How the FBI designed a fake phone company that landed criminals in jail cells
The undercover phone claimed to offer privacy
The FBI ingeniously designed an entirely fake phone company in order to catch criminals and land them in jail cells.
The smartphone was marketed as a “secure” and “encrypted” device that would enforce the user’s right to privacy.
However, it was actually developed by the FBI, enabling them to read every message sent from the phone.
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Known as the Anom phone, the device ran something called ArcaneOS, and the company was run like a real business, with social media accounts and even customer support.
The phones ranged in price from $1,500 to $2,000.
Delving deeper into the story, YouTuber Hugh Jeffreys ordered one of the phones in order to test it out for himself.
Jeffreys documented the experience on his channel, @HughJeffreys, for his 940,000 subscribers.
In the video, he explained that the phone was a “honeypot” which means it was a decoy used to lure in criminals and trap them.
Jeffreys said that the phones “allowed every one of the 23 million messages sent to be accessed, read and decrypted by authorities.
“Throughout the three years of device distribution, 11,800 devices had been sold worldwide, after the takedown of the service many arrests and seizures have taken place with the operation described as being the biggest sting in Australian history.”
Checking out the phone for himself, Jeffreys used a pin code to access the phone with two installed apps.
Once he entered the decoy pin, the phone “loads into an entirely different interface loaded with apps, most of which don't even work”.
He added: “The software is the brains of the operation and it's able to track everything, even GPS location.”
The YouTuber went on to explain that the phone was “modified to meet the demands of the FBI” and he also “found in settings [there] is a lack of privacy options like app permissions or location settings in security”.
The operation was a success, with more than 800 criminals being arrested worldwide.
However, now that the police sting is over, Jeffreys’ phone isn’t much use.
He said: “It's clear this phone was really thought out, obviously this is key for the operation's success but now that it's over these phones can't do anything but be an awesome part of history at least for now.”
In the YouTube comment section, viewers shared their reactions, with one user writing: “This is why you should never trust proprietary software when talking about privacy. This is a golden example made by the FBI themselves.”
A second posted: “Imagine being a regular person just spending more money for privacy then having all your messages read by authorities.”
And a third joked: “Thanks man I was gonna buy one of these for all my crimes, good to know I shouldn't.”