How can you tell if your phone is tapped?

I have a serious question and I figured members at ATS instead of BTS would be more helpful in answering. How do you know if your phone is tapped by the Feds?
Ever since the War on Terrorism, all Middle Eastern people have been under suspicion.
I am a natural born, corn fed American; however, my neighbors have raised several suspicions with the gov't. I was told by a friend that there are certain indications that your phone is tapped.
I've had our local phone company come out a MULTITUDE of times, and they have even claimed to put a new ground line in for us. I don't know if they know it or what.
This is really freakin' me out.
Somebody please help!

All replies are welcome

Just to make sure I can make it a bit more clear... that is my suspicions.
I've lived in this house for a couple of years... no prob. My old neighbors move out and NEW neighbors move it. They rarely ever leave the house and NEVER speak to anyone. (Odd, we are in a fairly friendly neighborhood... borderline PLEASANTVILLE). I can live with that.
A few months later, a couple of Feds come to my door and question me about my neighbors.... one of them having a LARGE file folder on one of the family.
A day later my phone is completely acting weird. Clicks... echos, disconnections for some reason. I've called the phone company several times to "repair" the problem, with no avail. They had even put in a supposed new line.
Strange deliveries in the middle of the night.... it goes on.
The next thing I know, the family across the street is gone, when I say gone... GONE, within less than a day. The house is conveniently vacant.
I've replaced the phones in my home with expensive new sets, along with phone jacks, still the clicking etc. remains.
As before any information helps....

[Edited on 9-3-2004 by cheshire cat]

Well, I'm not very sure, but I've read on a few posts here that they have heard a clicking noise off and on. Sorry I couldnt help much

Here is a foolproof idea...call up a friend, and start talking. Then, mention your "plan to finally take care of George W Bush, the President" maybe talk about some weapons that you could have acquired, say the word bomb a couple of times in the conversation, white house...you will know if it has been tapped soon enough.

I've heard that you hear the clicking and I already have that on my phone and the background echo. I didn't know if that was a definite indicator or what.
All that I know is that it is making me down right PARANOID!!

Originally posted by Shoktek
Here is a foolproof idea...call up a friend, and start talking. Then, mention your "plan to finally take care of George W Bush, the President" maybe talk about some weapons that you could have acquired, say the word bomb a couple of times in the conversation, white house...you will know if it has been tapped soon enough.

That sounds probable. I've already had 2 agents come to my house and question me about my neighbors. It's gotten to the point that while I'm talking, I start talking to whoever is tapping my phone. It's psychotic I know, but can you really blame me?

I dont think the gov needs to put some device into your phone to listen in on your conversations. I imagine with the type of technology available today they could hack into the phone system and listen in on anyone they wanted without even going trough the trouble of planting a bug. But im not too sure on that.

An associate of mine who worked with the police dept said that they can't just tap one phone, that would be too obvious, they have to tap the whole line. As in a couple of houses.
I'd just like to have some sort of privacy back.

If your phone is tapped a wierd humming noise can be heard. It is very hard to hear and is sometimes to high pitched for the human ear. Get a sound bandwidth sensor and set it to a low frequency, if the bandwidth indicator pops a couple of times per minute your phone is tapped, if not it isn't.

Since phones work using different levels of electricity in the line to create the ringing and to open the connection I would think with some clever multi-meter work and comparing against some neighbors houses lines you could try to pick out differences in the level of current in the line when its in its various states (ie ringing, idle, open) and possibly find anomalies that could hint to the presence of a bug. There is also the presence of simple devices like the Lunchbox (old phone-freaking term) which transmits like a normal RF bug but can be wired to the ground wire of a telephone line to make a huge antenna. Then of course there are high-freq bugs operating in ranges upwards of 1Ghz, and things like Parabolic Microphones and Accoustic Bugs (Also called NSA Big Ears i believe) which can listen right through some of the thinner walls in conventionaly constructed houses.

Thank you....I'm willing to try that. Do you know where I can obtain one? Radio Shack?
If it is tapped, how can I get them to untap it. I mean, my cell phone bill is becoming outrageous.
There are a lot of weird things going on with my line and the telephone company thinks I'm down right nuts.
I've even bought more expensive phone sets, and replaced all of the jacks without any relief.
Arghhhh...

Originally posted by cheshire cat
I mean, my cell phone bill is becoming outrageous.
There are a lot of weird things going on with my line and the telephone company thinks I'm down right nuts.

First of all, cell phones/cordless phones don't even have to be tapped, they are "public airwaves" and anyone can listen in.

Second, if you want a Lunchbox you have to make one. It's not somethin you can get at a store.

Basically there is no way to get your line un-tapped, unless of course you get busted for something, then there is no reasn to tap the line if you land in the slammer (definately not something anyone would want) Radioshack should carry fairly cheap multimeters, but make sure to read up on telephone wiring and voltages to make sure you dont mess up your in house wiring or possibly injure yourself.

