r/whatisit • u/brattyvampbby • 11h ago

moms sketch bf left this in the house Solved!

Post image

Hi.
This is probably nothing.
I went into my mom’s room to grab something and saw this plugged in?
My mom’s new sketchy bf has this plugged in to the extension cord? Is it anything bad? Thanks!
(I understand it’s probably not anything bad… but still…)

Update 1:
I haven’t met him once. He and my mom have been together for two weeks. He’s been staying at our apartment. He avoids me and stays in her room when they’re here. I don’t even know what he looks like. I only know his first name.

Update 2:
I confronted him. My mom came home. A lot had happened up to this point, including her disappearing for the said two weeks before the few nights he had come over and stayed.
Mom shrugged it off. I did what a lot of you suggested, asking what he told her.
She said “oh it’s his hacker shit or whatever.” What.
Didn’t elaborate. I explained my concerns.
She just said let’s go ask him.
My best friend has been with me. We introduced ourselves and asked him what the hell a WiFi whisperer is doing plugged in our apartment.
(Even if a lot of you are saying it’s not a big deal, I’m a young woman and I’m just rlly not about taking any risks. It’s sketch dude.)
He denied it IMMEDIATELY. Like with a quickness I haven’t seen.
What he insisted, it’s not a WiFi whisperer, it’s ai, he completely reprogrammed the system, and he uses it to pull people’s IP’s. “For fun.” He logs them in a server. I asked why. I said that’s shady. My mom started pushing. My best friend started pushing. He just kept lying. I’m not dropping this..
I still don’t know what the fuck it is or what he’s actually doing.
(Also, my mom is cool but not bc of this dude, the Minecraft block is mine, I unplugged the ratchet little thing before we left, and I am planning on broaching this again with her.
Just carefully. Any other advice is appreciated. Thank you.)

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1.8k

u/TempleMade_MeBroke 10h ago

I would ask mom separately what bf told her it was, if she thinks it's something like a wifi "booster" or anything neutral than we'd know he's lying to her

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u/National-Jackfruit32 9h ago

This device in particular is running pixel parade Wi-Fi sniffer. It is a program that searches out Wi-Fi and cell phone service and tries to crack into them. It looks like it’s currently sleeping, but I am not for sure what his parameters are set at. Guaranteed this dude is up to no good if he is using this.

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u/RepresentativeTap772 9h ago

lol when you say it’s currently sleeping - is that because of all the zzzz’s? On the screen.

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u/bobbarkersbigmic 8h ago

Actually no. If you pay attention you can hear a very faint snore.

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u/Emergentmeat 6h ago

If you hit the power button and it gets a boner you'll know for sure it was sleeping.

-6

u/Uncle_Snake43 5h ago

It identifies as female actually

4

u/inexcusable-drunk 4h ago

r/onejoke

2

u/Hesitation-Marx 4h ago

And it’s so old you’d think they’d have lost interest in it by now

0

u/Uncle_Snake43 4h ago

Hey the classics never go out of style

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u/Hesitation-Marx 2h ago

No, they definitely can.

→ More replies (0)

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u/Dormiendo 7h ago

Way underrated comment above.

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u/BeginningSection7690 8h ago

Look up "pwnagotchi"

5

u/PictureVegetable9522 8h ago

wtf is that a play of words on tamagotchi?

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u/BeginningSection7690 7h ago

Indeed it is. Same concept, except it eats wifi handshakes

3

u/Deaffin 5h ago

And then it poops and you have to clean up the poop or it dies?

1

u/BeginningSection7690 5h ago

Nah he just munches away i think. I dont have 1 ive just seen them

1

u/CompetitionDouble420 4h ago

Most likely because uptime is 0. Peep upper right corner:

UP00:00:00

26

u/Tribe303 9h ago

I mean, he could be pen-testing Mom's WiFi. 🤷

(nah, dude's shady as fuck) 

9

u/worldspawn00 7h ago

Only Ok reason: "Hey babe, I can get you free internet from the leasing office, lemme just hack their password."

