From now on, view your pockets with suspicion:

U.S. Warns About Canadian Spy Coins, says the headline, and the gist is:

In a U.S. government warning high on the creepiness scale, the Defense Department cautioned its American contractors over what it described as a new espionage threat: Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside.

The government 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.

Intelligence and technology experts said such transmitters, if they exist, could be used to surreptitiously track the movements of people carrying the spy coins.

Of course, what should concern Canadians, but probably won’t, is this bit:

Top suspects, according to outside experts: China, Russia or even France – all said to actively run espionage operations inside Canada with enough sophistication to produce such technology.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said it knew nothing about the coins.

Well, isn’t that just dandy.

UPDATE: While we should still be concerned about “China, Russia or even France” conduction active espionage operations in Canada, it looks like the report about transmitters in Canadian coins is bogus.

Permanent link to this article: https://edwardwillett.com/2007/01/from-now-on-view-your-pockets-with-suspicion/

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