Your best bet is just to deal with the possiblity that your phone lines are/could be tapped. Talking "to the tap" is an odd practice indeed, but just dont say anything abusive, threatening, or otherwise that could be potentially used against you. If you have something private that you dont want people overhearing, go talk to the person face to face, it will at least rule out taps on your home phones.

Also, as a thought try keeping on a TV when your on the phone, because some radio transmitting devices have been known to cause interference or 'snow' on televisions.

Again thanks for the info. What seems to be the most frustrating is that it is MY phone? I do absolutely nothing illegal. My neighbors, as I stated before, are extremely shady people. The gov't does have a reason. There is always strange (c) going on next door at all different hours.
When the agents came to the door, the had A LOT of file folders with info, one of them being my neighbor. He creeps me out anyway.
I do talk to the "tappers". Never abusive nor threatening. I always let them know I have an available sister who needs to get married.
I use my cellphone because of the echo and weirdness on my home phone.
I doubt they careless what I say, but I figure I should at least be entertaining at times. That's got to be one hell of a boring job.

Have you considered that phone tapping is really a thing of the past? I mean, sure it's still sometimes utilized, but do you really think they haven't come up with untraceable ways to spy on people, or at least eliminated any "auditory" sign like a click or an echo? Come on, they've been tapping phones for what, 50 years now or something?

There are ways to monitor you without having to bug your house or your phone, for example remote monitoring via satellites. You know that tool that is aimed at your window and can translate the vibrations of the glass of the window into sound, but that's just one method. There are technologies used in secret that can (illegally of course) monitor anyone at any time, without really pressing the resources of our government to do so... they can inconspicuously monitor millions of people without much effort. There is also electronic phone tapping, where they tap into your cellphone signal (I do not know the details), and this obviously won't result in any clicks.. as they simply intercept the signal.

Hell, for all you know, your furniture, your walls, your carpet, your toilet... anything can have a monitoring device in it! The question isn't really if you have any privacy (which we don't), but do you pose some kind of threat that would cause men in 3-piece suits to knock on your door and say "come with us please" ?

Just as Cassiopaeans say, and is also self-explanatory, KNOWLEDGE PROTECTS!

Also, a little bit of knowledge is no knowledge at all. If you know something that you shouldn't know, it may cause more harm than good... unless you have OTHER knowledge in addition to that, to protect yourself. This is why they don't teach preschoolers how to use semi-automatic rifles... they need prior knowledge first.

[Edited on 8-3-2004 by lilblam]

[Edited on 8-3-2004 by lilblam]

lilblam > while I agree that surveilience techniques are way past the traditional phone taps ( which started out as the switchboard operator just listening in ) there is no such thing as a 'traceless' bug, because quite frankly it has to trasmit its findings somehow, so there is a stream of data, be it IR, RF, Internet, etc. Its just a matter of finding the data and where its going, which is much easier said than done. I would think that bugs trasmitting via the internet or some kind of net connection (wifi comes to mind here) would be the most difficult to pinpoint, because encryption could be used to mask the trasmission from the casual home geek playing around with netstumbler and ethereal.

Oh, and heres some extra info on various taps and bugs -> www.tscm.com...

Honestly, I would say that if you can tell your phone is tapped, by todays standards, you have nothing to worry about. Anyone who matters (i.e. CIA, NSA...) is going to have the technology to tap your phone without you knowing. You would have absolutely no idea, unless that is, if you know you have some reason for your phone to be tapped, then you may have an idea.

The technology for this is such that even you could, for a price, get ahold of the equipment to tap a phone without anyone knowing. If you use a Cell, or cordless phone, your calls can be listened in on with a standard scanner with a few slight, easy to do modifications.

I have heard of remote veiwiing before. They can literally listen in witout any phone even being on. I bet none of you have really thought that your TV also could actually be watchig you even when its off. So yea, it goes way way beond tapping the phone. Ill check back in later with a number you can call to see if your phone is tapped. Someone told me how to do this but i forgot.



Also about the three piece suits, they already have us colored in different categories so when marshall law comes around they know who are th biggest threats, then we go into the consentration camps, and then from there who knows? possibly place us in the football stadiums for play to torture.





peace.

Originally posted by Truth
I bet none of you have really thought that your TV also could actually be watchig you even when its off.

www.five.org.uk

The guy who owns that site claims he is being watched through his TV.

He had seen some movie regarding a top secret underground complex that was tied into all the phone lines. When certian key words or phrases were used, it initiated a search program.

So, my friend and I had a 'normal' phone conversation, with no ill side effects. Eventually, we moved the discussion onto other, terrorist type rantings.

We did use key words like "assassinate Bush, bomb, White House, hostages"... you know, things like that. We even started to get a violent tone in our voices, too, just to be sure.

You know what?

Our phones started clicking.

I am fairly certain that taps by local gov't or private detectives or other less sophisticated organizations are going to give you clicks, static and show a reading on tap sensors that are available; however, if Uncle Sam, as in the NSA, Secret Service, etc want to tap in on your line, you will never know it...

Something else comes to mind also, did you know that the gov't can station a van in your neighborhood and pick up on anything that is typed on your computer keyboard?


[Edited on 9-3-2004 by intelgurl]