The first time it happened, Brent Fox-MacLean figured he’d just been too slow in responding to a client’s call.The second and third incidents could have been chalked up to coincidence.But as time went on and Mr. Fox-MacLean repeatedly found pickup orders for his scrap metal business had been collected before he arrived, he began to smell a rat.
Then, last Saturday, Mr. Fox-McLean showed up at a house in Pickering for a pre-arranged pick-up. The homeowner stared blankly when Mr. Fox-MacLean said he was the collector who’d arranged to pick up some scrap metal.He’s like, ‘The guy was already here’,” Mr. Fox-MacLean, of Oshawa, recalled.He said he was the scrap guy and his name was Brent.I’m thinking, what the heck is going on? How is this happening?”
Mr. Fox-MacLean began to wonder if somehow, someone was eavesdropping on the business calls he took on his BlackBerry, then beating him to pickups in order to scoop up loads of lucrative scrap metal.It’s a cut-throat business,” he said. “It just seemed like someone was one step ahead of me. I would get there and the stuff would be gone.”Mr. Fox-MacLean talked to Durham police, who told him it might be possible someone had tapped into his cellphone and was able to listen in. He did an Internet search for cellphone surveillance, and found dozens of companies advertising software that purports to give users the ability to monitor cellphone calls and text messages without being detected.He’s since changed the settings and cards on his cellphone and disconnected the Blue Tooth option. Since then, he’s not been beaten to a pre-arranged pickup.
Mr. Fox-MacLean admits the notion someone was monitoring his business calls is far-fetched, and that he has no proof it actually happened. But the incidents left him shaken and wondering about the security of the devices he uses each day. He listed his cellphone number in all his advertising so it was available to anyone, he said.I can’t prove anything,” he said. “You think you’re going crazy — you honestly do.Durham police Sergeant Nancy van Rooy said police are cognizant of developing software such as surveillance programs being offered for sale.This technology is on the horizon and potentially available,” she said.Unauthorized surveillance is illegal, Sgt. van Rooy said.
You cannot intercept private conversations without judicial authorization,” she said. “It would be like a phone tap without your permission or knowledge — that’s illegal.
Source:-http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/161222
