Private security firms make good money investigating covert surveillance cases. Collusion of committing fraud, suspicion of infidelity of a loved one, and even simple voyeuristic entertainment at the expense of completely unfamiliar personalities, encourage people to invade the privacy of others for personal gain.
Knowing that someone can watch you at any moment, the question becomes urgent: "How do I know if they are following me?" More on this later in the article.
Don't be so predictable
You need to understand that acts of violence are not random. People who are abducted abroad do not just wake up and say: "Let's grab someone today." They spend a lot of time in observations. What time does the victim leave? Where is going? Is there anything predictable in movements? Try to make movements less predictable. Sometimes climb the stairs, sometimes climb the elevator. Come back at different times. Do not always follow the same path on the street.
How to recognize an unwanted fan?
It happens that a girl says: "I noticed that they were watching me." How did she understand that? Let's look at the signs of an unwanted fan:
- You see the same person or car during the day.
- A visitor in a restaurant that sits near you, that gets up and leaves without food.
- A runner who runs nearby.
Always trust your intuition.
How to overcome fear?
Fear that you are being watched can be easily overcome. Here are some simple ways to prove that intuition is correct:
- Use mirrors or windows to watch people behind.
- Make unexpected stops, go to places you don’t usually go, change the pace or route. Is he who regularly walks his usual way appear in these random places?
- Take a taxi for one block and return. Has someone done the same thing behind you?
- Follow the normal path, then do the show “forgot your keys”, turn around and go back. Has someone also started to go the other way? This method gives you the opportunity to look at the face of the guy who is behind to describe him.
- Skip the turn. See who else does this. Then just keep going straight. Did they keep going straight?
- If you suspect that you are being escorted, report it immediately to the police. Do not wait to return home. It can only accelerate violence.
Every detail, regardless of size, can be extremely useful in identification.
Behind the maniac. What to do?
What to do if a maniac is following you? Here are some suggestions:
- Move to an area with lots of people to get as many witnesses as possible. So you reduce the likelihood that he will make an attack. Therefore, if you suspect someone of surveillance, you can confirm this in this way. Increase your confidence that you will be escorted to different places at different times. If you see the same person, regardless of time and place, you can be sure that he is following you.
- Change your pace. If someone is following you, he will most likely try to match your step. When accelerating, it will accelerate. If you slow down, it will slow down. If you make a stop, it will stop. So change the pace and watch how the suspected maniac reacts. If his movements match your pace, there is a chance that he is following you.
- Stop and turn. Effective tactics to determine who is following. While walking, just stop, turn around and pretend that you want to do something, for example, check your phone, tie your shoelaces or turn around as if you are looking for someone. Then look directly at the person who you think is following you. The typical amateur who watches will be thrilled and will leave. He may act unnaturally. Because he was taken by surprise. In other words, someone who is watching you will not exhibit the same natural behavior as someone who just walks along the street.
- Change direction. When walking, stop and turn 180 degrees and begin to go to the person whom you suspect of following you (this is done only in a public and crowded place). If the suspect also turned around and started walking behind again, you can be sure this person is watching. The following describes how to proceed after detecting the tail.
rules
So, you have confirmed that you are being watched. Now what? To do this, follow the general rules, as well as recommendations specifically regarding whether you are eating or walking.
Rule number 1. Do not return home. The desire to return home and lock the doors to all the locks is natural, but if the “tail” does not know where you live, do not disclose this information. Moreover, you run the risk of meeting him there.
Rule No. 2. Stay in public, well-lit and populated areas. If you are in a car, stop on a road that is well lit and does not intersect with country roads or secluded streets. If you walk, stay in public places with lots of people. Do not walk on lonely lanes. The persecutor can wait in the parking lot or follow the house.
What else can you do?
What if you are being watched? Try the following:
- Gather information. If you are confirmed to be escorted by car, write down the details of the car in order to study the pursuer and go to the police. Define the model, try to indicate the license plate.
- Call the police. If you feel threatened, call the police to report what is happening. Or just go to the local site and tell me about the surveillance. Give the officer information about the car that is following you.
- Use roads with lots of traffic lights and signs. Persecutors can get stuck at a traffic light or behind in a traffic jam. This is a chance to get rid of them.
- Be prepared to maneuver. Keep your distance on roads and at traffic lights to maneuver if necessary, if necessary. If you see the car tires in front of you, the distance is sufficient.
- Return home only after you feel that the pursuer is no longer accompanying.
On foot
What if you are being watched? What to do if you walk and notice the pursuer? Here are some suggestions:
- Call the police. If you think that someone with unfriendly intentions is accompanying you, then call the police. Stay on line with a law enforcement representative over the phone for as long as possible. If the stalker is nearby, speak loudly so that he or she can hear. If there is a police station nearby, go to it.
- Use public transportation to get rid of surveillance. You can take the bus or metro at the very last minute to lose those who are watching you.
- Recognize the person who is watching. One tactic recommends simply telling your follower that you know that they are following you. Turn around and look directly at them. If you feel brave, ask, “May I help you?” Or: "What do you want?"
Self-confidence will force a potential criminal to retreat. At least if their behavior is associated with social aggression, and not with an asocial type. If the latter, you must be prepared to retreat yourself.
Again, this tactic you can practice if you are in a well-lit and well-populated area, in the event that the pursuer is moving, not retreating.
Federal services
What if the FSB is watching you? If for some reason you find yourself involved in international, high-ranking espionage, it is possible that the FSB will observe you. In this case, the above tactics will not work.
Firstly, it will be very difficult to even determine that illegal surveillance has been established.
