People use everyday objects for very sinister purposes. They plant these secretive devices all around the world.
Let’s take a look at the darker side of technology as we unveil the most commonly used hidden cameras in bathrooms you’ll find around the world.
We all need to use public restrooms, or a bathroom at somebody else’s house from time to time. Whether you’re bursting for the toilet after eating out or staying at an Airbnb… there may be no obvious indication anything particularly sinister is going on, but the truth may surprise you. These places are hotspots for perverted activities, where creeps plant secretive devices, which they gain enjoyment from at your expense.
More specifically, perverts around the world are using hidden cameras to peep on you. Sorry ladies, but more often than not, you’re their favored target.
For instance, a woman went to the restroom of a Whataburger restaurant in Abilene, Texas, and found a suspicious circle located under the toilet rim. It turned out to be a camera lens integrated with wires below the lid of the toilet tank.
This device was capable of recording women while they were sitting on the toilet with their pants down. Thankfully, authorities caught a man named TJ Paul Hesler and charged him with 14 counts of invasive visual recording.
Surveillance video revealed him ordering food from Whataburger before eventually entering the women’s restroom to install the hidden camera. If you find something suspicious, call the authorities straight away and let them know, and they’ll help find and prosecute the perpetrator.
Now I’m not sure what type of hidden camera he used in this instance, but there are loads of security cameras on Amazon and eBay that can be used for stalking people in bathrooms. These cameras often store the filmed content, but some can also be accessed remotely, for creeps to view live, or at a later date.
That’s bad news for you, as the footage may be posted online, or used to extort you.
Fortunately, this camera wasn’t well hidden, but you should definitely be looking out for unusual wires and objects placed anywhere near, around, or under the toilet seat. Unfortunately, however, there are many sophisticated devices out there you should actively be looking out for.
For example, if you’re the type to stay at Airbnb’s to save on expensive hotel room rates, examine the ordinary-looking items around you, especially in the shower. This shower gel container for men contains a water-resistant camera inside. The wirings are placed just below the gel compartment, so even if you open it, it will still dispense gel as if it’s a normal container.
Not only that, since it’s for men, but women also wouldn’t even consider touching it, increasing the likelihood it will remain undetected. In fact, that’s listed as one of its selling points!
I can’t help but feel the distributor is complicit in all this illegal activity. They even talk about it taking a ‘lot of exciting videos’… which, unless you’re watching movies in your shower, can only mean it’s being used for something perverse.
Not only that, but devices like this being sold online can also be accessed remotely, so even if you find out, the chances are that someone’s already seen and stored the footage. It conceals a motion-detecting DVR camera and has 32 gigabytes of built-in storage – more than enough to record you for hours.
The battery allows it to stay up for up 19 hours and all recordings have time stamps. All videos are colored and include the audio, so it can snoop on conversations as well.
So, how can you spot deceptive shower gel cameras like this one? All you have to do is lookout for a suspicious hole in the bottle – that’s where the camera films through. They’re usually round and have a bit of a reflective characteristic due to the camera lens.
Next, check the container. A shower gel container should fill the entire container and not halfway like these spy cams since they hide wires and hardware.
But sometimes, uncovering a hidden camera in a shower gel container is as easy as looking for a mobile phone inside. Last August, a 38-year-old warehouse worker named Michael Magic placed a phone inside one of these containers.
He then cut a small, rectangular hole down the front and center for the camera lens. Afterward, Michael placed it in the bathroom cabinet, directly facing the shower.
His target? An innocent 13-year-old girl. He had seen her bare chest once, and he admitted to developing an attraction towards the minor. The man even had his so-called ‘practice run’ by targeting his wife first.
Whilst filming the young girl for a second time, she noticed the shower gel and looked inside to find a mobile phone.
In the end, Michael Magic pleaded guilty to voyeurism and was given a six-month prison sentence. But even with justice served, the emotional and psychological harm it inflicted on the 13-year-old girl won’t be easily fixed.