Since listening devices are readily available, they can be misused to eavesdrop on your personal or business conversations. Of course, knowing that your house, hotel room, or office can be bugged with a listening device may make you feel anxious and uncomfortable.
What’s great is that you can use counter-surveillance devices to detect listening devices. Individuals and professionals use modern detectors like PRO-SL8 from JJN Digital, which has a wide frequency range and is ultra-sensitive. You can find a plethora of options on the internet.
Nevertheless, in this article, we’ll discuss what listening devices look like and how you can detect them to ensure your privacy isn’t compromised.
What Does a Listening Device Look Like?
Not every listening device will look the same. They all come in different sizes and shapes, like tiny circular or rectangular shapes. Of course, they will be small, usually about 1 cm, so they can be easily hidden in places.
They may resemble a small microchip and look like a small round coin. They may also feature a black or silver plate with a hole in the middle.
Some listening bugs may be wired, so they will be required to be concealed in electrical devices. Others may be wireless and rechargeable or battery-operated.
Where Are Listening Bugs Usually Hidden?
Since listening bugs are only used to eavesdrop on you, they can be placed anywhere in the home. Of course, this can even make it harder for you to detect them.
However, here are the most common places where listening devices are usually hidden.
- Extension leads
- Phone chargers
- USB chargers
- Sockets
- Cable boxes
- Light switch plates
- Smoke alarms
- Lighting fixtures
- Wi-Fi routers
How to Detect Listening Devices?
If you suspect someone has been eavesdropping on you, here are the top 3 ways to detect a listening bug.
1. Search the Common Places
As we just discussed the common places where listening devices are usually hidden, you should carefully inspect them. As most listening devices need an electricity source to operate in the long run, they will usually be hidden within electronics.
Before starting the inspection, turn off the electricity as this will give you privacy for inspection. However, some devices may still keep operating for some time with a failsafe battery. So, you still need to be careful.
If you haven’t found any device after careful inspection, it doesn’t mean the area is clear. You still need to check through an RF detector or smartphone app.
2. Use an RF Detector
Once you’re done scanning the suspecting area, you should use a radiofrequency scanner that easily detects different frequencies at various ranges.
RF detectors come with a variety of innovative features, so make sure you pick the right one according to your needs.
If a bugging device is found in an area, the RF detector usually starts beeping loudly, indicating the presence of a device.
3. Download a Smartphone App
This method may not be too effective against listening devices, but video devices. However, you can still inspect if a video bug has audio too.
If you don’t have any reason to believe that an area may be bugged but you still want to stay on the safe side, this method will be right for you.
Simply download an app for detecting hidden cameras and microphones on your phone and scan the area with your phone’s camera.
Once you’ve detected a listening device, it’s better to leave the premises and notify authorities without touching or disabling it since you want fingerprint verification. In the meantime, an audio jammer will be ideal for concealing your conversations.
