two terrible news shook Korea on the eve of Obama’s swearing-in, one violence in the Real World and other a breach in Electronic Security .
cellphone of a top starlet – I should say a TV ad model, though she is revered as an actress – was “cloned” for her agent to “listen-in” on her tactics as her contract was expiring as rumours abound she was looking for new management .
two horrible ways of tapping into a stranger’s cellphone exit today in Korea, proved AND known almost two years ago but no sure way of blocking it : the first is a thief putting his own data in a stolen cellphone for his own use, whereby the payment would go to the original owner .
the second which is more serious and uncommon, is where an interested party makes a “duplicate” of a acquaintance’s cellphone and “listens-in” on all conversations if he is in the same broadcast area . and if not, he can still receive all the same messages the original owner receives . this is mostly done by untrusting spouses to reveal foul play .
the entertainment management agent in this case, hired a courrier service to hijack her cellphone . and as voiced in my info.pages on Korean life : these same-day courrier service known & pronounced simply as “Quick”(which originates from the same service provider of the same name) do all sorts of delivery for abrupt customers aside from simple delivery . examples include getting documents from provincial offices all the way to surveillance . and more-so, in the days when unemployment is high like, now !
here’s how you can verify if yours is hijacked as in the second case above :
- turn OFF your cellphone,
- then call your own number from another phone .
- the automated announcement should say your cellphone is turned-off,
- however you’ve been had if it rings for the caller or (gulp !) someone else answers .
oh and there’s the “DaePo Phone” which translates as a “Canon Phone” which are illegal machines that officially belongs to nobody, but still makes calls . let your imagination go wild on this ..
if you detect foul play you can call your carrier but chances are they’ll hesitate to touch it with a yard stick in annoyance of rumbling into others’ privacy, then call the Korean agency .
