It's not as sexy as Fitzgerald and his indictments, but it's important to me. Today, I got some unsettling news: Someone very close to me is the victim of a high-tech stalker. I'm hoping some of the big brains here have some advice. (More on the flip)
Let's get the story. Two girls (Girl A and Girl B) -- both close to me -- have a problem. And this problem is a guy we'll call Stalker.
Stalker liked Girl A. Girl A was nice to him -- back when he seemed to be a nice guy -- but he did something stupid and she said she wanted nothing further to do with him. Until, that is, Girl A met another nice guy.
He called the next night, and right after that the New Guy started getting a ton of harassing phone calls (Supposedly from her "husband", but was recognizably the Stalker). No one knows, exactly, how the Stalker got the phone number for the new guy. At some point Girl A had her locks and cell phone number changed -- the Stalker managed to get the new cell phone number.
That's where Girl B -- my wife -- comes in. Girl B has a friend whose husband specializes in snooping and counter-snooping business. He runs a rather successful shop that caters mostly towards counter-surviellence. He speculated that the Stalker most likely got ahold of the New Guy's number via Girl A's caller id (by breaking in) and probably got her new cell phone number using her Social Security Number or from seeing a bill out when he let himself in -- you can, he said, generally get the company to hand out a cell phone number if you play the role of husband or brother and have the SSN. So changing the locks seemed to be a good idea.
My wife relays this to Girl A. Girl A has a cordless phone (as do we) but nobody is very sure whether this conversation took place cordless to cordless or cordless to cellular (Girl A's cellular).
Stalker text messages Girl A today with the note "Tell your sister not to worry, I don't have your SSN". He was listening in on ONE end of the conversation (I suspect Girl A. If he was hovering around my house, he wouldn't know if Girl A was seeing or talking to New Guy).
Since we don't know whether or not Girl A was on a cordless or cellular, I speculate cordless -- given the way her neighbrohood is laid out, Stalker could be well out of site of the house but well within range of a scanner listening in on her cordless frequency (or a placed bug).
The speculation lasts approximately 3 hours. Girl A calls -- on her cell phone, from her workplace -- someone who knows Stalker and inquires as to his whereabouts, pointing out that he's gotten MASSIVELY creepy and she plans to speak to the police right after work. He admits Stalker is in town. Minutes later, he gets a call from Stalker berating him for being a traitor.
In short -- Stalker heard that conversation. Which means he has her cell phone bugged (or is listening in in some way) -- both of which, I understand, are very difficult and beyond the reach of amateurs (even dedicated ones) or he has managed to bug her home and workplace (a public school) OR has some form of long-range mike capable of resolving conversations from outside the building.
None seem very plausible to me. Yet, nonetheless, he's heard two private phone conversations and responded quickly. He's been able to text message her on a number he shouldn't know, and been able to find out numbers that have dialed into (or out) of her house and cell phone.
To top it off, she claims all the txt messages he sent (including the incriminating one revealing information exchanged in a private conversation) have vanished from her cell phone.
She is at the police right now, filing a report and -- hopefully -- trying to press relevant charges. She has switched cell phones again, this time registered under another name entirely (a friend's) under a different wireless service.
We're considering importing our survellience friend to sweep her house and workplace (I already had the phone company check MY line for hard taps and she's supposed to have them check hers when she gets home).
Does anyone have the slightest idea what the hell is going on here? Any explanation that makes ANY sense? Advice? Conclusions? Anything?
I consider myself technically savvy but the ONLY explanation I had -- using a cheap scanner and hanging around her house -- doesn't really explain his access to the actual incoming and outgoing numbers, nor does it explain his ability to listen into conversations on her cell. Maybe it's a scanner coupled with a bug or a good long-range mike.....
Can anyone offer some suggestions or advice?