No More Privacy? Fake Phone Towers Used in UK to Intercept Calls

Criminals are on target thanks to the rogue surveillance phone towers used in UK but it cuts both ways, innocent people suffered.

MOSCOW, June 10 (Sputnik) — Fake mobile telephone towers, able to intercept phone calls, are being used in the United Kingdom, local media reported Wednesday.

According to Sky News, International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers are able to mimic telephone masts. Police agencies are reportedly using the surveillance technology worldwide. The channel claims that this is the first direct evidence of IMSI catchers being used in the United Kingdom.

Even though the technology is designed to target criminals’ communication, it also picks up on data from the mobile phones and computers of innocent people.

Sky News discovered more than 20 instances of the use of IMSI catchers, otherwise known as Stingray, in London in the last three weeks.

"We're not going to talk about it, because the only people who benefit are the other side, and I see no reason in giving away that sort of thing," Bernard Hogan-Howe, the head of London's police service, told Sky News.

According to Sky News, an IMSI catcher is relatively cheap and can be purchased online by anyone for around $1,500. It is impossible to tell who currently operates the IMSI catchers in operation in the United Kingdom, according to the news outlet.