Highly qualified professional FSB officers will use teams of people to coordinate surveillance of you. In order to conduct surveillance, there is a whole team. It will follow wherever you go, if one person follows you in one area, then another will follow you when you arrive at another place.
How to follow?
How can I follow a person? If you want to become a professional spy or just want to pass the time, learn to follow other people and decipher the sequence of events, then use the tips below. To be a spy, you need to improve mental and physical abilities, learn to go unnoticed in a crowd. You should also create a basic protocol in order to make the mission as safe and successful as possible.
Tracking Tips
If you plan to follow, then the following recommendations will help you:
- If staying indoors, try putting your socks on your feet to keep quiet.
- If memory is poor, use a telephone or voice recorder to record a conversation.
- Give each person in the group a specific job (reporter, bodyguard, and scout).
- Develop hand signals, learn sign language that only you and your team can understand. But do not make them too complex or noticeable.
- Everything must be left exactly as it was originally. If you turned on the light, turn it off when you're done, and so on.
- If you are photographing, make sure that this is not obvious.
- Explore the place where the observation will take place, well plan the way to enter and exit. It will come in handy. Do not forget security cameras, if any.
- Write down the necessary information in a notebook, copy it to a computer and throw away the original documents. Remember that a PC may be stolen or hijacked, so look at the digital archive elsewhere.
- Learn how to open locks.
- There should always be a bag for carrying gadgets.
- Turn off the flash when shooting.
- Do whatever is necessary as long as it is legal. Be sure to keep all secrets to yourself if they are not something that the government may need.
- If you spy on someone who is in motion, stop when the object stops, and move when it is moving. In addition, try to leave some distance between the tracking object, but be close enough to be able to hear what they are saying and see what they are doing, or to read lips.
Precautionary measures
Remember that if you are likely to face serious legal consequences from participating in illegal surveillance, you should be aware that, for example, you may be accused of being prosecuted.
Even with your closest friends, you still need to be careful. Do not trust someone too much. Always obey the law. The phrase: “I tried to help” will not save me from prison.
Reasons for spouse surveillance
If a man is watching you, how can this be understood? What are the reasons a man could spy on his wife? Let's look at them.
Reasons why a husband can spy:
- Suspected of cheating.
- Deception in the past.
- He lies.
- He needs control.
- He is a sociopath.
Signs of spouse spying
If a husband watches his wife, what are the signs of espionage? You should be alerted:
- The husband is regularly interested in the people with whom he is talking.
- He always knows correctly and can say what he is doing, where and with whom his wife.
- Mention some details that were not told to him and were not discussed with him. He categorically denies that he is doing something wrong, and assumes that his wife is paranoid.
- Phone or tablet displays excessive activity, requires frequent recharging.
Male sociopath. How should you behave with him?
It turns out that many men are sociopaths and show relevant trends. In this case, the husband will demand that you give him access to devices and all passwords. Of course, he will convince you that this is only because he loves and wants to keep you safe.
When trying to protect privacy, he will make sure that this is not hidden from him. He will tell about all your conversations with obvious glee. Will appear where you least expect it. It can withdraw money from a bank account, hack into Facebook and publish messages that will confuse or make you look like a fool. He will want to know where his woman is, with whom and why.
It is possible that a jealous person can install a hidden video camera or a listening device. Therefore, pay attention to:
- lamps and chandeliers;
- shelves;
- the bottom of the furniture;
- spots on the walls - there may be a camera location;
- audio equipment;
- decorations, paintings and flower pots - all that is a constant subject of decor;
- Check your vehicle for tracking devices.
Hacking and Phone Tracking Prevention
How to prevent this?
- Always use a strong password or fingerprint recognition for your devices.
- Avoid for password passwords. They are easy to crack.
- Make sure no one is looking over your shoulder when using a password.
- Pay attention to any strange encoded messages. They may indicate that the phone is transmitting data, or the application is updating itself.
- An increase in battery drain rate may indicate data transfer.
- Install antivirus software and regularly run the cleaning application.
- Set your phone to flight mode when not in use.
If you are sure that the phone is hacked, then reset it to the factory settings, first back up all contacts.
New technologists
How to understand who is following me? It is not always easy to do this, because sometimes they act remotely. That is, they are being watched from afar. The developers have successfully created the most advanced surveillance devices so that the average person had no idea how to identify them with the naked eye. Hidden wireless cameras and listening devices, as tiny as a button for a shirt, they easily penetrate the ventilation hole or lamp, into functional handles, chargers for mobile phones and plumbing. From there, a device not exceeding a pencil can transmit audio and video information.
This is a wireless connection. It can broadcast a crystal clear HD channel through a stunningly wide range, hidden all the time inside completely innocent objects.
Most often, individuals and enterprises attract professionals who are deeply versed in espionage equipment and its modern technologies.
How to act if someone is spying at home?
Determining who is following me can be very difficult. But what to do when you suspect that someone might spy at home? Try the following:
- Handle suspicious devices correctly. It’s best to turn them off right away. A broken fixture that has never been noticed before in your home can be a camera.
- Wi-Fi signals are detected by a smartphone, tablet, computer, or other device. A previously unknown network that suddenly appears on these lists with a strong signal inside a home or office can be a dedicated channel. Through it, wireless spy equipment transmits information. Browse your browsing history once or twice a week and scan your system for viruses. If the computer is running too slowly and sites that you haven’t visited, or certain programs that didn’t open, have been discovered, there may already have been a hack.
By the same logic, examine any electronic device that still consumes energy when turned off.
Little conclusion
Now you know how hidden surveillance can manifest itself, how to behave in a particular situation when someone is watching you. We hope that you will be able to get out of any difficult situation intact.