Smartphones given as gifts can be “dualized” and used by the donor to wiretap the recipient’s phone. Director of the detective agency “Operational Detective Bureau” retired police lieutenant colonel Konstantin Plotnikov told socialbites.ca about this.
According to the expert, the duplicate smartphone, as a rule, has the same software content as the original. Such a device opens up many possibilities for the donor to spy on the recipient: The attacker can intercept messages, view files, and also track the person’s location.
“If you suspect that this is exactly what you were given, take the device to an expert to examine it or sell the gift and buy yourself the same but new device to defeat the stalker,” the expert said.
Along with donating a smartphone, a sign of impending or ongoing surveillance may be a sudden decrease in incoming calls and SMS. According to Plotnikov, this most likely means that someone set up the forwarding on the smartphone. The third sign of surveillance is parallel sessions on Telegram and WhatsApp. You can check and turn them off in the service settings.
Plotnikov warned that the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for penalties for the illegal collection of data regarding the private life of another person without his consent. Depending on the severity of the act, sanctions may be different: large fines, forced, corrective or compulsory labor, arrest, imprisonment and (or) the right to hold certain positions for a period of time. According to him, private life means everything that is not related to one’s work or service and is not under the control of the state. Plotnikov noted that in practice for more than 15 years, he has encountered various attempts to circumvent established legislation in the name of surveillance.
“I know a story from my colleagues in the industry where a woman spied on her husband using the Wazzup service, but initially it was necessary so that company managers could monitor employees’ communications with customers. How it all ended, I don’t know. I hope it’s not a divorce. But this example shows that sometimes there are no limits to the creativity of followers,” the detective said.
Previously expert named The most dangerous day of the week when cyber fraudsters are most active.