With the advent of smaller and smaller bugging devices, and a much higher rate of electronic crime, people all over the world are looking to private detectives and security organisations to help combat the growing trend. Many Private Detective companies will offer a counter-surveillance service where they will come to your premises and ’search for bugs’, usually done with a range of publicly available RF detectors, everyday tools and some common sense. This post aims to show how the D.I.Y. Detective can ensure his/her own integrity without relying on a service from others.

When it comes to Counter-Surveillance the first thing you to use would be an RF Detector but to use the RF Detector you first need to understand is the different types of RF bugs that are available. The most commonly available RF bugging device are the GSM Bugs that allows others to dial in remotely and listen to the surroundings of the device, this means it transmits audio via a radio frequency. Other commonly used RF bugging devices are UHF Bugs that transmit audio via radio frequency to a receving device that is usually connected to a recording device. Both of these types of RF bug come in two types, ‘live’ and ‘burst’. ‘Live’ means that the unit is transmitting when in use and ‘Burst’ means the unit will collect audio over a short period of time and transmit  the data every 20-30 minutes. This means ‘live’ RF bugs can be detected when they are in use (e.g. when being called into) and transmitting audio. ‘Burst’ bugs, however require an RF detector to be left in place for approx. 30 minutes, if a ‘burst’ bug is detected a physical check is the way forward.

Although an RF Detector is an essential peice of the D.I.Y. Detective’s arsenal you will also need something as simple as a standard took kit. The tool kit you will need for doing your physical checks of an area, this should include behind all power sockets and light fittings as these are good mains power access point. Another useful item for thr D.I.Y. Detective is a Snake Camera for checking the spots behind plug sockets and any tight space that would be good for concealing surveillance devices. The biggest past of the D.I.Y Detective’s arsenal, however, is common sense…look at an area and see how you would go about bugging the room and start from there.

99.9% of bug hunts will end without anything being found however it is always worth being as thourough as possible to protect against the 0.1%.

At Spy Equipment UK we have to keep up-to-date on the legalities in relation to the equipment that we sell. Any equipment that transmits on a radio frequency (RF), is subject to strict criteria and as such must comply to certain regulations. The government regulatory body in the UK is OFCOM (Office of Communications) and it is this agency that enforce and advise of any existing or new transmitting equipment that is sold in the UK and in fact the EU.

Here at Spy Equipment UK we offer a range of UHF Equipment for export only outside the UK and EU, but many ask, why it is not available to UK or EU member state customers. UHF transmitters have been around now for about 30 years, likewise have been the cheaper FM Transmitter counterparts. FM Transmitters generally transmit on frequencies between 108 MHz and 115MHz of the FM band and UHF Transmitters operate generally between 395 MHz and 430 MHZ in the Ultra High Frequency band. It is not illegal to manufacture, sell for export outside EU or possess such equipment, but it is illegal to switch on an unlicensed transmitter or offer for sale to UK or SE customers.

The FM Transmitters do not comply with OFCOM regulations because the frequencies that they use sit in the range used by Air Traffic and it has been deemed that ground-based FM surveillance transmitters could possibly interfere with air traffic control. As regards the UHF Equipment, OFCOM informs us that the frequency range used is set aside for military use and therefore UHF surveillance transmitters could interfere with their usage. In short, unless granted a licence by OFCOM to operate on the frequency bands specified. It should be borne-in-mind that OFCOM do investigate and prosecute offenders and fines are often in the region of many thousands of pounds, so beware!