While traveling (not spying) when I leave my room I close my door with my arm reaching through the opening and drop my slippers close to the inside of the door, and then when I return, I stick my head in the door and verify my slippers are being pushed by the door. If I notice they’ve already been pushed back to the wall I know someone has been in my room. FYI, before I go to bed I lean the ironing board against the inside of my door so if someone opens the door the ironing board falls over and slams to the floor and wakes me up (which has happened). Two house keepers claiming they made a mistake “wrong room” yeah right!!!
@@oknevals There were talking about knowing if someone came in your room while away. A door stopper only works when inside the room to prevent someone coming in.
@@JimD77 I was only referring to iron plank against door while sleeping. Placing something around door is not a bad idea. I sometimes leave valuables in the room. Room service is usually daily but, lately I've seen instructions to request room service instead of expecting it to happen by deafault.
A woman I know rented a basement apartment and suspected that the landlord's son was searching her apartment when she wasn't home. After she realized money was missing, she painted blue ink on door knobs and cabinet handles. Sure enough, there were blue fingerprints everywhere. After she threatened to call the police, the son confessed and returned the money.
Prussian blue? I remember my dad painting the bottom of our reachable outdoor Christmas light bulbs because someone kept stealing them. Left a trail of blue where they tried to wipe it off .
Just put a coin in any crack along door when you leave. Side or top , when you return check to see if coin is in the place you put it. Forget messy powder.
After my dad died mom said she was scared coming home to an empty house in case someone had broke in. She would leave money in an obvious place where she could see it either through the window or as soon as she opened the door. It was always enough to be tempting for someone to grab and put in their pocket. She never had anyone break in but she said if the money wasn’t where she left it she wouldn’t have entered the house.
I heard the story while overseas of a service member who went on a government trip to a country employing counter espionage agents on their hotel staff at a the main luxury hotel. She and her husband used to do video conference calls every morning before she went to work while he worked from home. Hotel wi fi was free so they got into the habit of just not turning the conference call off. The third day there an agent searched her room while she was gone. The husband scared the hell out of him by yelling _"What are you doing in my wife's things!"_ through her laptop.
@@JasonHansonSpyBriefing I didn't hear the end. But we can guess the rest. The service member complained to the hotel. The hotel apologized profusely. Maybe they even stated the "employee" would be "disciplined." The "employee" vanished til the service member departed then went right back to rummaging through people's stuff with maybe some razzing from their fellow agents.
😲 Nowhere is safe apparently. I retired from the defense industry and started a second career in hospitality specifically to get away from the Secret Squirrel crowd. ⚠ To all you foreign actors and CI wannabes out there: LEAVE ME ALONE !!!
When I lived in high crime area, I would often leave money right out in the open, knowing that if someone were to break into my home to commit a burglary - they'd steal the money. So when I'd get home and see the money there, I could relax knowing I probably didn't have a burglar hiding in a closet waiting to jump out and attack me. Similar concept.
Same goes if you want to know how honest somebody is. Just leave a corner of a bill sticking out where they will notice it or even out on a table. See if it disappears.
Every time I stay in a hotel, I always suspect that someone’s been in my room, because, when I return each evening, my bed is almost always mysteriously made up and my bathroom is clean. Weird…. Huhhh?
Back in 1989 I left my college dorm room for a holiday. I spread baby powder behind me. When I returned, I saw sneaker prints on the powder. I called campus security since someone stole my portable cd player and I showed security the prints. I was super proud...he didn't Care and told me not to leave things in my dorm room again.
The baby powder trick would also help with hotels motels that when you’re gone out and they say they’ve got to clean your room put the baby powder down and if you come back and you noticed nothing spring cleaned. Obviously the baby powder still there where they are lying to you.
It's called "loading the room" where you casually place items in a specific way. Just know that state-sponsored intruders will take pictures of everything before they disturb it so as to leave it exactly how they found it.
Ive used this one in my own home because someone's been breaking in & using my house & stealing. I did find a couple sets of prints not mine. The problem is #1) they figured it out started sweeping it up,& putting down new powder as they left. Its also very bad for my lungs. I tried baking soda as it's not as fine.
