UPDATED February 10, 2022 This piece has been updated to reflect the emergence of new technology
Christian Mathews Security Writer
Do you think you have hidden cameras inside your home? Or is there a possibility that someone would have secretly installed listening devices somewhere in your living premises? You may be wondering how can I sweep my house for listening devices?. Even if you have the slightest of doubt, try to dismantle it all by finding out yourself. You may be asking how to detect listening devices or hidden cameras in your home.
There are several ways you can detect listening devices or hidden cameras at your home/office. You have to be a bit smart and here we are to help you out in being one:
How Do I Detect A Listening Device In My Home?
Let’s first take up how you can detect listening devices in your home. Listening devices here refer to hidden microphones, bugs, and other listening devices in particular.
Here is how to detect listening devices or hidden cameras.
Find The Bug’s Power Supply
Surveillance devices need to be powered to keep an eye on someone continuously. They require a constant power supply that batteries may not provide as they are short-lived.
They usually make use of a dependable power supply. For this, search for physical wires that are not leading anywhere.
Sometimes, the bug is also made to steal power from other devices like a USB cord. Take your chances and begin your search and seizure mission by checking all possibilities.
Search In Peace
To find a hidden listening device, your house must be completely still and free from any noise. The best time to search is when the house is empty, and there are no other noises like traffic noise or any other appliance noise.
Once everything is muted, look around carefully to listen to some buzzing or beeping sound. Track down the source when you hear it.
Check Electric Switch Plates
Listening devices are best installed behind electric switch plates. For this, check each of your wall sockets and switch plates carefully to find out if any of them has been recently disturbed or coming out loose.
If you find any such wall socket or switch plate, unscrew the plate after turning off the power and see if you could find anything unusual there.
Check The Flooring
If you have wooden flooring or baseboards installed, checking them is another way to find installed bugs. Carefully look for any bumps in the flooring or any sign that seems inappropriate.
Check Every Other Furniture
Bugs or microphones are even placed or stuck beneath the furniture like sofas, tables, and chairs. You need to thoroughly search every piece of furniture in your house by running your hands underside them. Also, search for any holes in the upholstery.
How To Detect Hidden Cameras In Your Home?
Hidden cameras are made to hide at places that provide an unobstructed view of the entire house. Hidden cameras are thus placed strategically and are, therefore, easy to detect.
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Here are some of the ways how to detect listening devices or hidden cameras in your home.
Check The Smoke Detectors
One of the favorite places to hide hidden cameras is smoke detectors as they provide a holistic view of the place. Just take down the smoke detector plate and see if you find any object hidden behind it.
Also, check all the light fixtures alongside too.
Search In Dark
It is useful to search for hidden cameras in the dark. You need to switch off all the house lights, get all the shades down and draw all the curtains to begin your search for this.
Hidden cameras are given away by their blinking red or green LEDs that are activated for night vision. Search for any such blinkering light to find them.
Make A Call From Your Mobile Phone
To detect a hidden camera using your mobile phone, call any of your relatives or friends. Walk around the room while talking and look for any signal disruption. Stop right away at the place where the signal is lost or loose.
Hidden cameras work by giving off radio frequencies that could interfere with your mobile phone signals. Finding out the place where the signal is getting weak will help in detecting the camera.
Apps That Detect Listening Devices
You can also make use of applications that can help detect listening devices. These apps are usually helpful when you are staying in a hotel room.
One such hidden camera or hidden microphone detector app you can install is ‘Spy hidden camera detector.’
Once you install this app on your device, it is ready to work. You have to open the app on your smartphone and move around the room. The app will make your screen glow red when it detects the software of a hidden camera around your room. It will only glow when it detects hardware that uses radio frequency signals.
Other Ways To Detect Listening Devices Or Hidden Cameras
There are some of the common ways by which one can detect both listening devices and hidden cameras around. These are:
Professional Detectors
Professional detectors like radiofrequency detectors are the finest and quickest way to detect a radio frequency hardware around your space.
To make it work, you will have to switch off other devices that work on radio signals. Move your RF detector around to find hidden devices. The sensor will indicate hidden devices with a beeping sound when pointed near such a device.
Scan Infrared Lights Using The Mobile Phone
It is impossible to detect infrared lights used by the hidden devices through the human eye.
However, these are easily detected with the help of your smartphone’s camera lens. For this, open the camera of your phone and look through the display to detect inappropriate light sources.
Catch Them Through Wi-Fi Signals
Open the Wi-Fi of your mobile to see for available Wi-Fi networks. Sometimes, the hidden devices are used to transmit data over the internet. For this, they make use of Wi-Fi.
See if any of the available networks are named as a product code of microphone and cameras like icam, Minicam etc., to detect them.
