This is completely strange, and very long. I’ve exhausted all my ideas, and need fresh ones.
Some background.
my neighbor is old, very very old. Also, they are not very mobile. So something like creeping up to the window and listening in is out of the question. Although, a very long time ago (decades) they did used to hang out near an air condition vent, listening to our in person conversations.
when I say neighbor, I mean they live in a small house connected by a breezeway to my house. I do admit they are rather close. Yes I do have access to thier house.
i have no real idea of thier level of technological expertise. They are pretty manipulative so even though I’m under the impression they’re very limited on expertise, it’s possible they know more than they let on. Let’s just say at this point, they say they have difficulties placing calls to thier saved contacts on thier jitterbug flip phone, but when your not looking they’re already on the line with someone, like five seconds after you walked out the door. As far as we know they do not have access to the internet, but who knows. They do know how to navigate to at least a limited number of websites though. (Slight fear of them seeing this post, haha)
they digest far right media. This in itself doesnt seem relavent, but I suppose, in my head, this might be able to give them awareness of the types of technology that one might use to pull something like this off.
It is remotely possible that someone could have installed something inside the house maybe about 15-20 years ago, and given the neighbor access to it.
they are on a limited income, and are not independently wealthy. Any technology would have to be no only easy to use, but on the less expensive side as well.
So… Maybe about once a year for the past few years a topic or phrase that was talked about over the phone would come up in conversation the next day. Not a big deal, written off as coincidence. That’s just how it goes sometimes. Well now, we’ve had a falling out. For the past few weeks they have brought up many private conversations I have had over my cell phone with at least 2 different people. They repeat not just what I say, but what the person on the other end of the phone says as well. I say, “Man, im pretty sure they’re hearing my phone calls.” The other person says, “Maybe there’s a bug somewhere.” The next day they start to prattle on about…a bug on the wall. But not a real bug…oh what do you call those things…you know, bugs that know things. Or I say “I’m worried about this escalating.” The other person jokingly says “Oh, don’t eat or drink anything from them, unless they take some first… They may try to kill you.” The next day neighbor is handing me a concoction they’ve made. “Oh, I’ve just sat down with this mixture I’ve created for my health. Everything I put in it is sitting on the counter there. (Cue various herbal supplements / tinctures) here have the first sip… it’s not going to kill you.” They are bringing up / creating situations centered around private converstaions from the night before. They may skip a day or two here and there, but it’s a pretty regular occurrence.
Something worth mentioning, is that while im on the phone call, I will turn on my Bluetooth and use my earbuds. Everytime the buds connect, the call drops, and we have to call each other back. I figured I was pushing a button wrong or something and hanging up. But since the neighbor has gone somewhere, we have not been able to replicate the situation.
Things we have tried but have since been disproven:
At first we thought we were leaving windows open and they could just hear it…but all windows were closed.
maybe they can hear through the walls somehow, they are thin. But its never been a thing before. (why would they have to hang out by aforementioned vent, then) We blast the radio real loud and see how much we can hear from neighbors porch. Can’t make out exact words and doesn’t explain hearing the other person.
well thier radio automatically connects to iPhones ( un-updated iphone from the air drop debacle/ f-ed up feature of the radio involving nfc and bluetooth) and it did pair with my phone at some point. Maybe they can the other person over thier radio. But we tried to make it work and just cant replicate it.
we’ve checked obvious places for a walke talkie looking receiver. Nothing.
we’ve used one of those cheap bug detectors off Amazon and checked the house…and the vent. No wires comming out of strange places as far as we can tell.
I’m at my wits end. What could they be using and how can I stop it? It maybe all a coincidence, but then its as much so as Facebook / Google targeted ads that arent listening your conversations. I mean, what, are they an advanced algorithm that can guess what your thinking based on all available data on you?
Help! And thank you for taking the time. Also, sorry about the format / spelling getting all this out on mobile is tough.
TL:DR. My really old neighbor seems to hear my both sides of cell calls to at least 2 different people. Is there simple, rather cheap technology put there that they could be using. And how do i go about finding it / making it stop.
My father had a really similar thing happen to him. First it was his stepmother and sisters, then my mother’s family, then the neighbor down the street with a wiener dog all spying on him constantly.
Turns out that they were getting directly into his brain from all the cocaine he was snorting.
Bluetooth doesn’t make much sense, as you usually only have one device active. But you can easily rule this out: If you have Android for example, long press the Bluetooth button, then check paired devices. Is there any device you don’t recognize? Remove it. Done.
Bluetooth is usually encrypted, so if you didn’t accidentally pair your device with your neighbor’s there is no way they can listen in.
And even more important: Check for carbon monoxide in your home. You might be having health issues and are hallucinating or making things up.
Besides that: It might be possible your neighbor hears you talking on the phone (through the walls for example or with a bug in your home), but there is absolutely no way they’d hear the other side of the conversation. So either your side alone would already give them all the information or something else is up (see above).
You didn’t specify what phone technology you use. If the signal leaves the house in an old fashioned way, crosstalk could be the cause. I’m nearly sure this is impossible for digital communication (cellphone, voice over IP). It might be an explanation if you and your neighbor still use copper cable phones.
I use an iPhone thats i got in 2022, on carrier signal, over regular voice calls, not wifi call or anything like that.