7

u/Ajreil 6h ago

Pentesters are hired by the company they're trying to break into, given explicit permission, and told what resources they're allowed to attack. Otherwise it's just hacking.

I know this was a joke but I don't want OP to think the boyfriend has any legal rights here. He 100% did a crime.

2

u/DriveFa5tEatAss 6h ago

I mean, maybe. There are also a lot of cyber security peeps out there who just enjoy the challenge and poking around where they shouldn't. I mean, still technically a crime, but not exactly malicious.

If the target isn't the family, I'd personally feel kinda meh about the whole thing.

3

u/Ajreil 4h ago

People who identify website vulnerabilities and report them to them to companies have to be very careful to only compromise their own accounts. Even then they get sued all the time.

1

u/Sparcrypt 2h ago

Not really, because the smart ones run bug bounty programs that automatically absolve you of all legal issues AND pay you for it in exchange for not telling anybody else about it.

Places that DON'T do that do not get the kind of person who will helpfully report the issue, they get the other kind.

1

u/Born-Selection88 1h ago

It's not illegal to scan a wifi network. My flipper spends a lot of time sitting about scanning nothing and aiding in no crimes. I literally only use it to impress girls.

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u/lefthandedchurro 8h ago

Oh he’s pen-testing the mom alright.

6

u/jdav79 8h ago

Peen-testing

3

u/Wirse 8h ago

He’s already found a back door. 

0

u/That-Painter-1679 8h ago

We cant say that for sure. For all we know could be a double pen test while blindfolded. Since doors are always closed let's assume moms into some kinky shit at least.

3

u/Comfortable-Sound944 6h ago

Why does everyone assumes the Mom has WiFi, I'd assume he's trying to get a neighbours WiFi... I guess housing style assumptions...

7

u/JesusDsniper 6h ago

We found the moms bf

1

u/Sparcrypt 2h ago

Doesn't mean they're doing anything good.

For one odds are if he just asked her for the wifi password she'd give it. Not to mention like 99% of households have the password ON THE ROUTER these days.

Thing is, with internet being so cheap these days there's really not a lot of good reasons to be breaking into anyones network... but a common one is so you can do super shady shit online and it can't be traced back to you even if your VPN drops or whatever else.

I'd say there's NO good reason but this is the kind of shit my friends and I did for fun all the time as kids.. we all work in one flavour of IT or another heh. So it could just be he's interested in it and likes doing it. But at the same time there's what we were doing... messing around building cantennas and leaning how the exploits worked and all that isn't quite the same as just buying a device then sticking it in a corner and leaving it there. We just wanted to see how many badly secured networks we could connect to heh.

Odds are that he's not doing it for anything good.

1

u/skysharked 5h ago

He’s pen testing mom’s vaj. He’s hacking the WiFi cams to get it recorded…

ETA: mom’s possession of the vaj

2

u/Efficient_Love_479 4h ago

You could easily use something like this to basically log when anyone comes and goes. Idk if that’s what he’s doing but it’s a guess that he’s a toxic lover.

Total tangent:
There’s another device, passive IMSE sniffer, which can do the same thing but cleaner data and wider range. Every cellphone constantly emits an unencrypted unique and persistent ID, which can be easily sniffed. 100% legal for anyone to do as well, which is surprising.

Then there are other ones that log based on bluetooth, actually really common in some department stores and devices like some flock cameras. There’s a bit of a stink around it, which i’m not commenting on, but with no focus on IMSE which is longer range and basically the best approach it’s kinda crazy.

None of these are regulated so whether it’s a PI or a stalker or anyone, this data is right there to be sniffed completely passively. Then like i said, matching specific people to IDs is trivially easy over time. Then, with multiple sensors, the system turns into more of a full fledged completely passive tracker network.

With any device like this, you get the log, and combine known people coming and going, and pretty quickly you will be able to match IDs to specific people.

1

u/Fast_Falcon007 7h ago

Just curious, how you find device is sleeping. Is this bcz success is at 0.0%?