@@JasonHansonSpyBriefing On the subject of hidden cameras, which we weren't, but never mind, if there's any suspicion of a night vision system in your room, turn off the lights and look through your own digital camera viewfinder. Your eyes won't pick up infrared, but those funny little red or violet dots showing up in the corner by the ceiling or in the smoke alarm might be a bit of a giveaway 👀
Yep the old baby powder trick,a very light coating over floors and objects will show up easily when touched. Ultraviolet light shows it up even more so. There are many tricks that can be used for detection,the other one ive used before is clear sticky tape and a fine hair placed over draws or door joins when you go out or are away for sometime. If i stay in motels or air bnb places i always take my electronic bug and camera detector with me and sweep the place. Privacy thesedays is becoming harder and harder to obtain.
Counter-espionage technique #1: If you've been assigned to determine whether or not a suspect is a foreign intelligence agent, use the camera you've planted in their room to check how much baby powder they use and how much of a mess they make with it. Wait until the following day, after housekeeping has tidied the room and hoovered the carpet, to search the suspect's luggage. It's always easier to search a room without leaving a trace once housekeeping has cleaned and restored the room to a standard state. You can even wipe down the luggage when you've finished, even if housekeeping didn't, because the suspect will assume housekeeping cleaned it and accidentally dislodged any markers that had been deliberately left.
At that point, they would probably replace a housekeeper with an agent dressed as a housekeeper. That way if you observe them in the room rummaging through your stuff it would look like they were cleaning your room, or that would at least give the hotel and spies some plausible deniability.
The fact that we’re being offered and suggested this information means we need this information. Interesting times when censorship is the work of liars where truth matters the most.
About ten years ago I was in a foreign country staying in a 3 star hotel and that night I heard my front door open and some footsteps pattering about... The next day when i was checking out - the assistant manager asked for his wallet back (I pick pocketed him the night before).. Thanks Jason!!
Another tip: take a piece of paper and roll it into a ball. When you are leaving the room and closing door place ball of paper in position on floor near door that if someone opens door completely, the ball of paper will have been swept out of position. When coming back to room, carefully open door just slightly and check to see if ball of paper has been moved out of position.
A miniature spy cam with SD card and battery can be left in the corner of the room facing out. When you return and view the video you made, it should be you leaving and coming back with no breaks. It would be difficult for anyone to tamper within, remove evidence of their entry, then leave it running again on exit without appearing in the video. You should appear twice, and nobody else. It doesn't matter if they see (from their hidden camera) you set it down or not. If you set it down with pocket change or other items they nay not realize you put it there. The only way to cover their crime is for them to take camera or SD card.
This seems simpler, easier, and more foolproof, and the camera could be placed in a discreet manner. If the camera were found it would arouse suspicion that you have something to hide, but you could also just be paranoid / distrustful. It's not like everyone with a Ring camera or security system is an important person or secret agent.
@Debunking History it takes seconds to open a hotel room safe. The camera was to keep an eye on hotel staff (which of course work for Intel agencies in many countries)
@@dreed7312 Right, there's really no way to protect what you leave in the room from being stolen. You can prevent it from being tampered with, and know if anyone was there, that's all you can do.
The easiest and least suspicious method is a piece of scotch tape affixed to the top of the door and the top of the doorjam when leaving the room. If the tape isn't stuck to both when returning, someone was in your room. However, we are living on 2023. It would be very easy to leave a hidden camera of your own and view the footage live on your cell phone.
Hi, have to admit I find the whole thing fascinating and enjoy watching all your videos. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, I hope I never have to depend on it, but will keep it in mind if and when I travel.🤩
Well that explains a lot. As a teen my parents owned a hotel, some folks left baby powder all over the carpet. Have you tried to vacuum baby powder off of industrial strength hotel carpet? Not a favorite chore for any maid. Leave your luggage in the bathroom and give the girls a break, use this tip on the tile!
Exactly. It seems that spies forget that housekeeping staff are everyday cleaning rooms like vacuuming floors, polishing surfaces, scrubbing clean bathrooms, etc. Only the most honest staff members would leave guests' valuables and wallets untouched, while they clean rooms. I did housecleaning for a local hotel in my teens.
