032 Phone Taps

eZine lover (@eZine)

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Jolly Rogers Cookbook Version

 · 4 years ago

  

Phone Taps                                      by The Jolly Roger 

Here is some info on phone taps. In this file is a schematic for a  
simple wiretap & instructions for hooking up a small tape recorder  
control relay to the phone line. 

First, I will discuss taps a little. There are many different  
types of taps. there are transmitters, wired taps, and induction  
taps to name a few. Wired and wireless transmitters must be  
physically connected to the line before they will do any good.  
Once a wireless tap is connected to the line,it can transmit all  
conversations over a limited reception range. The phones in the  
house can even be modifies to pick up conversations in the room  
and transmit them too! These taps are usually powered off of the  
phone line, but can have an external power source. You can get more 
information on these taps by getting an issue of Popular 
Communications and reading through the ads. Wired taps, on the  
other hand, need no power source, but a wire must be run from the  
line to the listener or to a transmitter. There are obvious  
advantages of wireless taps over wired ones. There is one type of 
wireless tap that looks like a normal telephone mike. All you have  
to do is replace the original mike with thisand itwill transmit  
all conversations! There is also an exotic type of wired tap known  
as the 'Infinity Transmitter' or 'Harmonica Bug'. In order to hook  
one of these, it must be installed inside the phone. When someone  
calls the tapped phone & *before* it rings,blows a whistle over  
the line, the transmitter picks up the phone via a relay. The mike  
on the phone is activated so that the caller can hear all of the  
conversations in the room. There is a sweep tone test at      
415/BUG-1111 which can be used to detect one of these taps. If one  
of these is on your line & the test # sends the correct tone, you  
will hear a click. Induction taps have one big advantage over taps  
that must be physically wired to the phone. They do not have to be  
touching the phone in order to pick up the conversation. They work  
on the same principle as the little suction-cup tape recorder  
mikes that you can get at Radio Shack. Induction mikes can be  
hooked up to a transmitter or be wired. 

Here is an example of industrial espionage using the phone: 
 A salesman walks into an office & makes a phone call. He fakes  
the conversation, but when he hangs up he slips some foam rubber  
cubes into the cradle. The called party can still hear all  
conversations in the room. When someone picks up the phone, the  
cubes fall away unnoticed. 
  
A tap can also be used on a phone to overhear what your modem is  
doing when you are wardialing, hacking, or just plain calling a  
bbs (like the White Ruins! Denver, Colorado! 55 megs online!  
Atari! Macintosh! Amiga! Ibm! CALL IT! 303-972-8566! By the way, i  
did this ad without the sysops consent or knowledge!).  

Here is the schematic: 
-------)!----)!(-------------> 
             )!( 
  Cap ^      )!( 
             )!( 
             )!( 
             )!( 
     ^^^^^---)!(-------------> 
       ^  100K 
       ! 
       ! <Input 

The 100K pot is used for volume. It should be on its highest  
(least resistance) setting if you hook a speaker across the  
output. but it should be set on its highest resistance for a tape  
recorder or amplifier. You may find it necessary to add another 
10 - 40K. The capacitor should be around .47 MFD. It's only  
purpose is to prevent the relay in the phone from tripping &  
thinking that you have the phone off of the hook. the audio output  
transformer is available at Radio Shack. (part # 273-138E for  
input). The red & the white wires go to the output device. You may  
want to experiment with the transformer for the best output.  
Hooking up a tape recorder relay is easy. Just hook one of the phone  
wires (usually red) to the the end of one of the relay & the ther  
end just loop around. This bypasses it. It should look like this: 

------^^^^^^^^^------------ 
      --------- 
      RELAY^^ 
(part #275-004 from Radio Shack works fine) 

If you think that you line is tapped, the first thing to do is to  
physically inspect the line yourself ESPECIALLY the phones. You  
can get mike replacements with bug detectors built in. However, I  
would not trust them too much. It is too easy to get a wrong  
reading. 

For more info: 

BUGS AND ELECTRONIC SURVEILANCE from Desert Publications 
HOW TO AVOID ELECTRONIC EAVESDROPPING & PRIVACY INVASION. I do not  
remember who this one is from... you might want to try Paladin  
Press. 

                                          -Jolly Roger-