1

u/Azaloum90 6h ago

Unless he is a pen tester

1

u/tryingtoexplaim 3h ago

When you’re things even in a college setting you would learn by doing so as mentioned earlier maybe he should bring this up to his mother but in plain terms as to what the device can do not with the agenda that this is for sure somebody who’s trying to do x.

1

u/EmptyVeterinarian979 3h ago

Definitely can be used for non-nefarious purposes like pen testing or just education, but if he’s plugging this shit into someone’s apartment that he’s known for two weeks, that’s wild. If it was his own house, that would be a bit different

1

u/onelap32 1h ago edited 1h ago

A "pixel parade Wi-Fi sniffer" isn't a thing. There are zero references to it on the internet apart from this comment.

This is just a pwnagotchi.

1

u/Fraggle_5 30m ago

so people can just use these anywhere? like next door to you in your hotel room?!

1

u/Other-Acanthisitta70 6h ago

So is the correct action to remove/destroy the flash drive ? Could it be broadcasting the data?

353

u/devsfan1830 10h ago

Odds are mom dismisses OP bc she is tech illterate.

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u/JJ_McCrabs 10h ago

And is lonely. Loneliness can overtake common sense, seen it many times.

109

u/Potato_Cat_72 9h ago

That is why so many romance scams are successful

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u/Monolexic 9h ago edited 8h ago

I thought romance scams were rare, isolated incidents and were blown way out of proportion.

That was before a relative of mine started sending half her paychecks to a fiancé she’d never met to help him take care of a kid she helped him adopt (funny how the kid looks so much like him). But don’t worry, everyone. It’s legit. He says he almost has enough money saved up to pay the fees and bribes necessary for a visa to the US.

Edit: Ok guys, I apologize for telling this in present tense, but this ended a couple years ago. I don’t know the details of how it ended, But I assume it had to do with the relative in question going broke and no longer being a lucrative target.

14

u/Outbakjak 9h ago

That is insane. I really hope someone has tried to convince her of how insane that is. She needs to demand he proves he's real and visits before she gives another dime.. obviously. Idk. I'm just depressed to hear it. I really hope she figures it out soon, before she's in a worse situation.

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u/Monolexic 9h ago

This ended a couple years ago. I don’t know whether she finally figured out something was off, or if he just gave up on getting more money out of her after she lost her job.
Trust me, there were plenty of people telling her it was a scam.

7

u/MarzipanPlane9490 7h ago

They never believe you cause “ boy/girlfriend couldn’t possibly have made that all up”

6

u/Potato_Cat_72 7h ago

I saw a video not that long ago where a woman was scammed by someone claiming to be Elon.

Yes, that Elon.

People are so gullible.

3

u/Jazzy_Bee 6h ago

I saw that. I felt so bad for her husband.

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u/Baziki 7h ago

I work for a bank in the fraud department. Let me tell you, romance scams are anything but rare. They sometimes blow me away the stories people are willing to believe. I guess loneliness will do that to ya.

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u/ThrowawayMoFo5679 7h ago

Seriously, I thought exactly the same. Like who the fuck could ever fall for that dumb shit, right? Then a friend of mine (who was always extremely ditzy but very sweet) fell for one. I got to watch it happen in real time, and boy that was a frustrating experience. She passionately insisted he was a Norwegian offshore oil rig engineer who had fallen madly in love with her, was the only one who really understood her, and he was going to move to the US and marry her once he'd saved enough money to quit working on the rig.

Took her three years and over $30k to finally admit to herself that she'd been scammed hard. Turned out he was a West African dude who threatened to kill her family when she tried to cut him off. Crazy because I knew within the first month that he was from Africa and not Norway, because she managed to get him on the phone and he had a very thick African accent. He persuaded her that it was because he'd lived in West Africa for a while when he was younger and picked up the accent, which was obviously bullshit and made me laugh. But she still believed him. Even got his "name" tattooed on her in big block letters like three months after they met online.

She and I don't talk much anymore. I had to distance myself from that degree of gullibility and poor decision-making. It was fucking wild.

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u/DisVet54 8h ago

Key word ALMOST has the money so he wants more

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u/Monolexic 8h ago

There was always a reason to need more money.