Set some up so that a little bit falls onto the intruder. Of course, cameras will detect that you did this and know that you are probably not who you say you are.
I was trained to use a small piece of paper in the door that would fall to the floor when opened but not large enough to be obvious to someone entering the room but not looking for it
The real pros lock their toothbrush in the room safe because housekeeping is going to clean the toilet with it if they leave it by the sink. Stay safe out there.
Eeewwww. I always without fail, soak my tooth brush in alcohol for the duration of a shower before I rinse and use it. Years ago I bought a Sonicare that came with a travel case which I kept in my suitcase. Still soak it before I use it. And after
I use a gold-plated miniature ruby laser camera disguised in a normal looking fountain pen attached to a cigarette case that is really a satellite communications device connected to U.N.C.L.E.
I used flour in a shared basement. The dumbass did not even try to cover his tracks. The cops were impressed. He still has flour on his shoes when arrested.
A friend was working away from home and his company paid for a hotel room a few days In everything was stolen, no sign of forced entry. The police told him it was probably one of the hotel clerks did it themselves or gave a key card to a friend to do it for plausible deniability.
Good tip for hard floors, but with carpeted rooms, not so much. A light dusting of powder (on hard flooring) might be useful in detecting footprints in a surveillance situation. Hotels don't afford that level of sneaky. They are carpeted from end to end. But we know there are plenty of alternatives to counter-surveille.
when I leave my house for business trips I have a carpet rake and I rake all the carpet If anyone walks on it you will see the footprints. Then hide the rake before you leave
My problem - I'd leave the room, forget my wallet, return, track up the baby powder, leave again, then freak out when i got back. Maybe that's why i flunked spy school
My kids use that trick and have found footprints from Santa, reindeer, and the Easter bunny. Even a Sasquatch when we were camping but the tooth fairy had alluded us. We suspect it’s because she flies
Why wouldn't someone entering the room to surveil you already know the baby powder trick and simply avoid the baby powder? I have a more sure trick. Placing some very small, light object on the floor, close to the front door, so if the front door is opened, the door would move the object from it's original place. It could be a pair of sandals, one by the front door, another close by out of the way of the door, so it looks somewhat natural. Take a picture, and if the sandal by the door is in a different position when you get home, you know someone opened your front door.
Back in the 1980's we were doing a penetration exercise of a underground facility in Korea. We gained access to the inner facility and used a light coating of baby power on the exterior key code rocker switches of the main SCIF. After a few days we had the numbers and worked out the proper code which was randomly changed. Shortly I had out whole team enter the SCIF and fan out. After a few minutes a Warrant Officer approached me wanting to know who I was. Out came the badge, credentials and General Officer Letter requesting the exercise. And as they say...a good time was had by all.
Talc powder is one tactic. You can do the same for your luggage, other enclosed items. You can also place a single hair specifically in between items pages, enclosures etc. to see if they have been messed with or removed by someone opening your stuff. Same thing, just don't make it obvious while your placing things, and when you return make it all look natural when in the room. You would be surprised what goes on when your away from your room.
I saw the single hair technique in a James Bond film (pretty sure it was JB but it might have been another film). He took a hair and stuck it with some saliva across the two closet doors. Needless to say, it was gone when he got back, LOL
@@becky2235 Hi Becky, Intelligence tradecraft is broken down into multiple disciplines. There are lots of resources for more information, just Google it. Of course, things are constantly adapting and or evolving based on the situation, location, environment and your local bad guys CI capabilities and or routines.
there's literally dozens of ways you can apply this principal to detect entry, tampering ETC. you can also use lidar on your phone, photos, coordinates, math equations, liquids, conventional and invisible inks, photo chemical reactions ETC ETC
We were taught to take a little toilet paper and pour baby powder on it. Then after leaving the room, to press the powder against the underside of the door knob. Upon returning and entering, you should have a thin amount of powder on your hand, hopefully . . .
