Is my friend's telecom network bugged? Is someone having some fun at our expense? Info needed.

Mods: if there is a forum where I would more likely receive professional or at least knowledgeable responses to this line of inquiry, please oblige me by moving this topic there. Much appreciated.

Let me begin by saying that I approach this matter with rational skepticism, an open mind, and humility born of knowing my own limitations in both knowledge and ability to comprehend, as a layperson. So as this is an issue which affects my life directly, I would appreciate a level of rationality and humility when responding, such that your replies are limited to what you know with certainty rather than what you simply believe to be the case.

Secondly, I would respectfully ask that when responding, you provide - in a general, non-personally identifying manner - your level of expertise and experience with the subject matter in question, so as to better gauge the potential usefulness of any information you may be able to provide me with. That said, I am open minded and grateful for anyone’s contributions.

Here goes.

For some years now, a very close friend and I have been experiencing some unusual interference or noises when talking together on the phone. Initially we put it down to crosstalk due to coupling and so forth, especially since we speak on cordless (not cell, just cordless) phones when we talk. However, at a certain point beginning a year or so ago (to the best of my memory) we began hearing Morse code in the form of S.O.S. repeatedly. We again considered that this was simply coincidental, but attempted - just in case, somehow, some way, someone needed help in some respect - to communicate with whoever might be doing this, in the event they were picking up our crosstalk, could hear us, and needed assistance.

What we discovered in our attempts to confirm or disprove that a person was on the other end of this was that we were able to get the noise to stop and start at will, and the S.O.S. to happen when prompted. Please keep in mind that we assumed this was either someone picking up our crosstalk and having a bit of fun at our expense, or some other non-exotic phenomenon such as a mischievous telecom line tester or some such (we don’t know enough about this to know if that’s even feasible, which is one reason I’m posting this here.)

We are aware of confirmation bias and are both skeptical individuals, so we had try and establish some data in terms of how successful we could be at getting it to respond. So just to clarify, the other night - for example - we were able to say “Start,” and make the noise begin, and “Stop,” causing it to fall off to silence immediately, with 100% consistency, over 50 times. I had an independent witness confirm that this was actually happening for me, and they got the same result. We used intervals between “start” and “stop” that were chosen at random, so it wasn’t just a coincidentally repeating interval of crosstalk or line induction in my unprofessional opinion. Thus it is our speculative hypothesis that this is a person or people, and not random. Please enlighten me if that is an erroneous assumption to make.

Where things get a bit more (potentially) malicious is:

1) One particularly bad night some months ago, the noise got increasingly loud, and actually “killed” my friend’s phones. Let me make this absolutely clear: by killed, I do not mean temporarily incapacitated or dead batteries. I mean both the phone he was talking on, and the other companion phone on its charger base, were dead. They would no longer function, even with new batteries. He had to buy a new pair of phones. I did as well, in the event that it was on my end. This has continued to happen (without the phone breaking consequences though, thankfully) since then.

2) While potentially entirely coincidental, I mention this for purposes of thoroughness. His wife’s cell phone (which as I said, we do not talk on) will sometimes be on and lit - without ringing - when he or his wife enter the room, and at times when he is certain his children have not touched it or even been present at all in some instances. It will sometimes act as though it is downloading something, but it isn’t the usual firmware update message, and then turn back off. Other times it will merely be lit and active, and then go dark. I read that this could - and I only consider this out of an abundance of caution and open-mindedness, while remaining quite skeptical of it - potentially be a symptom of software bugging. Please enlighten me if that is untrue or unlikely.

These are the only (marginally) technical details I can provide you with:

• We both have the same internet service provider, Comcast. We have our internet via a cable modem, and our phone service, which they call Digital Voice (but which I assume is essentially comprehensive VoIP complete with E911, voicemail, etc.) is through that connection. We do not have normal landline phone service.
  
  
• The chain of connections is: CATV cable to modem; model to phone cord; phone cord to cordless phone bases.
  
  
• The noise consists of what sounds like FM radio static, which alters in intensity from total silence to loud interference, as well as clicking I would consider most comparable to the pulse setting on phone number pads. (With the latter clicking noise being how the S.O.S. is communicated.)
  
  
• This can be caused to happen seemingly at any time of day, in any location in or around our homes.
  
  
• This only ever happens when we are both on the phone. It does not happen when he talks to others, or when I talk to others.
  
  
• The interference responds to verbal commands and suggests a human perpetrator, rather than random, coincidental interference. It responds in real time, with almost no delay.
  
  
• Contacting Comcast’s account security and anti-fraud dpt. has not yielded any information, although they claim they have limited means of looking into it.
  
