Phone People - POTS - Question....Possible 3rd Party Listening

[bob4432]

i live in a condo and this is a POTS phone question - Plain Old Telephone Service - have regular phone service w/ 1 cordless phone w/ answering machine hooked up and a fax machine hooked up. sometimes when i am talking on the phone i may hear some clicking and i will look down at my handset and it says "parallel unit" which usually means that another person has picked up the phone....but there isn't another phone that i own. this has even happend w/ the fax machine disconnected and normally i wouldn't really care, but it is happening more and more.

is there any tool i can acquire that would tell me if a neighbor has tapped off my phone line?

 

[Newbian]

Are you sure the FBI are not listening to your conversation wondering where you keep the bodies?

 

[rudeguy]

dude....format C now!

 

[bob4432]

i don't talk about that stuff on the phone and i have done multiple dod wipes on my hdds and no traceable safety deposit boxes

seriously, though, any info regarding this?

 

[nageov3t]

you're on the list. you should be making your time.

 

[rudeguy]

I'd guess wiring messed up somewhere. Not bad enough to interfere with your calls but enough to make the phone think that another line picked up.

Complete and total guess though

 

[dwell]

Text

 

[l0cke]

Try a canary trap. Say something on the phone that will cause a listener to act on the information. Say you are dropping a bunch of cash off in a suitcase somewhere at a certain time, then stake out the place.

 

[kranky]

Didn't you have a recent thread about having remote listening software on your cell phone?

 

[spidey07]

A butt set on the line can trigger that, it drops the impedance of the pair. Same as somebody else picking up. As long as your fax isn't off-hook you shouldn't see it. If you do then there IS another phone off-hook on the line (hearing everything you're doing).

 

[Modelworks]

Does your phone base have the option for multiple handsets ?
Someone in the building could also have the same make/model of phone. They will scan for a free channel when you use them but depending on the location , things like wifi, other phones, can cut the number of channels to just a few.

They still cannot hear your call because they are encoded on most 2.4ghz + units but it might make the handset show another one.

 

[bob4432]

Didn't you have a recent thread about having remote listening software on your cell phone?

yes, that was the wife's cell phone from a client - that client is now gone and so is the phone, not for that reason but gone nonetheless.

 

[bob4432]

Does your phone base have the option for multiple handsets ?
Someone in the building could also have the same make/model of phone. They will scan for a free channel when you use them but depending on the location , things like wifi, other phones, can cut the number of channels to just a few.

They still cannot hear your call because they are encoded on most 2.4ghz + units but it might make the handset show another one.

yes, the phone can use multiple hand sets

 

[skyking]

From your description I'm thinking it is a wireless phenomenon.

 

[LS8]

Could be a hose up at the telco office. This happened to me a few years ago. Somehow the telco crossed my line with another lady's down the street. I could listen to her calls and she could listen to mine - essentially we were sharing a line.

 

[FoBoT]

you say it is a cordless phone, how old? i think people can listen on the older cordless phones with scanners

 

[CptCrunch]

Anything wireless can be intercepted, it depends on the make/model/security and how good the other person/scanner is, but they can always listen in. Same with POTS, they could have an analog trace or tap going on. But most are digital these days and you would never know if anyone was listening in.

A baby monitor/walkie-talkie or something that operates on that frequency could easily be causing interference enough to trip that light.

 

[squirrel dog]

"I live in a condo" it's possible that your phone wiring is looped through another unit.

 

[iamwiz82]

Two instances of people listening to your phone calls on two separate phone lines. Hrm....

 

[bob4432]

you say it is a cordless phone, how old? i think people can listen on the older cordless phones with scanners

~3-4yrs old maybe

 

[bob4432]

Two instances of people listening to your phone calls on two separate phone lines. Hrm....

well, got rid of the 1 phone issue, now seeing if there is another phone issue or this is a weird occurance. i am sure i am not the only one who would think something was up when their only phone shows "parrallel set" picked up.