Scoop, by @lorenzofb: A federal contract shows ICE spent $825,000 on vans equipped with fake cellphone towers known as cell-site simulators, which can be used to spy on nearby phones.
The Maryland-based company that integrates the cell-site simulators into their vans is called TechOps Specialty Vehicles.
@zackwhittaker @lorenzofb If anyone wants to help identify instances where cell site simulators are used, on vans or otherwise, check out @eff's Rayhunter!
You can get a relatively cheap hotspot & SIM (doesn't require ongoing data plan) to detect cell site simulators ("Stingrays") and if you get a detection, send it to EFF for investigation and reporting!
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/03/meet-rayhunter-new-open-source-tool-eff-detect-cellular-spying
Rayhunter is a new open source tool we’ve created that runs off an affordable mobile hotspot that we hope empowers everyone, regardless of technical skill, to help search out cell-site simulators (CSS) around the world.
It's good to know what step on the escalation ladder they are on.
Thanks Mr. Lorenzo!
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