Bug Sweeping (TSCM) and Bespoke Investigations

Updated 5 October 2026 by Investigation Bureau

If you think someone is listening to you, tracking you or watching you, we can give you a proper answer. Investigation Bureau carries out technical surveillance countermeasures (TSCM) sweeps of homes, offices and vehicles, and takes on the complex cases that fit no standard service description.

Sweep enquiries tend to come from two kinds of people. One is the business whose confidential discussions keep reaching people who were not in the room. The other is the individual who has become convinced they are being monitored. Both are owed the same thing: a competent technical answer, not soothing words and not alarm.

Free, confidential first conversation: tell us about it in confidence. We reply within one working day.

Bug sweeping (TSCM)

A professional sweep is a physical and electronic search. It is not a gadget waved around a room. We examine the space for radio-frequency transmitters, recording devices, cameras (including ones hidden inside everyday objects), anomalies on telephone and network lines, and GPS trackers fitted to vehicles. The methods are RF spectrum analysis, non-linear junction detection, thermal inspection and a careful physical search.

What we sweep. Boardrooms, offices and meeting rooms. Whole homes and single rooms. Vehicles. Hotels and temporary premises ahead of a sensitive meeting.

What you receive. A written report of what was examined and what was found. If we find something, we advise you on preserving it as evidence instead of simply removing it, because pulling a device out destroys the best evidence of who put it there. We talk that choice through with you before anything is touched.

Discretion. Sweeps are often carried out after hours or under a cover arrangement, so that the sweep itself does not tip off whoever placed the device.

An honest word on sweeps

Most sweeps find nothing. That is a real relief, often an enormous one, and we would sooner tell you so than sell you a monthly programme you do not need.

If what you describe sounds like a compromised phone or account and not a physical device, we will say that too. It is a cyber investigation, which is a different job and usually a cheaper one. And if the problem is that you are being followed, not bugged, the answer is counter-surveillance.

Bespoke and complex investigations

Some instructions belong to no category. We take on:

• Cross-border cases. Cross-border work is handled with trusted partners, by lawful enquiry only.
• Asset tracing and pre-litigation intelligence ahead of enforcement, alongside corporate investigations.
• Due diligence on individuals where the context is unusual or sensitive. See what executive due diligence involves.
• Close protection liaison. Where an investigation reveals a real risk to someone's safety, we coordinate with vetted protection providers.
• Process serving and witness location for legal proceedings.
• Long-running or multi-strand cases that combine surveillance, cyber and corporate work under one investigator.

If your situation does not obviously match any service page on this site, this page exists for that conversation. Tell us the question. We will tell you whether it can be answered, how, and what it would cost.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a bug sweep cost in the UK?

A sweep is quoted per premises after a short scoping conversation. The price is driven by the number and size of the rooms, the technical scope and whether we need access out of hours. Commercial premises with several rooms are quoted as a project. Whatever the size, you get a fixed price in writing before we attend.

Can you detect a GPS tracker on my car?

Yes. A vehicle sweep looks for covert GPS trackers of both kinds: units wired into the vehicle and battery units. If we find one, we advise you on keeping it as evidence and on the lawful ways to establish who placed it. Our GPS tracker law guide explains where UK law stands on tracking a vehicle.

Can you tell who planted a device?

Sometimes. A device carries evidence: its model, the purchase trail, a SIM, its configuration and any data recovered from it. Put together with who had access to the place, that can point clearly at a source. We will not promise attribution before we have seen what is there. We will preserve everything that makes attribution possible.

I think my phone is being monitored. Is that a sweep?

Usually not. A compromised phone or account is a digital problem. It belongs with our cyber investigations service, which examines the device and the accounts instead of the room. Describe the symptoms in your first enquiry and we will point you to the right one. Sometimes the answer is that you need neither, and we will say so.

How quickly can you attend?

Usually within days. Tell us if it is urgent, as commercial matters often are, and we will tell you what is possible. Every sweep is scheduled discreetly around your circumstances.

A problem that fits no category. Describe it to an investigator. It is free, confidential and carries no obligation: start a confidential enquiry.

Related reading: Corporate investigations · Cyber investigations · GPS tracker laws in the UK