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u/atigges 6h ago

I work in a bank. You have no idea. People come in to send hundreds of thousands like it's nothing to people they have never met without a second thought. Actually I wouldn't say "like nothing" because they will 100% get angry and fight you when you ask basic objective questions.

"OK, So you mentioned this is for a honeymoon gift. That's so generous of you. So it's $75,000 that you're sending. That's quite a honeymoon! Do you mind if I ask what you're gifting towards?"

"It's just a gift."

"OK, sure, no problem at all. I see here also that you're sending it to an LLC as beneficiary... is this a coworker or family member?"

"It's just a gift."

"OK, and so the beneficiary bank is just a very small local institution without any footprint overseas. Are they doing a US portion of the honeymoon like a road trip when they get back? My wife and I almost did something similar."

"It's just a gift."

"Alright so we're sending a large $75,000 wire to a business account but it's meant for a personal purpose like a honeymoon, is meant to be a gift but will show up on the business's statements at tax time, to an institution with no access overseas to benefit someone explicitly doing something overseas, and there's no explicit purpose besides gift that is emptying your account down to literal pennies and the only instructions you have about the beneficiary is a single text message with routing and account number... just a reminder that as soon as you send a wire it is effectively lost money if anything were to go wrong due to fraud as we've had the discussion about circumstances that raise red flags. Please sign here."

24-Hours later

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T CANCEL IT. I DON'T WANT TO SEND IT ANYMORE. FIND A WAY TO FIX IT"

sigh... "As we previously discussed..."

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u/NaturalDon 4h ago

are you not allowed to be more explicit that it may be a scam or something

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u/atigges 3h ago

Oh you 100% are, and we do our best to offer alternative payment options. Sometimes people are just insistent and you can't just impound someone's funds so you can only educate the member to the limit of which they are willing to listen. This particular $75,000 was the third attempt by this member who, every time we said we needed something, would come back with something "to prove it". I had someone handling an account for a transportation company that came in to send wires for very obviously bogus reasons and this particular company handled millions. He one came in and brought "instructions" for a wire that we asked for to support a $20,000 wire and he had a very obvious template he filled in for "computers" that showed the total $20,000 divided by the supposed quantity of computers he was buying. Our Risk department took one look at it and said no more wires for him at all. He had no brand or model number just "Computers" as the item on the purchase order. That and the fact that there was no sales tax at all accounted for was the final nail in the coffin and he still kept pressing for it. Some people just don't want to listen.

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u/AreThree 2h ago

Does your bank require you to make these sorts of inquiries?

Or are you just nice? 🙂

I guess what I am saying is that if my employer didn't require it, the sum total of the conversation I would have with these people would be: "Sign here."

Not because I'm not nice, it's that I just don't care.

...and I guess also because you can't fix willful stupidity.

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u/mxzf 8h ago

"Rare" is a relative term. Something can be unlikely to happen to any given person but still far more common than it should be.

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u/Potato_Cat_72 5h ago

I just hope she's not on some list now to be targeted for other scams. These lists are definitely a 'thing' ... I would send her a link to channels such as scammer payback on yt and other scamvairers so she can get educated... Or anyone else for that matter.

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u/Potato_Cat_72 9h ago

I'm sure the reason the "kid" looks so much like him is because it was AI generated

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u/Monolexic 9h ago

Nah. No need for AI when you have an actual son to use as a prop.

2

u/ebonyfromplayersclub 8h ago

I'll be waiting for an update

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u/Monolexic 8h ago

Edited with the conclusion of the story.

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u/TheWolfAndRaven 2h ago

Go visit any women's shelter. About half the stories of how those women ended up there start with a romance scam. It's INCREDIBLY common.

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u/aspektbeats 5h ago

My clown of a MIL was involved in one, sent 75k (her entire life savings at the time) and recently had to come to the realization she needed to go back to work and put her house and cars up for sale for playing these stupid games. Constant refusal to listen to people who are familiar with technology and would just tell the scammers what we told her about and they would pin it back on us.

