We tested five ways to find hidden cameras in hotels and house rentals

CNBC International2024-01-22

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💫 Short Summary

In the video, hidden cameras are placed in a house by a tech company, and a colleague is tasked with finding them using various methods including visual inspection, camera detectors, and smartphone apps, revealing how difficult it is to detect modern spy cameras. The video also highlights the growing issue of spy cam cases around the world, where individuals use hidden cameras for illegal and unethical purposes such as voyeurism and extortion. In the video, a person uses a camera detector to find hidden cameras in everyday objects such as a tissue box, a bag, and a speaker. They discover a total of 17 out of 27 hidden cameras, highlighting the prevalence of hidden cameras in modern times. The video emphasizes that while camera detection technology is advancing, so are the capabilities of hidden cameras, making it a challenging problem to address.

✨ Highlights

📊 Transcript

✦

Hidden cameras are becoming smaller and harder to detect, often disguised as everyday objects like alarm clocks, buttons, and teddy bears.

00:00

Spy cameras have become smaller and harder to see, often hidden in everyday objects like calculators, diffusers, and water bottles.

In the test, 26 out of 27 hidden cameras in the house were missed because of their small and well-disguised nature.

A hidden camera was found inside a working clock with alarm clock when the incorrect time tipped off the tester.

Other cameras were discovered in a Wi-Fi repeater, a button with a 4k camera, and a teddy bear with a grammatically incorrect shirt and a hole in the eye.

✦

Handheld devices designed to locate hidden cameras are not always effective, as they may only work if the camera is turned on and connected to Wi-Fi.

03:30

The radio frequency detector only beeps when close to a camera that is turned on and connected to Wi-Fi, and it may also have false alarms.

The radio frequency detector also has a built-in lens detector, but it was not effective in locating cameras.

Victor, the tester, found the advanced lens detector to be more effective at locating hidden cameras, but it still required close proximity to the camera.

✦

There has been a rise in spy cam cases, with perpetrators making a profit by selling recorded videos or live streaming them for subscriptions.

06:37

In China, a man sold videos recorded by spy cams in hotel rooms to a porn site for $28 each, totaling $85,000 before he was arrested.

In South Korea, two men were arrested for live streaming videos of people in 30 hotels across 10 cities, charging monthly subscriptions.

Perpetrators also extort money from people they record, as seen in a case where videos of a woman showering were posted online after she failed to send money to the perpetrator.

✦

Handheld lens detectors are popular but may not be very effective, as they require close proximity to the camera to detect it.

08:02

Victor, the tester, found only two cameras with a basic lens detector despite its popularity on social media.

In the final search, Victor used a more advanced lens detector, which was still not very effective as it also required close proximity to the camera to detect it.

✦

Victor found 11 more hidden cameras in the tissue box, bag, and between files on the floor.

08:00

In addition to the previously found 6 cameras, Victor discovered 11 more hidden cameras.

The cameras were found in unexpected places such as the tissue box, bag, and between files on the floor.

✦

A total of 17 out of 27 cameras were found, with the speaker being one of the hidden camera disguises.

09:00

Only 2 out of 12 cameras were found by the person speaking.

The speaker itself was revealed to be a hidden camera.

Social media posts about hidden cameras have increased nearly 400% in the past 2 years.

There is no quick and easy solution to the growing problem of hidden cameras.

Both the technology for detecting cameras and the cameras themselves are advancing.

00:00[Music]

