‘Recording NOS correspondent telephone conversation not the result of a tap’

The recording of the telephone conversation, which the interlocutor of NOS correspondent Jeroen Wollaars heard after the connection was lost, was not the result of a tap. It is unclear what the cause is.

The NOS writes that Wollaars had a conversation with Nieuwsuur presenter Mariëlle Tweebeeke on Sunday evening, during which the connection was broken. Then Tweebeeke heard the entire conversation again. This phenomenon has also occurred before with others, including columnist Ebru Umar and Iran correspondent Thomas Erdbink.

However, according to several telecom and security experts, it is unlikely that it is a tap. A person would not notice that at all. In that case, a call is forwarded to the tap room, from which no influence can be exerted on the conversation. It is possible that it concerns the use of a so-called imsi-catcher, for example by a secret service, according to the NOS on the basis of information from experts.

Such a device falsifies a transmission tower, so that the signal from a device can be intercepted. If something goes wrong with that, it could result in a conversation being replayed. An imsi-catcher usually does not have a large size and can therefore be hidden relatively easily. It is possible to build such a device yourself for the equivalent of 1,250 euros, according to research in 2015. However, that device could only be used to track people.

While it is possible that the recorded conversation was a result of the use of an imsi catcher, there are other explanations. A Vodafone spokesperson told the NOS that it is possible that a buffer problem has occurred, as a result of which packets have been re-sent. In addition, it is possible that a software error in the receiver’s device was the culprit.