There are many listening equipment available today. Despite the fact that wiretapping is considered illegal in the Russian Federation, you can easily purchase various types of listening devices on the Internet. Search statistics for purchasing bugs or hidden video cameras are growing - in 2022, there are more than 10,000 searches monthly. Therefore, you need to know how to find wiretapping in an apartment on your own. First, you need to determine whether you fall into the group of people whose information is of interest to attackers, find out what listening devices look like and where they are most often installed.
Who can listen to whom?
With the help of bugs, confidential information about a person is collected in many cases. They often spy on business competitors or their significant other, who is suspected of cheating. But they also collect hidden information in other cases:
- to owners of private companies;
- for people who have sensitive or secret work;
- for lawyers, journalists, politicians;
- to business partners;
- in case of divorce proceedings;
- in litigation involving large sums;
- when visiting certain sites, including prohibited ones.
Famous people can also attract the attention of attackers, and it makes sense to collect incriminating data on them. However, knowing how to find a hidden video camera in an apartment, you can avoid close interest in your personal life and business negotiations. Leakage of personal or commercial information is highly undesirable for anyone, because it can lead to the fact that many personal plans will be upset and planned transactions will fall through. Therefore, if you belong to any of these groups, you need to regularly check your home for listening devices.
Precautionary measures
Most likely, the room will be clean, but if a camera or bug was discovered, you need to get out of their sight and call the police. Perhaps the attacker got into the frame and can be identified, and unnecessary movements in the frame can erase an important fragment located at the very beginning of the recording.
Technology does not stand still, so some devices may go unnoticed. Just look at the development of researchers from Peking University - in 2022, they attached a robot spy to a sticky fish.
Have you ever felt like you were being watched? You can tell your stories in the comments and, of course, in our Telegram chat.
Listening Installation Goals
Bugs are installed to collect hidden or secret information about a person or a competing company for which he works. For example, many people are interested in plans to acquire a company, merge companies, take them over, etc. Also of considerable interest is information that is classified as a trade secret: data on major contracts, innovative developments that can increase the profitability of the company.
But ordinary people should not relax, since even citizens who do not hold high positions can find a bug in their apartment. In this case, attackers are interested in information about where valuables are stored: currency, jewelry, important documents, gold, the location of the safe and access codes to it. In addition, sometimes specific information about one's personal life can be used to put pressure on a person to make a decision in which someone else is interested. Blackmail is also possible not only for the sake of obtaining material benefits, but also with the aim of forcing a person to commit a crime.
What about thermal imagers?
Another device that helps in detecting tracking equipment that you need to know about is a thermal imager. Any tracking device, whether it records video, audio, or emits infrared rays, will also emit some kind of thermal radiation, which is easy to detect with a thermal imager.
Most security cameras get quite hot due to their small size and because they are usually hidden inside some object that does not arouse suspicion and does not provide good ventilation.
You can use, for example, a device such as FLIR ONE Gen 3 - it connects to a smartphone and allows you to use it as a thermal imager.
This thermal imager will allow you to find hot spots in a room using your phone. Once you find such a point in a wall, behind a painting, in a smoke detector, behind any other device, or in any other location that seems unusual or suspicious, you can investigate the anomaly. It would be wise to thoroughly inspect the area for tracking devices.
What devices are used for wiretapping?
The vast majority of individuals who collect information on competitors or simply other people use affordable, simple equipment. Often, bugs are small blocks that have a built-in data transmission module or internal memory for recording information. Detecting wiretapping in an apartment presents certain difficulties for ordinary people, because you need to know what to look for. It can be:
- microphones that transmit information to remote devices;
- audio devices for recording that are listened to later;
- mini-video recorders with a recording function or transmitting information online;
- devices that read data directly from a computer, phone, tablet, etc.
This equipment is miniature in size and is powered by batteries that support its operation for a maximum of 14 days. Devices can transmit a signal over radio over several kilometers, and over a network, such as WiFi, to anywhere in the world. Attackers plant a bug in your apartment and can listen to your important conversations or other secret information or see everything you do at any time.
