A few days before I go for a testimony, my (locked) car was unlocked over night and petty things were taken. It appears two people got into the car. My car has a bluetooth after market radio. I didn’t leave the faceplate in the car.
I am wondering if they left a bugging device in the car. How/who can I identify it? If it was unidentified, how long will it continue to function?
You’re going to need a pro in the field of bugging devices for this. A pro will have the equipment and the expertise to “sweep” the vehicle for anomolous signals. It’s probably even possible to install an undetectable device, but that’s spy stuff and I’m just guessing.
I might suggest that unless there is some real cloak and dagger stuff going on in your life, you are worried about nothing. I would be more worried about someone wanting to steal the car.
Is there something special about this car that might make it important enough to do something.
In the real world there are only a few people who have a real reason to feel they need to take special efforts to maintain extra some extra form of privacy. Most of us live boring lives.
You’re probably going to have to talk to a private detective agency to find one that can do the sweep. There’s all kinds of software out there now so have your cell phone checked at the same time.
It may not happen all the time but disgruntled spouses, partners, employees, and so on, will sometimes go to great lengths to track and harass people they dislike or are trying to get information on. Some of these folks have guns too.
Your car isn’t bugged. Anyone who knew anything about planting bugs would not make it so freaking obvious that someone had been in your car. If your car was bugged, you’d never see any sign that the car had been touched since you last left it.
The “bug,” if present, would be a GPS tracking unit stuck onto the car from underneath. No need to break in and make you so suspicious. Fuggedaboutit. If you’re still concerned, get the car on a lift and check it out.
Without knowing what the “testimony” is that the OP is going to give, I’d be reticent to write this off to paranoia.
Well just google bugging devices or take a look at the Spystore if you aren’t paranoid. Small mics, cameras, tracking equipment and of course counter equipment too to detect the stuff they sell. Any wacko can get and use this stuff for a few hundred dollars. Like they tell others, trust your instincts.
Then I remember what my boss told another co-worker once who was complaining about his situation and said “maybe I’m just paranoid”. My boss said “Bob, you’re not paranoid, people really are out to get you”.
if you have sat in the car and driven it already, it is too late. the latest bugs actually attach to the driver upon vehicle movement and probably has probed into your brain thru your ear drum. so save your money and skip the scan of the vehicle. spend your money on scanning your noggin.
i’m just going to say “your welcome” ahead of time.
“Without knowing what the “testimony” is that the OP is going to give, I’d be reticent to write this off to paranoia.”
+1
Somehow, I think that many forum members missed the detail about the OP being scheduled to testify in court shortly. Yes, the concept may seem bizarre, but in my second career as a paralegal, I heard of various, incidious ways of trying to invalidate someone’s testimony in court, and bugging a car could be one way to go about gathering information on a person who is about to testify in court, so as to defuse or call his testimony into question.
Or, it could be just an ordinary break-in, but…
I’ve seen far more sinister measures taken in a simple divorce case. In a criminal case, all bets are off.
Gee, I wish I’d been more sinister in my divorce…oh, never mind.
@shadowfax:
Ah, but maybe they are using the old reverse psychology ploy, making you think that the car was broken into to bug it and then have someone on a forum say “Your car isn’t bugged. Anyone who knew anything about planting bugs would not make it so freaking obvious that someone had been in your car. If your car was bugged, you’d never see any sign that the car had been touched since you last left it.”, putting your mind at ease.
If they were really smart, they’d make the car look like it wasn’t robbed and then make it look like it was robbed a couple of days later. So maybe they actually bugged your car last week, when your car didn’t look broken into.
Those buggers are crafty.
Remember, just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean the world isn’t out to bug you.
May I suggest the OP wrap the car in tinfoil?
Somehow, I think that many forum members missed the detail about the OP being scheduled to testify in court shortly.
I didn’t miss it. That’s what convinced me that his car isn’t bugged. If it were to be bugged pursuant to the testimony, it would in all likelihood involve elements of organized crime. Those guys are smart enough to bug the car without making it obvious that the car was tampered with. The last thing you want when bugging a car is for the driver to know that you were in the car, because then he might start wondering if you planted a bug.
If the people planting the bug were dumb enough to make it obvious the car was tampered with, then they’re dumb enough to skip the bugging process altogether and instead directly threaten to hurt/kill him unless he keeps quiet.
Yes but if they know that he’s going to ask on the forum and the forum will tell him it wasn’t bugged, then they probably also know that some wag on the forum will counter with what you said, and take steps to mitigate the damages. Therefore, OP fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is “never get involved in a land war in Asia” - but only slightly less well-known is this: “Never go on a forum when electronic surveilance is on the line”!
wow… you’re right, @shadowfax. They are prolly monitoring this thread.
That’s it: I’m putting on my tinfoil hat so they can’t read what I’m thinking!
I agree with the others who say a “bugging device” may take a professional and money and/or luck to detect. By breaking in and taking a few minor items, the “other side” may have been messing with your mind to try to spook you a bit, and it looks like it worked, if they were.
You can also think about messing with their minds, too (Disclaimer: As always, consult your lawyer and tax professional before proceeding with thinking about anything). For example, if you think someone has placed a listening device, think how it would be to invite a good friend over and sit and talk about how it’s going with the sting operation you are confidentially helping the FBI with, or about that classified project you are working with on behalf of national security. The sky’s the limit. If you know a friend in the 'force, you can tweak their brains and get creative. Good luck. PS I don’t know you. And I’m not suggesting you DO this, just asking you to think about how it would be if you did.
Privacy is a thing of the past. There’s a saying, “I lost my password and I’m so frustrated, I’m going to have to break down and ask the Chinese/US (your choice) government what it is.”
If the car was bugged, it would probably be a voice recorder, not a GPS device. Most of these have a very limited range so someone would have to be following you as well or it could be a voice activated recorder, which means they will have to break in again to get it in order to listen to what is on it.
Private detectives, common in both civil litigation and criminal investigations (usually hired by the defense team), plant many, many more bugs than cops and crime syndicates do. And nobody uses voice recorders anymore. Everything is voice-activated wireless transmission. Nowadays they probably have the location, the conversation, the time and date, the number called, and whatever they’d like transmitted directly to a home computer and to their personal device.
Yes but then I defer to shadowfax’s reasoning- why would you do anything to raise suspicion? In/Out, no trace, nothing to alarm the bugee 
No offense meant, just reminded me of the humorous bumper sticker: HELP! the paranoids are after me!
I doubt we’ll see the OP again.
After hearing all of that^, I bet he’s laying under his kitchen table, in the fetal position, sucking his thumb.
I’d just go about my normal life and not talk on the phone while in the car. You can’t do that legally in Cali anyway. Commute to work, listen to the radio, maybe run a few errands; what’s anyone going to learn from those activities that they could use against @scionf?