Bug Sweeping

August 17, 2020

Technology and convenience has meant that buying listening devices and spy cameras is very very easy for people to do. If you go to any large online store and search for either of those products you will be inundated with very cheap pieces of equipment and this is why we provide bug sweeping services.

In this blog I want to talk everything bugs and how we help you by finding them through bug sweeping.

What is a bug?

Aptly named bugs are usually small but always hidden devices that sit and give the fly on the wall type view of an area. Whether it’s to see, listen or both they are sometimes very hard to spot.

There are various types of bug we look out for but the main categories are

Camera
Audio
GSM – enables remote usage from anywhere in the world via a SIM card
Vehicle Trackers

Are bugs legal?

Depending on what exactly they are being used for and how the data that is being captured is stored and logged, they can be perfectly legal.

It is more than legal to place a hidden camera in your own home to detect theft by a cleaner or nanny for example. It is more than legal to use hidden vehicle trackers to track a vehicle that is owned by you despite the fact you are not the main driver.

One thing that is not always legal is how a hidden device is placed. Things to consider include property ownership and if trespass will be committed. Lots of other factors come into play also.

Who uses hidden devices?

As you can imagine we as private investigators use bugs and hidden devices quite a lot. Usually we use vehicle trackers as an aid to surveillance as well as remote cameras that we can view live to help us remain covert.

Other users of hidden devices can include the worst type of users such as stalkers or people who intend to cause harm and suffering. Criminals have been known to use vehicle trackers when getting ready to steal the vehicle they are tracking or they use vehicle trackers to determine when a property is empty ready to commit burglary.

Some home owners are now turning to hidden devices in their properties in order to protect them and their belongings. This also includes concerned family members who have vulnerable members within their family, usually older relatives and children who cared for by nannies.

How does a bug sweep work?

When you use our bug sweeping service, essentially what happens is we discuss with you your situation and the threat you are facing. From this we arrange the best methods and a date suitable to carry out the bug sweep and on the day our expert team arrives and conducts a sweep of the affected area.

This can be an entire house for private clients or selected rooms within an office block for businesses. The equipment we use is always the latest technology on the market paired with the knowledge and experience of how to use it to the best of its capability.

We mark any finds and handle them as evidence so that you can pass them over to the police if needed.

We don’t stop due to finds as most professionals don’t place just one device.

Past Results

We have found numerous bugs in peoples homes now ranging from self-contained units such as a normal radio with a built in Wi-Fi camera to a GSM listening device placed within a plug socket.

On one occasion our find was of a hidden vehicle tracker that was wired in discreetly just under a panel within the boot. We had no way of telling how long it had been placed because it was powered by the car itself meaning it had unlimited tracking capabilities.

In every case where we have found a device our client has been thrilled to discover it wasn’t mindless paranoia and I have explained to them some basic steps to take to avoid being tracked again.

If you are thinking of getting your home, office or car swept for bugs and don’t think it is worth the money or your time because ‘who would spy on me’ then you are dead wrong.

Hidden devices are everywhere and you’ll never know if you don’t start looking!

Thanks for reading and please feel free to share far and wide!

Dan