00:00 have you ever wondered if you're being

00:02 watched nothing looks out of place it's

00:06 a feeling that's creeping in for more

00:08 Travelers as stories of hidden cameras

00:10 in hotel rooms house rentals cruise

00:13 ships even airplane bathrooms continue

00:17 to make headlines spy cams were once the

00:20 stuff of international Espionage with

00:23 secret agents given cameras resembling

00:25 pocket watches matchbooks even tubes of

00:28 lipstick in the mov Meet the Parents

00:31 Robert Deniro's character Jack Burns

00:33 hides cameras in a stuffed animal and

00:35 picture frame what's this look like to

00:37 you

00:40 um this looks like a teddy bear smile

00:43 you're a nanny camera which seems

00:45 feasible because he's a retired CIA

00:47 agent now anyone can buy these items

00:51 either in stores or online but how hard

00:54 is it to find these cameras and do

00:56 devices designed to locate hidden

00:58 cameras really work

01:00 we're going to find

01:03 out that got me suspicious we asked a

01:07 Singapore tech company OMG solutions to

01:09 hide cameras in three rooms in this

01:12 house then we sent in my colleague

01:14 Victor to see how many he could find

01:16 well this looks like any other room

01:19 first with the naked eye and then with

01:21 the help of four different types of

01:23 camera

01:24 detectors here's what we

01:27 uncovered first Victor went room to room

01:30 closely examining the master bedroom

01:33 inspecting bunk beds in a child's room

01:35 so what Clues should I look for and

01:38 scrutinizing household items in the home

01:41 office he spent a lot of time at the

01:43 bookcase and walked away I know that

01:45 they hidden cameras but I can seem to

01:47 look at them it is really disconcerting

01:50 so far he said he's found nothing

01:52 suspicious yeah after 20 minutes of

01:55 searching he found one camera located

01:57 inside a working clock with alarm clock

02:01 is the time correct so this alarm clock

02:03 time is wrong where is the

02:08 lens oh oh I found one oh my God I saw

02:13 it the time was wrong which tipped him

02:17 off we found one at the 6:00 you you can

02:21 see it oh my God it's not bad but what

02:24 gave it away was the time F1 yes but

02:27 it's so well camouflaged but Victor

02:30 wasn't pleased with this result feeling

02:32 he probably missed a spy camera too but

02:34 what he doesn't know is that he missed

02:37 26 out of 27 hidden cameras in the house

02:41 this didn't surprise Peter cha founder

02:43 of OMG Solutions he's touching the

02:46 camera but you might not be able to tell

02:48 that it's a camera anymore he said in

02:50 the past 3 years cameras have become

02:53 smaller and harder to see often hidden

02:55 in everyday objects such as calculators

02:58 diffusers and water bottles like a

03:01 pinhole camera is embeded into the

03:03 object but it wasn't always this way

03:06 when video cameras hit the mass Market

03:08 in the 1980s they were designed to rest

03:10 on the operator's shoulder later models

03:12 could be operated with just one hand

03:15 today people carry video cameras with

03:17 them most of the time but while spy cams

03:19 are much

03:21 smaller they're just as easy to buy and

03:24 operate back at the house we asked

03:26 Victor to download a popular app called

03:28 fing which scans Wi-Fi networks for

03:30 cameras searching hidden camera you can

03:32 see the app what it does is it details

03:35 whether or not something is connected to

03:36 the wireless network it says that there

03:38 are 22 active devices but found no

03:43 cameras none of the cameras are

03:45 connected and the app doesn't tell me

03:46 exactly like where and what to look up

03:48 for I don't know where at is it's not

03:50 solving my problem he also used his

03:53 phone's flashlight to search a common

03:55 tip suggested online anything

03:58 you oh wait wait is this a hidden camera

04:03 no I'm

04:04 paranoid I mean the fact of the matter

04:06 is to find these cameras you would have

04:07 to pick up every single object in a room

04:10 I don't see anything here and inspect it

04:13 yeah correct correct every angle correct

04:15 and then even still you may miss it this

04:17 search aided by the flashlight located

04:20 another three cameras in a Wi-Fi

04:22 repeater

04:24 sound

04:25 nothing Wi-Fi repeater nothing wait wait

04:29 wait wait wait there is a camera here I

04:32 thought this was a Wi-Fi repeater um but

04:35 that's not I see a camera here found it

04:38 a button on a shirt oh wait I found one

04:42 I was looking at this hanger next to the

04:44 mirror I I made my way down to the

04:45 buttons it suddenly occurred to me that

04:47 I've seen a movie where the hidden

04:49 camera was embeded in the button so I

04:51 looking at the first button second

04:52 button third button then that's where it

04:54 gave it away the button is different

04:57 from the other buttons ladies and

04:59 gentlemen this is a 4k camera which has

05:02 a live streaming function if you are not

05:04 observant you would not have notic it

05:08 like and a teddy bear the last one

05:10 Victor noticed because of the unusual

05:13 grammar on the bear

05:14 shirt there's something in the bear the

05:17 bear has this batch res with happiness

05:20 every time and pleasure so it's not

05:22 grammatically

05:24 correct there's a hole in the eye oh

05:26 that's camera I found yeah three cameras

05:30 so far 1 2 three

05:32 cool with Victor's frustration Rising it

05:35 was time to turn to handheld devices

05:38 designed to locate hidden cameras this

05:41 is a radio frequency detector it beeps

05:43 when it's close to a camera but it only

05:46 works if a camera is turned on and

05:48 connected to Wi-Fi which means it won't

05:50 find cameras that use SD cards to store

05:53 data it's also prone to false alarms

05:56 it's almost like you're distracted with

05:57 that sound yeah he's going to be with

05:59 this one yeah a lot of false alarms

06:02 which is making actually my job harder

06:04 than it should be this device also has a

06:07 built-in lens detector but the beeping

06:10 proves so distracting Victor didn't