Vibroacoustic listening devices - what do they look like?
Less often than those listed above, you can find devices that can intercept acoustic vibrations propagating from the ceiling, walls, and heating pipes. Vibration interception devices are called radio stethoscopes.
I wonder what vibroacoustic type wiretapping looks like? It looks like a miniature “tablet” connected to wires:
Sound waves cause vibrations in solid rock, and the device picks them up through walls for subsequent conversion into understandable information.
Types of bookmarks for listening
There are several types of bugs that are used to collect confidential information. GSM bookmarks are widespread - ordinary mobile phones without buttons. You can call them and listen to the room where this device is left, thanks to the auto-answer function. And when there is sound in the room, the phone can call the specified number. It is installed in extension cords, charging wires, etc.
Radio bookmarks are the most effective and widespread. They work like a simple radio transmitter, but can have many different functions. Vibrating devices are often used that pick up voice vibrations even through walls. Such equipment can also remove information from water pipes, windows, ceilings, etc.
You can mount a miniature Wi-Fi bookmark into any piece of furniture. Typically this is a high-resolution, bare-bones camera with a very sensitive microphone. It broadcasts video footage to a computer or smartphone via a wireless network. Infrared devices convert sound vibrations into light vibrations for transmission in the infrared spectrum.
It is very difficult to detect wiretapping in an apartment if it is a network bookmark. They are mounted in power lines, household appliances, sockets, extension cords and transmit information through the electrical network. They work indefinitely and are very reliable.
Laser bookmarks are also used to collect information, but they are not installed indoors. The laser microphone reads the vibration of window glass at a distance of up to 300 meters and transforms it into the sounds of ordinary speech.
In addition, more modern types of listening equipment can be activated remotely - by responding to voices when people start talking in the room or turning on at a pre-programmed time.
What different types of wiretaps look like
Let's start with the most popular ones, which most often have to be removed from the premises being inspected.
What GSM bugs look like
With the advent of cellular communications, the possibilities of acoustic eavesdropping have expanded. A GSM bug is a more advanced version of a radio bug. The radio bug is tuned to the desired radio wave to transmit information, and the GSM bug only needs to be within the coverage area of your mobile operator. GSM bugs most often work with a SIM card.
The appearance of the GSM bug may vary, but its design includes a microphone, battery, antenna and GSM module. All this can be placed in the device body. The device can be made in the form of a flash drive, keychain, or lighter. Any technique you use can be a “housing” for a bug. Most often, to detect such a bug, you need to disassemble equipment - a computer mouse, socket, printer, etc.
One of our finds is a GSM bug camouflaged as a computer mouse. This device allows you to listen to the room using any telephone. Found in a box with other computer accessories. It was discovered using a professional field indicator.
Now you know what a GSM bug looks like. Sometimes it's just a computer mouse that you use all the time.
Bugs with a SIM card allow you to hear everything that happens in the car or indoors.
What a radio microphone might look like
A radio microphone can also be installed in a computer mouse. It can also be built into a pen, another small item that we are used to carrying with us. Microphones for wiretapping are sold just like that – built into various objects.
A radio microphone or radio wiretapping, a radio bug is a mini-equipment with a radio transmitter, a microphone and a battery or mains power. I wonder what wiretapping with a radio transmitter looks like in its “naked form”?
Here's what a device that can be bought directly on the radio market might look like:
A radio microphone works as follows: sounds around the wiretapping cause vibration in the microphone membrane, the device amplifies the captured signal and transmits it to the radio using an oscillating circuit. The radio frequency is usually floating so that the signal cannot be intercepted accidentally.
The radio bug picks up signals at a distance of 100-300 m, so they are installed directly in the area of possible important conversations - near the workplace, in a meeting room.
They are quite common because they are inexpensive and do their job well. Their advantage is their high sensitivity, which allows you to record even a quiet conversation in a listening room.
The photo shows one of our company's finds - a microphone in a meeting room. It was hidden in the ceiling slats and was discovered during a visual inspection of the ceiling space.
What do wired microphones look like for wiretapping?