I’ll use a pair of true wireless jbl earbuds. I admit, I never really stopped to test if it only happens when connect to the earbuds or not.
Both houses do have landlines, but I haven’t used the landline for any of these conversations. It’s pretty much only used to field telemarketers or for things like the ac repair guy and the church people.
Try using the landline to rule out bluetooth/hearing aid reception. Some of what you said sounds reasonable, but some of what you said sounds like schizo shit. Come on man, you really considered that somebody planted a bug in your house 20 years ago and gave your neighbors access? This is nutty.
Soo. About 20 years ago a family member (1) ran off another family member (2). Family member 2 didn’t want to leave and was genuinely worried about family member 1, but it was the best plan of action. The only person that was nearby and trustworthy at the time was the neighbor.
It’s possible that family member 2 put some sort of monitoring device in the house and gave access to the neighbor to make sure family member 1 was safe.
It does sound nutty though. I’m not denying that. I mention it, because I am unsure of the capabilities of monitoring devices from 20 years ago. Now our door bells just show us who is at the door, but 20 years ago that technology was nonexistent.
Baby monitors surely existed, a DYI bug like that would be super easy except for the secretly connecting it to power part. It’s possible to detect those radio waves as it’s like unencrypted, but I’m not sure exactly how.
This was the thought, but only that radio would be paired.
The radio in my house actually does broadcast the voice of the person on the other end of the phone. But when we tried it on their radio it didn’t work the same.
Hmm, but after no imput for a while, the radio shut off, and the call dropped.
You know you maybe on to something. I’ll look into that.
I’m certainly no expert, and maybe there’s a reason no one else has suggested this, but I think we need to consider if this is a paranoid delusion. Maybe speak to a doctor?
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My father had a really similar thing happen to him. First it was his stepmother and sisters, then my mother’s family, then the neighbor down the street with a wiener dog all spying on him constantly.
Turns out that they were getting directly into his brain from all the cocaine he was snorting.
Bluetooth doesn’t make much sense, as you usually only have one device active. But you can easily rule this out: If you have Android for example, long press the Bluetooth button, then check paired devices. Is there any device you don’t recognize? Remove it. Done.
Bluetooth is usually encrypted, so if you didn’t accidentally pair your device with your neighbor’s there is no way they can listen in.
And even more important: Check for carbon monoxide in your home. You might be having health issues and are hallucinating or making things up.
Besides that: It might be possible your neighbor hears you talking on the phone (through the walls for example or with a bug in your home), but there is absolutely no way they’d hear the other side of the conversation. So either your side alone would already give them all the information or something else is up (see above).
You didn’t specify what phone technology you use. If the signal leaves the house in an old fashioned way, crosstalk could be the cause. I’m nearly sure this is impossible for digital communication (cellphone, voice over IP). It might be an explanation if you and your neighbor still use copper cable phones.
I use an iPhone thats i got in 2022, on carrier signal, over regular voice calls, not wifi call or anything like that.
I’ll use a pair of true wireless jbl earbuds. I admit, I never really stopped to test if it only happens when connect to the earbuds or not.
Both houses do have landlines, but I haven’t used the landline for any of these conversations. It’s pretty much only used to field telemarketers or for things like the ac repair guy and the church people.
Try using the landline to rule out bluetooth/hearing aid reception. Some of what you said sounds reasonable, but some of what you said sounds like schizo shit. Come on man, you really considered that somebody planted a bug in your house 20 years ago and gave your neighbors access? This is nutty.
Soo. About 20 years ago a family member (1) ran off another family member (2). Family member 2 didn’t want to leave and was genuinely worried about family member 1, but it was the best plan of action. The only person that was nearby and trustworthy at the time was the neighbor.
It’s possible that family member 2 put some sort of monitoring device in the house and gave access to the neighbor to make sure family member 1 was safe.
It does sound nutty though. I’m not denying that. I mention it, because I am unsure of the capabilities of monitoring devices from 20 years ago. Now our door bells just show us who is at the door, but 20 years ago that technology was nonexistent.
Baby monitors surely existed, a DYI bug like that would be super easy except for the secretly connecting it to power part. It’s possible to detect those radio waves as it’s like unencrypted, but I’m not sure exactly how.
My guesses, in this order:
With a strong likelihood of it being 1, slightly less 2, unlikely 3 or anything else.
I think I would jump to the Bluetooth being the culprit, especially how you say it drops out
This was the thought, but only that radio would be paired.
The radio in my house actually does broadcast the voice of the person on the other end of the phone. But when we tried it on their radio it didn’t work the same.
Hmm, but after no imput for a while, the radio shut off, and the call dropped.
You know you maybe on to something. I’ll look into that.
Thanks!
I know this sounds obvious, and it’s an old meme from Reddit, but you REALLY need to check your home for carbon monoxide.
The convergence of “man, some wild ass shit is happening to me I’m noticing” and “check your damn CO levels bro” posts continues.
I thought we’re making new lore on Lemmy, not continuing from Reddit.
Maybe OP just needs to not poop for 3 days.
If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giant retards.
I’m certainly no expert, and maybe there’s a reason no one else has suggested this, but I think we need to consider if this is a paranoid delusion. Maybe speak to a doctor?