The ZombiePhone - Cell Phones as Bugs

It is time for you to play detective.

Your first clue is free: A pre-bugged cell phone was not involved in either of the following eavesdropping crimes. Your job is to puzzle out how the eavesdropper did it.

Hint: The answer is the same in both cases.

Eavesdropping Case No. 1

Your friend complains to you that she thinks her significant other is jealous. Worse yet, she has a feeling that she is being spied upon. References are made to the types of music she plays in her car and, occasionally, to some conversations she has held with other passengers. The most troubling, however, are the bits of cell phone conversations that her significant other repeats to her—in some cases, word for word. The odd part is that they seem to be only the words from your friend’s side of the conversation and only from cell phone calls made from the car.

Thinking back, your friend recalls finding an ordinary cell phone under the car seat. Thinking it belonged to one of the kids’ friends, she left it on the kitchen counter for the next time the friend came over. Now it’s gone. She figured the kid had probably returned for it—right? Something is wrong. What happened?

Eavesdropping Case No. 2

You and your mate enter an automobile dealership. A pleasant salesman dressed in a jacket and tie shows you the car of your dreams. Wow—you want it! Time to negotiate price. You dive into his cubicle, land on the cushy chairs, and are offered some coffee. Let the games begin.

As you turn the final lap on the bargaining track, the nice salesman excuses himself (bathroom break, talk with manager, etc.), drapes his blazer over his chair, and leaves the two of you alone . . . hoping you will discuss your final price strategy. The size of his sales commission rides on this.

A few minutes after his return, you begin to suspect he is either really good at reading minds, or he heard every word the two of you said while he was gone. No, he is not a mind reader. If he could do that, he wouldn’t be selling cars. He is, however, a car salesman, and some car salesmen are not as ethical as others.

Trust your instincts. You have been had. Either his desk is prewired with a microphone, his desk phone is rigged to be live while the receiver is on the hook, or an ordinary cell phone was left in the pocket of his blazer.

Both of these cases are based on true events. In both cases, electronic eavesdropping was accomplished when the eavesdropper called the hidden cell phone from another phone. The eavesdropper heard every word spoken.

You may be saying, “But I never heard it ring!” Hey, you’re bright. You have this halfway figured out already! Eavesdropping with a normal cell phone is an old trick. It works every time, and it happens all the time, in many situations—from leaving a phone in the boardroom to carrying it along on private business negotiations to stuffing it into a child’s backpack before visitation begins.

Let’s look at this more closely.

Zombie Phone: The No. 1 Cell Phone Eavesdropping Trick

An ordinary cell phone by day, it is an evil eavesdropper when forced to the dark side. Even awake, it remains as quiet as the dead. Call it anytime to eavesdrop. It’s cheap. It’s easy. It works. It’s a ZombiePhone.

Here’s how the eavesdropper does it...