[gscott]

I worked at Radio Shack and a customer came in, asked to see a particular hand held scanner. He moved around the buttons a few different ways and showed me it had a backdoor to listen to cellular calls. A few months later Radio Shack recalled that particular scanner. I had spent some time listening to calls and they were really boring. No girlfriends or drug deals, completely inane conversation.

[ThinkingGuy]

I had a family member who used to listen in on phone calls on a modifed scanner (early 1990s). They commented that the conversations tended to follow a predictable pattern, correlating with basic human needs, as the day progressed.

Daytime: Money. People complaining about not having enough money, not being able to pay their bills (while talking on a $1000 cell phone and paying a per-minute charge).

Early evening: Food. "What are we going to eat tonight?" "Will you stop at the grocery store and pick up ___?" "What do you want for dinner?"

Night: Sex [use your imagination here]