Acoustic microphones remain the most commonly installed listening devices. They are built into walls, into electrical and telephone sockets, into any equipment. It is most convenient for an attacker to install wiretapping so that it is unnoticeably connected to the power system, and the information is transmitted through wires.
It is difficult to say what wiretapping like a wired microphone looks like. It can be camouflaged as any equipment, for example, it can look like an ordinary capacitor on a monitor board connected to the network.
Wired microphone for covert wiretapping in an uncamouflaged form.
Most often, wiretapped microphones transmit information over the electrical network, radio network, and alarm wires. They appear in premises after renovations, rentals, and visits from various “services.” They are difficult to detect but easy to eliminate.
Here, for example, is what the microphone found by our ventilation specialists looked like:
It was installed in the supply valve of the ventilation system in the manager's office. The wire was laid inside a metal sleeve. Visually he was invisible. It was discovered using a nonlinear locator.
Where can listening devices be located?
Given its small size, hiding eavesdropping equipment is not difficult. Therefore, before you detect wiretapping in an apartment, you will have to carefully check many things and look even into small cracks.
The most common places where bugs are installed:
- Niches and interior features - skirting boards, window sills, cornices, ceiling moldings.
- Batteries, pipes, vents.
- Computers, household appliances - speakers, TVs, etc.
- Furniture - on cabinets, bookshelves, under countertops, under large furniture.
- Decorative elements - photo frames, toys, figurines, table stands, etc.
- Home textiles - wall hangings, curtains, roller blinds, curtains.
- Electrical power points - sockets, switches, chandeliers.
You can also receive a wiretap as a gift - it can be embedded in a present presented by business partners or acquaintances: in a telephone, a beautiful souvenir, a stand for stationery, or a computer mouse. It should be taken into account that listening devices are usually not hidden in places where there will be interference for good audibility - under sofa cushions, inside cabinets, cabinets.
What to pay attention to
If you have any suspicions that you may be the object of close attention from strangers, first make sure that someone is actually watching you or listening to your private conversations. For example, your neighbor or business partner let slip information concerning you that you did not tell him, and he could not hear it anywhere. If information appears in the media that no one knows except you and your loved ones. Pay attention to noise when talking on the phone: minor sounds, delays in other people's speech, changes in volume, hissing. All of these could be signs of eavesdropping.
You should also be wary if your apartment was robbed, but nothing really valuable was stolen. Check that the front door is closed and ask your neighbors to pay attention to this. If any of the above situations occurred, you should ask yourself how to check whether there is wiretapping in your apartment and how to identify foreign devices. You can do this yourself or turn to professionals - then the check will be 100% effective.
Where to look
Spy devices will be installed in places that offer the best view of the guest.
For example, you should look for cameras in the area of bathrooms, dressing tables and closets near which you will change clothes, beds, as well as spaces where you will most often pass or spend time: the bathroom door, the front door, corridors and hallways.
Take a good look at the places where you will have conversations. Sound recording devices will be placed closer to the object of observation: inspect tables, chairs, sofas, beds and balconies.
How to look for wiretapping in an apartment on your own
You can conduct a search yourself, although there is no guarantee that you will find anything, since cameras and transmitting devices are becoming smaller, and microphones may not attract your attention at all. There are several ways to search for wiretapping that are worth using. However, remember: if nothing is found, this does not mean that your apartment is not being bugged.
Visual inspection
First of all, it is necessary to conduct a thorough visual and physical inspection of the most obvious places where bugs can be installed: cornices, floor and ceiling baseboards, ventilation holes, pipes. Check the furniture, cornices, curtains, paintings, vases, figurines, and other interior items.
Inspection of electrical appliances
Inspect sockets, lighting fixtures, switches, and adapters. If they are slightly shifted or show signs of damage, then they need to be checked first. Disassemble them with the electricity turned off and pay attention to unnecessary parts. Some devices require a power connection, therefore, during installation, certain things may have been moved from their usual places. In addition, new items could appear.
