Sunday, January 18, 2015

UK - Former Deputy Prime Minister Finds Car Bugged

UK - John Prescott has turned detective after finding his Jaguar had been bugged.

The former Deputy Prime Minister discovered the device hidden in his car when he took it to a garage because it had problems starting.

Mechanics found a tracker concealed under the driver’s seat that was hooked up to the car battery, draining its power.

The sophisticated device uses mobile phone technology and is capable of reporting the Jag’s movements at all times. It also has an inbuilt microphone enabling it to pick up conversations.

And the 6 inch-square black box is even capable of immobilising the car if instructed to by mobile phone.

Lord Prescott told the Sunday Mirror: “I’ve been told that whoever knows the SIM card that goes with the tracker can send out a signal and stop the engine...

"This type of surveillance breaches our right to privacy – I’ve had my mobile hacked, my phone tapped, and now someone might have been tracking my car.”

But insisting he was calm about the find he joked: “I can only hope whoever listened to my conversations installed an automatic bleeper too.”
(more)

Best guess from here... Installed by the car dealership, or previous owner, to thwart late payments or theft.