  
• We have been friends for over 12 years. He is my closest friend and confidant. I trust him implicitly, and I know him to be a kind, rational family man with a wife and two children. I have no compelling reason to suspect that this is a hoax on his part, though I have intermittently admittedly considered the possibility. He seems as genuinely perplexed and disturbed by this as I do, however.
  
  
• Neither he nor myself are involved in any illegal or suspect activity. Neither of us have any enemies, have received any threats, or have any reason to suspect anyone we know of this activity.

Can anyone with some expertise and/or experience illuminate 1) what would be required for someone to be doing this, 2) any other potential explanations, 3) what we might go about doing to discover who is doing this or report the activity to appropriate agency or individuals, and 4) how to stop it or protect ourselves from it?

Please consider carefully my requests at the start of this topic before responding, and any and all relevant information (that a layperson would be capable of digesting) and suggestions are welcome.

Thank-you. Peace.

Take out the cordless/wireless part of things, get two wired phones and see if it continues.

Someone with radio equipment is fricken with you.

Why?

Because you broadcast your conversations to be heard by everyone and the radio operator is bored.

Depending on the brand and operating frequency of the cordless phones, a hacker with a scanner and a decent directional antenna can pick up the conversations up to a kilometre away.


I had a (prick of a) neighbour a few years ago that used to think it was funny to broadcast when a movie was getting to a good bit, ultimately stuffing the reception at exactly the wrong time.

Some people are just $#!theads.

Clicking on the phone indicates a change of impedance due to a drop in voltage caused by a physical tap into the line.

Physical taps just aren't needed anymore. All traffic can be monitored now digitally as traffic is now routed through computerized switches.

You likely are experiencing wireless interference. Check to see if either handset is a cordless 2.4 gHz phone. The second probability is an intermittent short in the phone wiring in either residence.

Originally posted by AceWombat04
...just cordless) phones when we talk.

There are two types of cordless phones.
1. Analog.
The older type, cheaper also, that just transmit "in the clear", and anyone with a scanner radio can listen in.
Similarly, anyone with a transmitter can delieberatly or accidentally transmit over the top of you such that you can hear it.
2. Digital.
The newer type. Nobody else can listen in, and you cant hear anything else people are transmitting.
The usual standard is DECT.

So the first thing to do is make sure this cordless phone part of the link is good.

They are always listening.

I believe you said a few key words and " they" are messing with you.

You got their attention and now someone is having fun at your expense.

By they I mean DHS.

I have had an encounter with a pair of black suburbans with dark windows and mib driving up behind me on the interstate. They flew up on me at about 90 MPH and just stayed right on my tail. I slowed down to 60 and they also slowed instead of passing me. The first vehicle's driver then picked up a phone and shook his head yes and both vehicles in tandem swerved onto the shoulder and just sat there as I drove on.

I am only telling you this because I feel that they were messing with me to tell me that they were watching me. The thing is that I was on my way to a major water and roller coaster park. This was two days exactly after I Google's some pretty radical websites looking for information because I had a hunch.

You said something that got their attention friend. Now they are having a laugh on you.

I only told you thus because this is what I believe and you wanted an explanation of why I believe this.

I di not care what anybody says. You get their attention and they can basically tune you in to their program. This is why we are spending billions/trillions.

My suggestion is to take your friends phone to someone who can disassemble and reassemble the phone while looking for parts that where not put in by the manufacturer. The manufacturers service agent would be a good choice. They will probably charge you.

Additionally use some corded phones for a while to see if the situation continues. These are relatively cheap to purchase.

Lastly consider who has keys or access to your home or your friends phone. By the fact that you are responded to, it is not a Govt tap.. There is no way they would respond.

It is a matter of eliminating the possibilities.

P

reply to post by clay2 baraka


If it were just clicking, I would agree. However the other factors at work here are what prompted my post. If you read the entire post, you know there's much more than some clicking going on. We have considered simple interference or a short, but the seemingly intelligent and non-random nature of the occurrences has left us baffled.

The phones are 1.9 GHz.

reply to post by alfa1


After looking into the phones, they are 1.9 GHz DECT 6.0 phones (Panasonic brand.) So they are digital, presumably.

reply to post by pheonix358


This is the one thing (switching to corded and dismantling the phones and looking) that we feel like we can actually do at this point, and we are planning to. Question, though: since we have VoIP is there a possibility of a hacking or software bug via our internet lines?

To all responders: I'm grateful for the replies, but please keep in mind my requests at the start of the post when responding. I have no way to gauge your knowledge levels. Thanks. Peace.

reply to post by AceWombat04



Any thing can be hacked! To find out what is happening takes a step by step process. It can be done quickly but it is a process of elimination. You start with those scenarios that have the greatest probability of causing you direct harm. My advice is based on my understanding of the technology and its likelihood of being subverted.

The most critical aspect is if someone has access to you phones to place a physical bug. The phones you are using are quite robust and destroying one of them is more likely done with a physical bug than anything else. Otherwise your opponent has one hell of a transmitter. One step at a time.