Checking Wi-Fi networks
Check available Wi-Fi networks. If there is an unknown person on their list that cannot belong to neighbors or a nearby cafe or store, then they need to check to identify cameras or wireless listening devices.
Detecting a video camera using a flashlight
The installed video camera can be found using a regular flashlight, because its lens has glare. You should turn off the lights, draw the curtains, turn on the flashlight and carefully inspect the walls, furniture, and interior items. If glare is visible somewhere, it may be a hidden camera.
Router and Wi-Fi
Computer technology is also often used for remote surveillance of a person. Using a replacement router, traffic is intercepted, and a tracking program is simply installed on the computer. Such programs even allow you to remotely turn on your webcam, take screenshots and record all keystrokes. Be sure to inspect your computer and router.
But it’s not enough to simply reinstall the operating system and reset user settings. There are so-called hardware key loggers and the same “bugs” that are built into computer equipment. In appearance, such devices imitate the components of equipment. As a rule, only a professional can detect them.
How to check electronic devices
They need to be disassembled to detect wiretapping. It is important to remember that electronic equipment creates interference itself. It will be very difficult for a non-specialist to find a bug in it. Most often, foreign eavesdropping devices are installed in a landline telephone or computer monitor.
When checking and searching for listening equipment, you must be careful, as attackers may guess about it. Then they will turn off the wiretapping, and it is almost impossible to find a non-working device.
Telephone listening devices - what do they look like?
It’s not easy to answer what wiretapping a phone looks like, since there are so many options. We have learned to listen to mobile phones, landline phones and IP telephony, the transmission of information through which passes through completely different communication channels.
A landline telephone has a wire through which information flows. It is clear that you can embed into it to gain access to the conversation. The wiretapping device is connected to a telephone handset, where you can install a radio bug or a voice recorder, which is convenient since changing batteries is not required - the wiretapping circuit can be powered from the device’s wire. You can also wiretap the device or wire. You can intercept a conversation without even getting into the apartment - a bug can be inserted into an interfloor box, into a distribution box or into a telephone socket. It might look something like this:
You can also cut into the telephone wiring and install a bug, which is usually installed in sockets.
Equipment for searching for wiretapping
To find bugs in an apartment, you can buy special technical devices of varying prices. These are a radio wave detector with sound indication, detectors of hidden video cameras, field indicators for identifying active bugs, non-linear locators, and sets of search equipment. The devices can track foreign electronic devices by detecting their electromagnetic signal.
When choosing, you need to pay attention to their operating frequencies, maximum range, power supply parameters, battery life, dimensions, temperature conditions at which the device will function normally, and some other parameters.
Professionals use more complex multifunctional search devices and expensive radio monitoring systems to continuously check radio broadcasts and identify radio microphones with complex operating patterns. Spectrum analyzers, nonlinear locators, amplitude bearing devices and other devices are also used.
Directional microphone
They are also divided into several types:
- Tube microphones are tube-shaped devices with holes arranged in several rows to capture sound vibrations. At the end there is a microphone, a signal converter and a voice recorder for recording.
- Gradient devices have two microphones next to each other, which also convert sound waves from the difference in the values they capture.
- Phased arrays have multiple microphones that pick up sound and transmit it to a transducer.
- Parabolic microphones are the most common type, consisting of a concave dish of 20 cm in diameter. In the center of the dish there is a signal receiver, which already transmits data to the recording device.
All such data collection devices record all sound, i.e. not only conversation, but also the rustling of leaves, rustling of packages, etc.
Help from professionals
If you couldn’t find the bugs on your own, contact a professional. offers services for searching for wiretapping in an apartment with complete confidentiality and legality of the actions performed. Specialists with higher education in the field of information security will promptly and responsibly check the premises for the presence of listening devices. 20 years of experience and professional equipment allow us to find bugs even in the most difficult cases.
Some tips when contacting our company:
- do not tell anyone about your intention to check the apartment and do not tell the date of the inspection;
- when ordering or discussing inspection details, you must not call from the premises that need to be inspected;
- Explain to your loved ones that scheduled repairs are coming;
- provide our specialists with full access to all rooms and other areas of the apartment.