That is nothing. Housekeeping staff daily clean rooms, vacuum floors, polish surfaces, etc. I was a teenager once hired to clean guests' rooms. I had seen guests' valuables lying around and never moved them. Hotel rules for housekeeping staff is to never touch or move clients' things left lying on chairs, tables, lockers, etc. Honest staff respect rules, while nosey or dishonest ones break them. If I were your housekeeper, I'd be vacuuming up your baby powder, or polishing your doorknob if sticky or dusty, and I leave your room clean. After my housekeeping, your belongings would be left unmoved and untouched, my respect for housekeeping rules. .
@@pinklady7184 I consider it not so much respect for housekeeping rules, as respect for Yourself ! To do the right thing when others are watching or checking on you is one thing. To do so when Only You will ever know is so much more revealing. Living the Right way comes from within. Not from outside in . Much respect . . .
This trick might work for run of the mill intruders, but not for those who are more observant and careful in their work. If you can walk out of your hotel room without disturbing the cloud of baby powder you've "accidentally" spilled onto the carpet, then it seems to me that more professional intruders could manage to navigate around the powder as well while they search your room. They might even sprinkle a bit of added powder anywhere necessary to cover their tracks should they slip up. Of course, you could casually take pictures of your room making sure to get the powder pattern for comparison purposes before leaving, but then again, that could serve to draw attention to it while they are monitoring the room and make you look suspicious, which is what you are trying to avoid. So if an intruder was smart enough to notice the powder and avoid it, how would you even know?
Part of his instructions specifically say to step into the powder yourself after you put your shoes back on or when you leave the hotel room. I guess the idea is to make it look like an inadvertent mess, but I would see the footprint and become more aware of not leaving any tracks myself. And probably more alert for other tripwires hidden in the room.
If they are pretending to be "Staff" they'll just make your bed, vacuum the room and rearrange your stuff off the bed .. Like they only moved it to clean.
@@lorireed8046a few times that I’ve left stuff on the bed, I was told they won’t clean the room ( absolutely not the bed), if your personal belongings are on it. I was told it’s a law that they aren’t supposed to.
I got out of the game before the mini cameras became standard, but I did use the baby powder trick among others do discern whether or not my room was breached.
And I'm sure that whoever has a camera in your room wouldn't be hip to the trick of using baby powder.🙄 As soon as they see you sprinkling baby powder all over your feet, they'd know that your spidey senses are on full alert to being spied upon. They would then take extra precautions to avoid detection, rather than casually walking all over the powder.👣
Yes because so many spies are on RU-vid for training lessons…. Maybe if the are under the age of 12.. This is good detail to add when telling cool stories before bedtime or while camping etc.
When my mom's former boss and friend hired me to work as a chef at the Showtime Cafe in Bloomies ( Manhattan ), he " forgot " to tell me that he had cameras installed in our 10th floor kitchen so he could catch the man I was replacing in the act of stealing whatever the hell Uncle Jim suspected him of stealing. And he never bothered to remove the cameras! So our lockers were in the kitchen and I didn't think twice about changing into my chef's uniform in the kitchen before I started work. Well, anyways, my manager eventually told me and I was so mad I wanted to strangle Uncle Jim. But he was my father figure and I loved him dearly ( still do ) , so I just resigned.
Has he ever caught kitchen staff peeing into pots or spitting into customers' foods on cameras? I see nothing wrong in installing cameras in workplaces, but not in bedrooms, toilets and changing rooms. Sometimes, you don't know what kinds of people you are nowadays employing or hiring to work in your workplace. On plus side, cameras in the open are your security, as they deter criminals and stalkers. You'd welcome cameras, if you are a shop assistant being surrounded by criminals who come into your workplace for stealing.
I understand the principle shared here but lets say you are going to be staying in that room for a week. You are going to be disturbing that baby powder on the floor each time you exit and enter unless you apply more each time and, if you are being spied on, that is going to arouse suspicion. Most motels have room service who enter to perform housekeeping routines so they are going to further muddy the water so to speak.
Tiny tiny slip of paper or a thread in closed doors on the hinge side. If it's on the ground or gone then door was opened. On a yard gate or suspected area of unwanted traffic; a small branch with a few leaves against the gate or fence. Also helps track teenagers coming/going when they are in that anwry phase.