Lastly, you can hire a specialist ($$$$$$) to investigate very quickly, these people could locate the problem in a very short time-frame if they know what they are doing.

You could also try the FBI if you are in the US. I think that wiretapping is under their jurisdiction. Can't hurt to ring them. I feel the events originate at your friends end rather than yours.



P

Edit to add. Do not talk to your friend about this by these phones, nor by email. In fact use SMS on your mobile or go for a walk and then talk via mobile.

I used to walk up the street with my cordless phone hand unit and every few hundred metres it would just start listening to other phone conversations. i got bored with it quickly.

reply to post by Bilky


The old technology was a bit like that. Listening to Aunt Mary discuss her Nieces new boyfriend was probably as good as it got. LOL

This situation has the potential to be quite serious, possibly dangerous.

P

reply to post by pheonix358


I hear you. Logical. systematic process of elimination. Start with the most imminent potential danger first (i.e. someone getting into his home.) Will do. (Though, an actual hiring of someone else might take a while given our mutually limited means.)

Thanks.

reply to post by AceWombat04


Do you or your friend live in the Silicon Valley / Peninsula area? The FCC has granted exemptions to a few companies in the area to run experimental tests of mobile LTE broadband using the frequency spectrum used by 1.9 gHz phones..

stevencrowley.com...

Also have either of you swapped out your EMTA (modem)?

reply to post by clay2 baraka


Interesting! Not exactly, but anything of that nature going on in the Bay Area?

Do you research any occult or controversial subjects? John keel was a ufologist who had some very strange cases of phone interference and men in black ufo events. its a lot more common than some people think, you should read up on him it mght strike a chord. Operation trojan horse is a book the gets into it.

reply to post by Bilky


Well, I'm on ATS after all. And my friend has a decent fascination with such subject matter, as well. However, despite both of us having had some unusual experiences we can't quite explain (as I'm sure many who join sites like this probably have at one time or another,) we try our utmost to remain skeptical and open minded enough not to jump to any conclusions. So we are sort of, so to speak, "fringe subject agnostic." We aren't privy to any sensitive or unique information, and have no means or intent to reveal said information even if we did.

So I'd prefer to remain in the realm of the simplest and least speculative explanations for the time being. But it's worth considering. Thanks.

Peace.

Well, the good news: no evidence of unknown entry into his home. Nothing in the phone that there shouldn't be. Nor in mine.

The bad or at least mystifying news: switching to corded phones doesn't stop it. Nor does switching to different cordless phones. And it also happens on his cell phone, as it turns out (which I didn't know previously since we didn't speak on it.)

So, hypothetically assuming this is a transmitter, how strong are we talking? Considering it may have killed two phones completely as noted in the original post? Though it's possible the death of the phones was incidental, it happened during an extremely intense bout of the "noise." Does the internet line the phones use being via shielded CATV mean it would be harder to do? Or does that even matter since they're cordless (even though they're DECT 6.0)?

Well, both I and my friend (on the same day no less) just received letters from our supposed Unlimited Long Distance providers. We are very close and talk about 4 hours a day. Evidently we talked 5,000 minutes one month, which is too long, and they have been monitoring our calls to confirm that we are not using it commercially. We have had this service for about the same period all of this has gone on, so it makes me really wonder if they are responsible for the noises and disturbances and so forth.

Never did we ever see this policy. Never were we directed to it. Never was it in our bill as they claim (no, not even in the fine print,) or on an e-bill. I guess their use of the term "unlimited" differs from ours. Also, we have ALWAYS talked this long. Why is it only now an issue? It will be fascinating to see if moderating our usage results in a cessation of these disturbances.

Peace.

reply to post by AceWombat04


Well, now you know who has been monitoring your calls. I wonder if they had a search warrant as required under the constitution.

In Australia this is very easy to handle. Complain to the telecommunications ombudsman and it would be a slam dunk with your provider hauled over live coals.

I imagine is the USA it is all together different.

P

Yeah, basically my recourse is to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the FCC. Who will in all likelihood, based on prior experience with other businesses, do nothing lol. Then my recourse is to get a lawyer. Which I would have to get pro bono, and as I recently learned when trying to secure representation for my mother during some questionable scenarios unfolding at our local hospital, that can be very difficult or nearly impossible unless you have an extremely solid (and more to the point, extremely lucrative) case. I suspect one day in the not too distant future there will be a class action lawsuit against them for things like this and also for bandwidth caps, like their rival AT&T went through. But there is little I can do at the moment that will have any probable efficacy.

I will look into it, though. And in the mean time, we must comply. We rely on this phone service for emergencies and work, and cannot afford a cell phone. (My mom and I, that is.)

Peace.