The search is carried out by professionals with experience in intelligence services and the necessary knowledge in the field of information security. They will do the job efficiently using specialized equipment and provide complete information about the presence or absence of wiretapping.
Preparing for the search
Experts advise entering a new room with the initial assumption that it is under surveillance. There is no need to panic, because it is similar to fastening a seat belt in a car - most likely, it will not be needed, but it will make you more confident in your safety.
The room should be divided into four sections and each of them carefully examined for suspicious details. They can be the same things like coffee pots, exposed wires, suspicious light bulbs - you should pay great attention to all of this.
Advantages of contacting our company
By contacting us, you will receive a free consultation by phone or online. We approach each order with full responsibility, take into account all the nuances, and use an integrated approach. We search for bugs in the apartment, guided by the principles of confidentiality and legality. We use special equipment, so we find all types of listening devices, regardless of what operating mode they are in - active or “sleep”.
We offer optimal prices, and the cost of the service depends on the characteristics of each situation. We provide services in Moscow, the Moscow region, and travel to the regions. We conduct an apartment inspection at a time convenient for you. We will provide high quality services. We will find and neutralize bugs in your apartment.
Objects vulnerable to the installation of spyware
Do all the devices and accessories in your room match other objects in your room or throughout the house? Are any of them located in strange places or in strange ways? Do they change from room to room?
Pay attention to smoke detectors, thermostats, outlets, plumbing fixtures and light bulbs. Common sense dictates that all of these devices should be similar to each other, since they usually appear in a room or building during construction.
This observation may reveal an anomaly that is worth investigating further. Are there similar devices in different rooms that are located in strange ways or in strange places? When examining a room, you should ask yourself questions like these and probe further if you have any suspicions.
Do the paintings match the decoration or style of the room or home you are staying in? Most often, hotels and rental homes have a common decorating style.
For example, in a modern hotel, the decorations, fixtures, furniture and fixtures are likely to be modern. A rural bed and breakfast may have more decrepit furnishings with period charm. Pay attention to plumbing fixtures and decorations that are suspicious.
A few rules to protect yourself from wiretapping
To protect your confidential information in the future, try to follow these simple rules:
- do not talk on the phone about topics that may contain personal or sensitive information;
- limit access to your apartment for unverified people;
- check gifts from partners for bugs;
- do not take things lightly that are allegedly forgotten by visitors, because even a keychain or pen can be wiretapped;
- regularly check baseboards, sockets, furniture, cornices, etc.;
- Do not leave your mobile phone unattended where third parties can take it.
You can install a device that protects against wiretapping in order to create interference, noise, encode speech, that is, nullify all the efforts of attackers.
Experts will recommend what information security measures should be taken. They will provide high-quality technical protection for your apartment, because special information and timely measures taken helped to reliably protect the homes of clients who previously contacted us.
Check your mirrors
It is recommended to always check all mirrors in the room to ensure they are not double-sided. The best way to check is to use your finger. The reflection of your finger in most mirrors will not make contact with your finger if you press it directly into the mirror. There should be a gap of about 5 mm between the reflection and the finger.
If you touch the mirror with your finger and the reflection in it comes into contact with your finger, you need to study the mirror in more detail.
It's important to note that places like bars or gas stations may use metal-based mirror film instead of regular mirrors, which looks like a two-way mirror. This is done in order to avoid possible glass fragments that could be dangerous for visitors.
Another test technique is to turn off the lights and shine a flashlight into the mirror to see if there is anything behind it.
Bugs for indoors
On the market, these three types of wiretaps are extremely difficult for an ordinary person to find, because... Wiretapping is prohibited here. However, the fourth type of bugs can be bought in online stores. We are talking about small devices that can be placed in a room and either record data on the built-in memory, or listen online through the networks of cellular operators or the Internet.
They are small blocks with slots for a memory card for recording and a slot for a SIM card. It is much less common to find the same devices in anything built-in - pens, watches, wiretapping, etc.
There are bugs with cameras in the form of light bulbs, through which you can not only listen to what is being said in the room, but also watch videos online.