I am not a spy, but I have traveled a lot around the 🌎. In most foreign countries I've been to I've seen signs someone was in my room. I have a semi photographic memory and am particular on how I place things when not at home. Usually just staff hunting for valuables to steal. This has happened in 4 star resorts-cheap chain hotels. In hostels it's usually other guests doing the stealing. Just because someone was in your room it doesn't mean they want to attack you. A better way to know is charger cameras they sell on amazon for less than 20 that would be something non suspicious a lot of modern travelers carry them because of the first scenario I talked about. No one has ever successfully robbed me while traveling. 😁
In my teens, I did cleaning rooms in a local hotels. I was "chambermaid" as I was called that decades ago. It was everyday that I was cleaning guest rooms, changing and making beds, vacuuming floors, polishing surfaces, etc. Only a honest staff member would leave your valuables and wallets alone and untouched,; and your bags and suitcases unopened, while the thieving ones would go through your belongings & coat pockets and steal something. Some employers would give trials to new workers and test their honesty with tricks up their sleeves, before hiring/employing them for long time. Honesty in workers is rare.
If you really want to mess with someone or prove trespassing with low tech, look no further than Prussian Blue. It is the main ingredient in marking / layout fluid that machinists use for metalwork. And it is a nightmare to clean (unless you know how), so maybe don’t do this in your hotel room, or any other room that you care about. If someone were to get the stuff on their hands, they would be easily identified. And depending on whether they touched anything with their Smurf mitts, fingerprints will be aplenty.
put two in the door frame and two on the floor nearby. they won't know whether all of them are part of the game or some fell out or what. really make them think carefully about how to proceed.
and, of course as you leave your hotel room, put the “do not disturb” sign on your doorknob. otherwise, housekeeping *could* legitimately enter your room and that’s their job.
Plain English please. Or Russian, Spanish or Ukrainian- but something a semi civvy can understand. Contrary to the popular belief, I'm so not an FSB Major.
@@tatianalyulkin410 - Threat levels indicated by colors. Like a traffic light - turning from green to yellow to red. So yellow is not green (where you would be totally at ease, no threats at all) nuzzling up againt orange, a higher threat level. So the long term effects of stress from being in a constant state of awareness that threats are looming, even if you don't specifically know what's about to come at you.
I did the powder trick at a friend's house to see if he had mice scurrying about. (Nothing was caught in snap-traps.) Sure enough, little mouse footyprints were not only in the powder, but tracked in various directions.
Hey Jason, I read a book that explained that the Havana Syndrome was Psychogenic and that there was no evidence that the diplomats in Cuba had been attacked by Sonic/Microwave weapons. What do you say about that?
You'd be surprised as to the use of such weapons. An yes they are weapons as most enable the user to increase the frequency range n intensive output. Most people report burning sensation of their skin, well as feeling nauseated n intense headaches. Most American Embassies are very aware of their use upon personnel. Some requiring hospital treatment n even lost brain functioning when t was tested. Permanent damage can be done without the victims knowledge. Personnel should always carried frequency blankets to drape upon windows. Isnt 100%, but most use directional wave transmitters which subsequently can develop lost of consciousness or even death.
@@tyclark8162 If you look into such weapons they are very limited in what they can do. They are mostly used for crowd control and in that case, you can get sign that is backed by metal and it blocks the microwave weapons. The Sound waves can be blocked as well. There's a book on the folks making the claims in Havana and there is nothing to back them up but Psychogenic illness.
I used that technique in the 70's as a single woman. I'd sprinkle it in front of my door to be sure no one was in my apartment when I got home from my second job. I had a stalker. Thankfully I never found footprints in it!
I tried this. Unfortunately I came back to a room full of babies who turned and gave me a guilty look as soon as I opened the door. They crawled out faster than I could catch them. Not sure if they were spies. The winsome smell of French lavender still haunts me to this day.
I prefer the method that I have perfected. I go to the hotel room sit behind the drape in a dark corner or stand behind the drape, and pray someone will break into my room to get the " hole surprise " .
