Spy-Phone Software Increasingly Used In Romania, Greece, Italy, Spain – Experts

This new generation of -user-friendly spy-phone software has become widely available in the last year and allows wireless transfers of wiretapping programs to any mobile phone. The programs are inexpensive, and the transfer requires no special skill.

The latest programs can silently turn on handset microphones even when no call is being made, allowing a spy to listen to voices in a room halfway around the world.

More than 200 companies sell spy-phone software online, at prices ranging from as low as $50 to more than $300. Although sales figures are not released, private investigators and consultants in counter-wiretapping, computer-security software and telecommunications market research—claim that a surprising number of people carry a mobile that has been compromised, usually by a spouse, lover, parent or co-worker.

Many employees, experts say, hope to discover a supervisor’s dishonest dealings and tip off the top boss anonymously. Max Maiellaro, head of Agatha Christie Investigation, a private-investigation firm in Milan, estimates that 3% of mobiles in France and Germany are tapped, and about 5% or so in Greece, Italy, Romania and Spain.