Queensland Police could be using Stingray phone interceptors to unlawfully download the contents of your smart phone.
It is a common practice with American police to pull up beside a car at the lights and download your phone without you knowing it.
A motorist reported that she was traveling on the Mulligan Highway near Cooktown when she was intercepted by a police car which had been attending the Aurukun riots.(Aboriginal community)
The motorist tried to download messages when she got to her destination not long after the police intercept. She said her phone had been working perfectly before she was stopped.
“The phone went beserk, throwing up messages, the screen was jumping all over the place so I tried to turn it off, but couldn’t do that either,” she told Cairnsnews.
“After playing with the phone I managed to turn it off for about an hour then when I turned it back on it did the same thing. I let it go flat and charged it overnight and today it seems to be OK.”
The motorist said a passenger in the car had the same problem and had to leave it switched off all night while on the charger. She said this phone now seemed to work properly after receiving a call from the passenger complaining about the same problem.
A technician said the phones had displayed symptoms of being externally downloaded.
G4 flip phone? or a 4G flip phone?
My bro in law and I were at Sydney international airport with full batteries and suddenly whilst waiting for arrivals both our phones got really hot and power bars went quicker than when you use it normally. I reckon they check phones discretely for terrorists!
Oh yeah, I should mention that I paid $78 for the phone.
I bought it at the Post Office, the brand name is Aspera. I have an old ‘plan’ that I kept and I only pay for calls that I make. I usually pay less than $5, some months I don’t pay anything (no calls).
I have a 3lb club hammer, I can look at her phone, and I’ll do it for free.
Terry . very good advice . what brand . where purchased? . so we can advise our members.
Cheers
I’m not sure how hard it is to remove the battery from an IPhone but some people have suggested putting them in a protective pocket or film.
Any comment ?
Sorry Danny,
Whilst the idea works to stop incoming transmissions (phone calls), depending upon the proximity and the strength of the stingray machine, they’ll punch straight through that.
Even if you remove the battery from your phone, it has an internal “emergency” power supply capable of powering the phone for a short period of time.
What they’re trying to do is show that you have used your phone whilst driving, then they can make a sale.
Incidentally the imperial proclamations,proclamations act, (I think it’s 1986) makes it an offense to issue any sort of penalty for anything prior to a court finding the defendant guilty.
SO THE PLOD BREAKS THE LAW EVERY TIME HE ISSUES A FINE…..HE’S A CRIMINAL.
Most readers would agree John.Editor
We have had numerous complaints of phone hacking for years, in fact we stopped publishing them because it was common practice with all law enforcement agencies. The reader mentioned in this story said her phone is still destabilised
and would have to get it looked at by a technician.Editor
Question regarding this “interception” – does it involve remote activation of the Wi-Fi on the targetted mobile phone? Just wondering because I had heaps of trouble trying to turn off wi-fi on my mobile – that I had definitely NOT activated myself
When I was a barrister I had to have a mobile phone when out on circuit. That was the days of the G1 ‘Brick’ phone. I continued to have a mobile phone for work, but since I was politically active, I would remove the battery so I couldn’t be tracked. When the Iphones came out, there was no way I was going to carry around a ‘bug’ on me that recorded EVERYTHING I was up to, who I talked to, pictures, etc.
Last year I ‘upgraded’ to a G4 ‘Flip phone’, just so I could make occasional phone calls. However, it is rarely used, about once a month on average.
People that carry Iphones around are fools as far as I’m concerned, but then the education, culture and peer group pressure ensures that fools are wide spread.
More evidence of the Satanic Police State! . what is the stated law . which allows Police to breach one’s Privacy! . or is Qld now a completely lawless Police State state!
They are invading personal privacy & space, without any consent, nor knowledge of anyone they may target, even if they’ve never ever committed a crime. Of course that’s unlawful & illegal.
I think it’s a good idea to wrap the phone well all around with some good quality aluminium foil right around it, which prevents them from prying into it etc, if noticed. Even if say you won’t be able to turn it off, one can block the transmissions via a shield/barrier.
The aluminium acts as a shield & barrier around the phone.
Is that even possible and if so is that even legal, breach of privacy.