06:12 locate a single camera with it you need

06:15 to constantly tune it to the right

06:16 frequency to pick it up in the area that

06:19 there's no camera at all but this we can

06:21 hear this thing keep beeping also yeah

06:23 yeah right okay see the technology in

06:27 these cameras has become increasing user

06:30 friendly but this is not the only reason

06:32 for the growing number of spy cam

06:34 cases but unlike the Peeping Toms of the

06:37 past these voyur stand to make a profit

06:41 a man in China who secretly recorded

06:43 women in hotel rooms sold the videos to

06:46 a porn site for $28 each in total he

06:50 pocketed

06:51 $85,000 before he was arrested in 2018

06:55 and later sentenced to 11 years in

06:57 prison in 2009 19 300 spy cams recorded

07:01 more than 100,000 videos of Hotel guests

07:04 in Janine China which voyur paid between

07:08 100 to 300 Yuan to access that same year

07:12 police in Soul South Korea arrested two

07:15 men for live streaming videos of 1,600

07:18 people hidden in 30 hotels across 10

07:22 cities the pair streamed the videos to a

07:24 website that charged monthly

07:26 subscriptions but there's another way

07:28 that the criminal extract money from

07:30 these

07:31 videos by extorting the people who they

07:35 record in 2018 a woman sued a Hampton

07:39 Inn in Albany New York when videos of

07:41 her showering were posted on porn sites

07:44 and sent to her friends and colleagues

07:46 the perpetrator thought to be a hotel

07:48 employee published the videos online

07:51 after she failed to send him money and

07:54 additional videos similar extortion

07:57 plots have been uncovered in India via

07:59 Vietnam Malaysia and the

08:02 Philippines with just two more tests to

08:04 go we give Victor a basic lens detector

08:07 these are cheap portable and easy to use

08:10 when the device finds a lens a red dot

08:12 lights up oh wait I found wait there you

08:16 go the Tre hour yeah it's quite obvious

08:18 actually the problem you must be close

08:20 to the camera to find it oh yes so you

08:22 need to be very close you said to him

08:24 he's got to be up close but he's now

08:26 realizing how close close it is yeah

08:29 right when you are traveling you are

08:31 really exhausted and the last thing you

08:33 have to do is spending 1 hour

08:35 scrutinizing every nuke and cranny just

08:38 to look a camera despite its popularity

08:41 on social media Victor only found two

08:43 cameras with this device in our final

08:46 search we gave Victor another lens

08:48 detector this one much more advanced if

08:51 you see the Red Dot when you move down

08:53 right you don't see the Red Dot anymore

08:54 when you put back again you see the Red

08:56 Dot means that the lens oh wow with with

08:59 this detector Victor found 11 more

09:01 cameras in this tissue box this bag and

09:04 a tiny pinhole camera buried between

09:07 these files on the floor 12 and I only

09:10 found one camera two cameras yeah and I

09:14 so proud of

09:16 myself in total Victor found 17 out of

09:20 27 cameras there's a camera in this

09:22 storage box not a bad result but not a

09:25 great one either okay it blending very

09:27 well you never suspect this one speaker

09:29 the speaker yes the speaker is the

09:31 camera yes okay yeah okay forg social

09:36 media posts about hidden cameras have

09:38 increased nearly 400% in the past 2

09:41 years according to the data company

09:43 Sprout social with countless articles

09:45 dedicated to finding a quick and easy

09:47 solution to this growing

09:51 problem but there isn't one at least not

09:55 yet and while the devices that are

09:57 detecting cameras are advancing

09:59 so are the cameras that are being hidden

10:02 sometimes in plain

10:08[Music]

10:16 sight

💫 FAQs about This YouTube Video

1. What are the challenges in detecting hidden cameras?

The challenge in detecting hidden cameras is due to their small size and ability to be disguised in everyday objects, making them hard to spot with the naked eye.

2. How have spy cameras evolved over time?

Spy cameras have become smaller and more discreet, often hidden in everyday objects such as clocks, buttons, and teddy bears, making them difficult to detect.

3. What are the potential risks of hidden cameras in hotel rooms and rental properties?

The potential risks of hidden cameras in accommodation include invasion of privacy, unauthorized recording of guests, and the misuse of recorded footage for extortion or exploitation.

4. Can technology effectively help in detecting hidden cameras?

Technology can help in detecting hidden cameras, but the challenge lies in the small size and disguised nature of modern spy cameras, making detection difficult even with the use of camera detectors and apps.

5. What are some real-life cases of hidden cameras being used for illegal purposes?

There have been cases of hidden cameras being used for illegal purposes, including the unauthorized recording of hotel guests for profit, live streaming of people in hotel rooms, and the misuse of recorded footage for extortion and exploitation.

6. What is the significance of the increase in social media posts about hidden cameras mentioned in the video?

The video mentions that social media posts about hidden cameras have increased nearly 400% in the past 2 years, indicating a growing concern over the prevalence of hidden cameras.

7. How many cameras did the detector Victor find?

Victor found a total of 17 out of 27 hidden cameras using a detector, highlighting the challenge of detecting these devices.

8. What does the video convey about the difficulty of detecting hidden cameras?

The video emphasizes the difficulty of detecting hidden cameras, as the devices used for detection are advancing, while the cameras themselves are being hidden in increasingly sophisticated ways.

9. What is the key takeaway from the video's discussion of the problem of hidden cameras?

The key takeaway is that the problem of hidden cameras is a growing concern, with no easy solution in sight, as both the detection technology and the hidden cameras themselves continue to advance.

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