paradigm shift to understand what is truly possible with this type of technology, it boggles the mind!
do I understand correctly that a target phone MUST have some sort of software downloaded on it before any conversations, background sounds, etc., can be overheard? that is, to date, there is no available technology exacting the “likeness” of GPS with the ability to track by cell phone number then locate a specific cell phone to also read that same cell phone’s SIM card accessing texts and/or listen in on conversations?
Let me put it to you all this way, FORGET THE CELL PHONE,
THEY DO NOT NEED A CELL PHONE ANYMORE! That is Sooooo yesteryear’s technology. Did you all happen to know that every living organisim has it’s own frequency? That frequency can be tapped into and used exactly like a cell phone (with some “Modifications”).
Have any of you ever heard of Sir Rife? do a google search for “RIFE FREQUENCIES” and see what you get.
If primative bacteria and Viruses have their own frequencies (and they are primative by the way), Y
wouldn’t mankind? Ahhh jetz ja…eine insel!
Wikipedia’s
Definition of Frequencies:
For cyclical processes, such as rotation, oscillations, or waves, frequency is defined as a number of cycles, or periods, per unit time. In physics and engineering disciplines, such as optics, acoustics, and radio, frequency is usually denoted by a Latin letter f or by a Greek letter ν (nu).
In SI units, the unit of frequency is hertz (Hz), named after the German physicist Heinrich Hertz. For example, 1 Hz means that an event repeats once per second, 2 Hz is twice per second, and so on [1]. This unit was originally called a cycle per second (cps), which is still sometimes used. Heart rate and musical tempo are measured in beats per minute (BPM). Frequency of rotation is often expressed as a number of revolutions per minute (rpm). BPM and rpm values must be divided by 60 to obtain the corresponding value in Hz: thus, 60 BPM translates into 1 Hz.
The period is usually denoted as T, and is the reciprocal of the frequency f:
The SI unit for period is the second (s).
If you have read this article from the beginning, then you know that we transmit frequencies just by thinking.
(Thinking controls hearing, sight, taste, movement, feelings, etc,.). We are walking transmitters! A sensitive satellite could pick out our bodily signatures where ever we are, now that my friends is Big brother old school style. Think about it.
…
How do you live your day to day life? Are you constantly going around worrying about the g-mans brainwave scanner devices? YES we emit unique frequencies, but they are so low powered that you’d have to be less than one meter away to be able to pick them up.
So please David, as a request from another human transmitter
Throw away tour tinfoil hat. Seriously.
Where can you buy software online that allows you to plug in a certain number you want to hear all the calls that are incoming and outgoing to. I dont care about other calls incoming or outgoing I just want to be able to hear all calls that come from a certain number or are dials out to that number.
i know theres a lot of people out there that say who cares.the same as when a cop pulls you over and wants to search your car.he says if you have nothing to hide its not a problem.[his exscuse with out a cause].well thats not the way this country was formed and the list is endless why we have the rights we have in this country[USA]..i better stop before i get carried away.WAKE UP PEOPLE.they can make phones that dont track,they can make comp. that dont get viruses.dah dah dah.why do you think they,[gov]wants to free up all the air waves[rf]frequencies and make us all go digital.wheres choice wheres privacy.we will sure know when its all gone!!
When reading this I hate new technologies
That is a very good question. I continue to go to
work and support my family, (As long as I can) the difference is in Knowing that it is happening :-). I am not worried about the FEDS; I am worried about us losing our Country. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Let’s see how LONG we can keep it” when he was referring to our new Republic. The U.S. is not the only Country with this
Technology, I THINK we are behind the curve ball on this one.
I don’t walk around with a tin foil hat. I remember that I have to keep my feet on the ground and live one day at a time lest we be like them. (Reality checks my friend.. my reality zero sum checks :-).
I’d like to purchase a phone thAT IS CAPAble of all of the aforemeanioned. Purchasing a new phone is no problem as lon as I’m told the best brand for my needs and then someone to help and guarentee, all of the said applications. Thank you J.Badalot