Nov 14, 2017 letter to Mike Hansen
PDF version
In 2015 you came to my apartment to do a bug sweep. We had worked out a deal where I would pay
you $350.00 to do a counter surveillance check of my studio apartment (where I still live). As we made
arrangements on the phone, I recall that you agreed specifically to check my sprinkler system and to
provide a written report of the results you had found. You did the bug sweep, and found nothing. Your
follow up report arrived about two weeks later. By December 15, 2015, your report had been stolen
from the kitchen cupboard where I had placed it for safekeeping.
I chose to hire you rather than to purchase counter surveillance equipment, because I trusted your
expertise and integrity. However, I believe that your bug sweep was improperly done, and that I was
harmed by continued surveillance and surveillance-related crimes as a result. I am writing this letter to
request that my $350 be returned by December 1, 2017. In return, I won't pursue further damages.
When you arrived at the apartment, you told me that sprinklers would be “difficult” to check, due to the
fact that surveillance gear could be hard-wired into them, and thus not detectable by radio frequency
detectors. Even though that caveat conflicted with our agreement on the phone, I accepted your
explanation and didn't question your reasoning.
You brought a device, which you told me was very expensive, and set it up in my kitchen. It apparently
detected specific radio frequencies. You showed me evidence of a transmitter broadcasting in the
50MHz range, which you said was a baby monitor transmitter that you specifically said was not in my
apartment, but in a neighboring residence. That was the only thing you found (and reported) in the
entire bug sweep.
Regarding my other areas of concern – you said that checking entertainment equipment (T.V., stereo,
CD player) would be too problematic, because there are naturally wireless frequencies associated with
it. You said the smoke detector and shower head were both “clean.” You checked the smoke detector,
possibly the shower head, and some pin holes on the wall with your red filter lens checker, which you
suggested I buy.
After you left my apartment, I walked to the store and saw that people in the neighborhood had thrown
empty ice cream containers and Slurpee cups around on the sidewalks as they often do when they are
indicating that something corrupt has happened. It is true that I privately questioned the integrity of
your bug sweep at the time, and after you left, had done some research which led me to question it
further – but I couldn't prove anything until last month, when I was finally able to get enough money to
buy a bug detector of my own (Aceco FC 6002 MKII). I put the results of my bathroom scan into a
YouTube video.
First of all, I don't know what kind of device you were using to detect wireless frequencies, so I can't
question it, or how you used it. I do know that you didn't once use a hand held bug detector, like the
one I used to discover seven discrete locations emanating wireless frequencies in my bathroom alone,
including the towel holder, mirror edges, and shower head. I find this curious.
Second, when you showed me your red-light lens finder, you neglected to mention that these devices
can be and are spoofed by infrared pass filters. This is detailed in a 17 year old document easily found
online: “How to Find Hidden Cameras” by Marc Roessler. Nonetheless, this shouldn't have been the
make or break detail, since wireless frequencies are also present and should have been detected.
In addition to the seven locations in my bathroom, I've detected wireless frequencies emanating from
light fixtures in my apartment, from the smoke detector that you declared “clean,” and very powerful
frequencies from just one of the five fire (TY1234) sprinklers. When I am doing a bug sweep of my
own apartment, the problem is not that these devices get turned off (though some locations give off
more powerful and/or consistent frequencies than others) – the only noticeable problem that happens is
“flooding” of radio frequencies: sometimes extra frequencies seem to be sent in, presumably to disrupt
the detection process. (That is why I haven't yet been able to film the actual bug detection process – use
of my camera phone for documentation seems to immediately invite a flood of wireless frequencies –
and sometimes remote sabotage of the phone / camera as well.)
Yes, two years have passed since the day I hired you; nonetheless, I wouldn't have hired you unless I
had a good reason to suspect that my apartment had been bugged, and that you would be able to find
those bugs. The fact that the report and receipt you sent was stolen from a closed kitchen cupboard
within two weeks of its arrival is further evidence that the apartment had been bugged all along (the
sprinkler head emanating radio frequencies happens to be in the kitchen, by the way).
I did make notes immediately after your visit, and that is why I remember the date, and the exact
amount that I paid you, in cash, as you requested.
I don't know what your motivations were, but I don't think you met the standard of care which should
be expected of bug scan, and so I am asking for my money back. Then we can move on.