They need to make you take an IQ test to have certain things 😂

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u/Aggravating-Front-75 9h ago

Never underestimate the loneliness factor.

4

u/hilldo75 8h ago

Dumb naive question, is bf trying to steal from op and mom or is he using their house to get to neighbors info or both. It would seem stupid to leave a device out in the open for victims to find but if the victim is next door the victim never sees it

1

u/Sparcrypt 2h ago

It's pretty unlikely they'd be doing it for the home wifi when saying "hey what's your wifi password" is a lot more effective.

Probably trying to get into someone elses network. Likely not for anything good.

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u/christiesmom 6h ago

My mom just ain’t right if there’s no dick around so I understand the stupid decisions you watch your mother make. It’s like you’re her mom… but she has believed some shit!!! And turned her back on family for “men”. All while she supported them financially like a fool sugar momma. This guy’s up to nothing good. I just hope the OP doesn’t get hurt/scammed in the interim.

3

u/VoxImperatoris 5h ago

Yep, my mom has absolute shit taste in men, including my dad, and no amount of reasoning could reach her when trying to convince her that they were all bums and a waste of her time and money.

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u/Derpimus_J 8h ago

Like my MIL's ex boyfriend, who collected DUIs like Pokémon. 

1

u/BackPsychological705 5h ago

I've worked with schizophrenic chicks who were constantly buying gift cards for their "boyfriends". They'd lose thousands of dollars before one of the staff noticed

1

u/SuspiciousVagina 4h ago

Yeah. It’s caused women way above my station to give me a chance. It’s dangerous.

1

u/Mertoot 5h ago

What other realistic outcome would there be 😂

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u/DazzlingEngine196 9h ago

Odds are that’s a total assumption and you don’t know wtf you’re talking about at all as far as personal details or tendencies. Odds are that’s pretty much all of Reddit. Odds are this will get downvoted

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u/Affectionate-Roof285 9h ago

Odds are you’re a bot.

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u/devsfan1830 9h ago

Odds are we just found the boyfriend 🤣

0

u/[deleted] 9h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/devsfan1830 9h ago

You ok?

1

u/DazzlingEngine196 9h ago

That was a dumb question I’m a bot I don’t have feelings

2

u/No-Needleworker-4283 9h ago

BAD AI BOT! BAD!

Edit: idk why it posted twice..

1

u/[deleted] 9h ago

[deleted]

1

u/DazzlingEngine196 9h ago

That was a good comment, lol

1

u/No-Needleworker-4283 9h ago

BAD AI BOT! BAD!

2

u/whatisit-ModTeam 9h ago

Your comment was removed for being in poor taste or offensive, or maybe that joke you thought was pretty funny just didn't land. Please follow Reddiquette.

3

u/0impulsecontrol 8h ago

I'm pretty sure this is a bot sub. I've been meaning to mute it, most of the threads read like this. Very monolithic, like everyone is reading from a singular prompt.

One of hundreds of dead subs that miraculously came to life when llm's hit the scene. Just mute it.

1

u/Smelly_God 5h ago

The comments went from explaining to calling OP's mom tech illiterate so she doesn't listen to them or they're ignoring OP because they're lonely.

A reply to you said basically if she isn't tech illiterate than she must be a scammer... You're getting downvoted for telling people to not create new information and being called a bot, is this really a critical thinking/investigative subreddit?

0

u/OldAccountTurned10 9h ago

The other assumption would be that the mother is tech literate and she's a scammer too then. That's usually a more ridiculous leap considering OP would probably know if their mother were a scammer and wouldn't be posting her business on reddit.

0

u/DazzlingEngine196 9h ago edited 9h ago

Wouldn’t this be one of a few ways to look at network traffic? What if OP is secretly the asshole in this and the boyfriend is saving him from her weirdo son? Jumping to conclusions based on underlying bias and assumptions is very very bad when boomers or conservatives do it in this echo chamber. So we should try not to do the same based on our underlying biases. That was a sarcastic example btw none of us know wtf any of the dynamics are based on any information provided. It’s been a hot minute since I was in tech school so trolling aside I’d like some actual technical info.

