The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 2, January 14, 2007, Article 27

SPIES TRACK MOVEMENTS WITH BUGGED CANADIAN COINS

Stephen Searle, Ron Thompson and several others pointed out an
Associated Press report published Wednesday that revealed that
circulating coins have been used by spies to track people's
whereabouts.

"Can the coins jingling in your pocket trace your movements? The
Defense Department is warning its American contractor employees about
a new espionage threat seemingly straight from Hollywood: It discovered
Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside.

"In a U.S. government report, it said the mysterious coins were found
planted on U.S. contractors with classified security clearances on at
least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006
as the contractors traveled through Canada.

"What's in the report is true," said Martha Deutscher, a spokeswoman
for the security service. "This is indeed a sanitized version, which
leaves a lot of questions."

"Canada's physically largest coins include its $2 "Toonie," which is
more than 1-inch across and thick enough to hide a tiny transmitter.
The CIA has acknowledged its own spies have used hollow, U.S.
silver-dollar coins to hide messages and film."

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

To view a hollow dollar coin at the CIA's web site, see:
CIA's web site image

Scott Semans writes: "The article's author misses the point that the
coin should be one likely to be saved and carried, rather than an
ordinary circulating coin which the target would pass on.  Why would
a spy put a tracking device in an ordinary coin that would be passed
from hand to hand?  To find out where a target buys his morning cup
of coffee, and which bank the coffee vendor sends the change to at
the end of the day, and so on?

"It seems to me the only point in putting a tracking device in a coin,
unless you are researching patterns of money circulation, would be to
induce the target to KEEP the coin, perhaps a target who knows better
than to accept sweaters, tote bags, or more obvious harbors of RFID
chips from strangers?  But, I'm no spy, so all is speculation."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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