how safe are cell phone conversations?

[Michie]

I was reading a thread about one of our posters who neighbor overheard her cell phone conversation over a scanner. How easy is it to get one of those scanners and how easy is it to easedrop?

 

[Laurajean1014]

If any one is that interested in my cell phone activity, I feel so sorry for them.

They are in for a boring ride.

 

[tiggersmom2]

Hi! I am the poster with the neigbor that overheard my conversation. Someone said that it is hard to do with the new cell phones....I dunno. My cell phone is 3 years old and I have cordless phones in the house. I reckon she could have heard it on either one of them....but she DID hear it one way or the other!!!

If you don't want your conversations picked up....talk on a plug in the wall phone!!!

 

[NCDisneyMom]

All I can tell you is that I have heard conversations over my baby monitor before. In our old house, it sounded like I was just picking up someone else's baby monitor...never could figure out who it was, though. I've also heard what is obviously one side of a phone conversation, but again, couldn't figure out who it was to warn them.

 

[Aidensmom]

I was reading a thread about one of our posters who neighbor overheard her cell phone conversation over a scanner. How easy is it to get one of those scanners and how easy is it to easedrop?

Give us the scoop, who are you trying to eavesdrop on?

 

[SherryNC]

Give us the scoop, who are you trying to eavesdrop on?

I just asked her that on the lush thread.

 

[Michie]

Give us the scoop, who are you trying to eavesdrop on?

Nobody. I was just curious if you were say, ordering something over your celll, gave your card number, how easily it would be for somebody to overhear.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I'm not sure, but I used to work for an attorney who would never talk to a client if they were on their cell phone. I've heard other conversations on my baby monitor too.

 

[TeresaMc]

My attorney will not talk to me on a cell or cordless phone...must be land line.

 

[Frantasmic]

Cell phones can be monitored from a scanner with the right frequencies. There was a big new article about 5 years ago with someone listening in on some politician's cell phone. I think someone also taped Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's phone calls as well.


I recently heard of a new device that allows people to hear what you are saying in your car if your cell phone is just turned on. I would need to research this for the facts, but I am sure this is possible.

 

[Poohnatic]

I used to hear someone on my son's baby monitor. Just her side of it, and she was always yakking on that thing! It was boring stuff, and it got to a point where I didn't use the monitor because I was tired of hearing this woman talking all the time!

Suzanne

 

[aprilgail2]

I used to hear someone on my son's baby monitor. Just her side of it, and she was always yakking on that thing! It was boring stuff, and it got to a point where I didn't use the monitor because I was tired of hearing this woman talking all the time!

Suzanne

My baby monitor picked up the people across the streets phone....all of a sudden I hear some young girl talking to I guess it was her boyfriend-I only heard her half about sex..then I hear her mention a concert her mom was taking her to and it clicked that it was the kid across the street...when I saw her the next week I casually said to her "just want you to know that my baby monitor picks up your cordless phone".....I didn't tell her the conversation I heard but just let her know I could hear when she was on the phone!

 

[Meezers]

I know that when I work...we cannot give Criminal History information over the radio...or cell phone. Has to be a land line...guess that means somehow the cell can be picked up by some kind of scanner!

 

[Chatter Box]

I had an old cordless phone that picked up my neighbors on both side of me conversations. That's how I found out neighbor 1 was cheating on his wife, who was pregnant at the time and neighbor 2 had a **** job because her work required on. She was a stripper. I had to constantly change channels on the phone.

I also remember that my neighbors when I was growing up, could her our conversation with our Dad on our CB. Their cordless phone would pick it up.

Oh yea and baby monitors are well known for that. When I use to babysit, I use to listen in when the babies were asleep because I was bored.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

how safe are cell phone conversations?

I think they're safer than flying. I don't know of anyone who has gotten seriously hurt directly from a cell phone conversation. I know that psycho killers for some reason seem to be drawn to people talking on cordless phones.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I remember the first time a cordless phone conversation came over the baby monitor. I jumped out of my skin because I thought there was some woman in the nursery with the baby! That was the baby that I nannied. After DS was born I would sometimes pick up conversations on our baby monitor. And yes, one night there was a woman on the phone with her credit card company and I heard every word.

The only cell conversations I have picked up have been on my phone where all of a sudden somebody else is on the same wavelength (or whatever). Usually when that happens there is so much interference I can't hear much of anything.

In our old apartment our upstairs neighbors must have had the same exact model of phone because sometimes I would pick up the phone and I could hear them talking. The kicker was that my cordless phone WOULD NOT work whenever that happened, so I couldn't change the channel. I would have to go use the phone with the cord.

 

[gshanny]

Picture sitting in front of your computer at night. It is dark, the kids are in bed and DH works nights and the house is quiet. You are busy doing some stuff when all of the sudden.......your computer says 'Hi' to you......
We had some idiot several miles outside of town. He even bragged about using illegal stuff to make his signal stronger on his CB. He came through my computer several times and it would always freak me out. One night he was coming over my phone so loud I couldn't use it. You could hear every word he said clear across the house. It was too loud to put the phone up to your ear I finally had to call the Sherriff's(that was a difficult situation putting the phone up to my ear and jerking it back when the idiot would start to talk) so they could go make him stop. The dummy had given his location out at one point. They came to my house and couldn't believe how loud it was with how far away he was from my house.
I have also heard a neighbor come through a baby monitor once. Luckily it was at the end of my needs for having one so I got rid of it.

 

[vettechick99]

I used to work for a cell phone provider. If the provider is 100% digital (and I don't mean digital/analog which a lot are and claim to be "digital"), then you are safe from the OP.

If memory serves, GSM and CDMA networks are safe.

 

[JimB.]

Totally digital cel phones are secure from the "off the shelf" type scanners you buy at Wal Mart & Radio Shack. If the scanner picks up your cel phone frequency, all that will be heard is an electronic buzzing noise.

Analog cel phones - fuggedaboutit. Compromised. 100%.

Same with wireless home phones. That's why I never give out a CC # on a wireless or discuss any really sensitive stuff. So I always talk about that on my Mickey Mouse phone in the kitchen or my hard wired "toilet phone" in my bathroom.

Yea, I know. Probably a bit TMI, but I could not resist.