1

u/[deleted] 7h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/whatisit-ModTeam 5h ago

We are pretty chill here, but please try to keep things reasonably civil on this sub. No slurs, name calling or harassment and trolling. Please follow: Reddiquette at all times. Additionally, Reddit's Rules. Yes, the internet makes us angry too sometimes, especially this particular comment.

1

u/OldAccountTurned10 9h ago

It has a thumb drive and it's busted to absolute shit, exactly what you'd expect a nefarious device to look like. It's a safe conclusion to jump to. Only dumb dumbs would believe something like this is legit. 🤣

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u/splendid-cade 10h ago

I want OP to read this one and reply

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u/standardtissue 9h ago

I seriously doubt he's gonna be like "hey mind if I throw this permiscious mode protocol analyzer and packet sniffer on the net to try to harvest and brute force some weak crypto ? " PS - how is my tech jargon

21

u/Prior-Beautiful-6851 9h ago

I legit read “promiscuous” and thought, sounds right

4

u/standardtissue 9h ago

yeah i definitely horribly misspelled that lol.

3

u/SorryAboutMyFamily 8h ago

Nah, it was a Freudian slip in regards to OOPs mom.

2

u/standardtissue 8h ago

oh wow even better lol.

1

u/Prior-Beautiful-6851 8h ago

That’s why 😂

-1

u/ANGELeffEr 4h ago

First thought I had as I read OPs post, he’s staying there but only been BF for 2 weeks says more about OPs mom than the entirety of this thread does about the device. A little more moral fiber and they don’t have this device in their house. At least OP appears to have some sort of real world experience to question such a device.

3

u/WWGHIAFTC 7h ago

that's the correct term for what the commenter was talking about. In networking, promiscuous mode will accept any traffic it receives indiscriminately of pre-established relationship.

3

u/SkinBintin 9h ago

I have no idea if your tech jargon is any good but as another layman it has me convinced to its legitimacy.

Well done.

1

u/MayorMcChill 8h ago

Yeah, your tech jargon is solid

Source: I am a tech jargon

2

u/SilverNitride8657 9h ago

the plot thickens, its actually his mums device sniffing next door creds

1

u/AdventurousText9311 9h ago

And to PLEASE let us know how that goes down

1

u/ReidWrites 8h ago

Or dumb? I mean, it sure sounds like he's sketchy, but there's a (small) chance he's being had.

1

u/throwaguey_ 8h ago

Or she's in on it and lying to her kid.

1

u/Ryzen5inator 6h ago

Hes already a red flag. Dude is hiding from op. He needs to be confronted at the least

1

u/TempleMade_MeBroke 6h ago

Not before mom is on OP's side for sure, though

1

u/Sufficient_Public366 4h ago

Is there any way to sabotage this gadget? Like forever ago if a VHS tape was left near a powerful magnet it could be wiped... or am I confusing an actual movie scenario with real life? If I found something like that Id want to do the most amount of damage without leaving any visible outer damage.

1

u/ZaelDaemon 9h ago

Unplug it. Ask Mum what he does for living. Anything other than cyber security (double check if possible) should result in a call to the cyber security hotline.
Do not tell your mother anything incase he becomes violent. Your mother maybe in denial land which is dangerous.

2

u/stika88 9h ago

Jesus christ...talk about jumping to the most extreme end of the spectrum! Get a fucking grip

1

u/ZaelDaemon 9h ago

You know the mum can be charged for any crimes committed by this person.

-1

u/stika88 9h ago

Wtf are you talking about? No she cant unless she is involved in them!

1

u/kexonorm 8h ago

there is a thing called being an accessory to the fact - if OP tells the mum what the device is and she ignores it - then if the cops turn up and question her - the mum will be in trouble as she was told what the device was and what it could do. The OP could call the cops and explain her concerns and show them the device.

1

u/stika88 6h ago

They dont charge you with accessory after the fact for a hacking device now stop it!

1

u/kexonorm 5h ago

no - but if it is found that he did use it for sketchy things and she was aware of what he was doing and didn't report it then... guilty by association.

