Coat hooks can be used for a variety of things. They can be used to store clothing, umbrellas, headphones, and keys, among other things. You wouldn’t imagine that, as inventive as they are, they’d be used for anything sinister and unethical, would you? I had no idea they were capable of such a feat until I heard this.
Some coat hooks in public restrooms and hotel rooms contain hidden cameras. Similar devices have been seen in public settings such as hotel bathrooms and women’s changing rooms.
Floridians have recently reported three incidents. According to the report of the MCSO: “In all three incidents, miniature cameras hidden in coat hooks were found mounted on the walls in the women’s restrooms. They were found at Anne’s Beach on May 26th, the Circle K Store at the 99.8 mile marker of Highway U.S. One on May 28th, and in the women’s bathroom at Harry Harris Park in Tavernier [on May 31].”
In 2011, a woman accidentally knocked a camera mounted to a clothing hanger to the floor in a Kansas YMCA locker room. The hook was sticky on the underside, according to the incident’s investigators. “The device is not something that would stand out,” Lt. Randy Reynolds of the Wichita Police Department’s $ex Crimes Unit said. “They could be in changing rooms anywhere.” The scariest part is that one can buy such gadgets for next to nothing, from 20 to 50 bucks.
The company goes so far as to advertise its wares with the slogan, “No one will suspect a clothes hook of concealing a camera.”
MicroSD cards, which are compatible with the hooks, have a maximum recording time of 2 hours at 16 GB. If you were suspicious that someone in your office was stealing from you, I could see how this would be helpful to have on hand. However, a much larger percentage of users are abusing them for sexual purposes and spying on innocent children and women.
How do you identify one?
Knowing what to look for, it’s not hard to spot one of these gadgets. They appear to be standard plastic coat hooks, save for a tiny opening in the top. Those are the lenses. (highlighted in red) Some may even include a side button that you press in order to begin using the motion sensor. While some people’s lights are blindingly bright and easy to notice on a white coat hanger, others’ can be difficult to spot on a black one.
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