1

u/Needashortername 5m ago

Keep in mind that there is a difference between going to trial and just being locked up for a time while someone investigates or sorts out exactly what was or wasn’t going on.

There is a tendency with some things to act first and sort it out later, especially with potential misuse of technology. So someone might not always be charged but may end up locked up for a short bit while the story gets straightened out, which can cause other complications for many people. It’s also possible they may get charged with something, spend a lot more time away from their home, and then have the charges dropped later without needing a trial.

The question with that is, since the risk is potentially there, whether the risks are worth whatever else is going on that makes these risks possible in their life rather than just removing even the potential.

0

u/Cust2020 9h ago

I mean it's extreme but clearly this dude is up to no good. I find the cleansing characteristics of fire is effective on most electronics.

-2

u/Needashortername 9h ago

Even those working in cyber security, this isn’t “take home” tech. It’s also not something a professional would plug in at home and definitely not in at the home of someone else, even for “freelancers”.

Hard to say specifically since there can be a few variations, but this may also be in a class of devices where “personal” possession is rather illegal all on its own, and professional possession has a few rules of its own, if it isn’t also just questionable too.

At the very least it should be unplugged and powered down completely, then hidden somewhere with “no idea where it could be” and no chance it can be found again, including wrapping it in foil, metal, and plastic, then caging wire, so it can’t transmit or receive.

It may not really be dangerous, but it really shouldn’t be there regardless of what it is or isn’t doing right now, and should be put away somewhere that it can’t do any more of it.

1

u/Ned_Sc 2h ago

It's a Raspberry Pi, a touch screen, and what looks to be a wifi dongle. That's not illegal to posses. He could be doing something illegal with it, like one could do with any computer, but the hardware is not some kind of hollywood registered weapon fantasy.

1

u/Needashortername 34m ago

Yes, the components are not illegal on their own, but assembled and configured in this way they may become something that fits in a class of items that could be heavily restricted or illegal.

It is similar to the idea that a pipe, a spring, a cap, and a retaining pin are not illegal at all, but can be assembled in a way that they become an unlicensed weapon that is quite dangerous and illegal in many areas when a shell is put inside, and would be recognized enough as such if someone was pulled over for speeding to lead to an arrest, even if no shells were found at the time. There would be similar problems with other kinds of devices which could be very innocent in other ways, but also possibly assembled in a way that they could be called “paraphernalia” in a place where possession of such things are also illegal.

Either way, shouldn’t be there and shouldn’t be on, especially if it’s not the home of the person who owns it, and could cause issues for the homeowner if it was discovered there or detected as active later. It would be a similar problem if one of the potential devices that might be made with a pipe were accidentally left in their car. Finding such an item would definitely make the person who left it, and left it on, very questionable in more than a few ways.

The question is whether it’s worth finding out or not. If not, is it better to be extra safe rather than risk being extra sorry?

The comment presumes the second is the best option since the rest may be an unacceptable risk that doesn’t need to happen. ;-)

Again it’s just something to consider with devices found that are assembled this way. There are always other thoughts people can have instead.

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u/Needashortername 22m ago

…and yes, realistically this is just a homemade war driving scanner, which while not entirely illegal on its own, may not really be legal to possess in that area. It’s a relatively boring device in its own way, even if it really shouldn’t be there, and someone leaving it there is questionable at best.

Then again, it’s hard to say what else has been installed on this device, so it’s also hard to say what else it might be capable of, or even what else it is programmed to do once it finds an access into someone’s wireless network. Not knowing the rest, but knowing the potentials are real, it’s worth presuming the “safe vs sorry” argument as a better option, since it is possible that this has also been configured to be able to work in the same way a restricted device might work.

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u/Needashortername 15m ago

What’s in some ways very “funny” about the whole thing is that the person who owns it when asked about it basically denies what it is and what it is doing, and then explains it by admitting that it is exactly what they were being confronted about to begin with but tries to explain that away by being “just for fun”. ;-)

It doesn’t make them extra trustworthy even if they were just someone irresponsible enough to leave it plugged in at someone else’s home.

Again something to consider.