Anti-Surveillance Tradecraft for Travelers

I saw the same silver sedan three times in five days. Bogotá. October 2024.

Maybe coincidence. Maybe not.

Either way, knowing how to detect and shake surveillance makes the difference between a clean op and... well, not. Here's the anti-surveillance tradecraft I use when I'm working in places where people might actually be paying attention—simple, legal moves that don't require a fake mustache or a leather jacket.

Photo: Unsplash / Sean Pollock

October 2024: Bogotá

I was consulting for a client on physical security assessments in Zona Rosa. Not shady work—corporate site evaluations, entry/exit protocols, that kind of thing. But it meant I was wandering around with cameras, taking notes, and probably looking suspicious to anyone paying attention.

Day one, Monday morning. 07:30. Silver Toyota Corolla parked across from my hotel. Tinted rear windows. Plate ending in 47. Solo driver, male, mid-30s, sunglasses. I took a photo with my phone (timestamp, location), noted it in Obsidian, moved on.

Probably nothing.

Day three, Wednesday. Different street. Same car. Parked outside the café I'd been using for morning client calls. I spotted it when I walked out at 10:15. Same plate: ...47. Driver was on his phone. Didn't look up when I walked past.

Okay. Now I'm paying attention.

Day five, Friday. I'm in an Uber heading to a client site in Usaquén. Glance in the side mirror at a red light. Silver Corolla. Two cars back. Same plate.

Three sightings. Different locations. Different contexts. That's not coincidence anymore—that's pattern.

I didn't confront the driver. That's rule one: never let them know you know. Instead, I ran what's called a surveillance detection route (SDR). Took the metro to a random shopping mall (Centro Comercial Andino), browsed for 30 minutes like a tourist, exited through a different entrance than I came in, then grabbed an Uber to a safe house the client maintained in Chapinero.

The sedan didn't follow. Either I lost them, or they decided I wasn't worth the effort. Probably the latter—I'm boring.

Next week I varied everything: routes, timing, transport. Uber one day, Didi the next, TransMilenio bus the day after. Never saw that silver Corolla again.

Was it surveillance? Local investigator on an unrelated case? Just a guy who lives near my hotel and works near my café? I'll never know.

But the tradecraft kept me clean. And that's the point.

Baseline: Know Your Normal

• Route diary: Log usual routes and timing in Obsidian. Anything that deviates from baseline gets flagged.
• Dress code: Blend with locals. No branded nomad hoodies or flashy gear. I mimic the median commuter.
• Device hygiene: Disable auto-connect Wi-Fi/Bluetooth. Use randomized MAC addresses. Keep phone in Faraday pouch when moving through sensitive areas.

How to Actually Spot a Tail

Here's the thing about surveillance: professional teams use 3-6 people who rotate positions. So you're not looking for one obvious dude in a trench coat following you around. You're looking for patterns.

On Foot

The box drill. Walk around a city block. Four right turns. Halfway through, change your pace—speed up for 30 seconds, then slow back down. If someone behind you matches every turn and your pace changes, note what they look like: clothing color, height, how they walk, accessories. Don't stare at them. Use reflections—shop windows, your phone's black screen works great as a mirror. Finish the box, walk two more blocks normally, then do another box. If you see the same person again?

Yeah. That's not good.

The store test. Walk into a store with multiple exits. Shopping mall, department store, whatever. Browse for five minutes like you're actually shopping (don't just stand there awkwardly—that tips them off). Then leave through a different door than you came in. Pause outside. Check if anyone who entered after you also exits through the same different door.

Professional teams will have someone at both exits. Amateurs won't.

Progressive exposure. Advanced teams rotate people every 10-15 minutes. You'll see different faces, but they all do the same things: maintain distance, match your turns, suddenly get very interested in their phone when you stop walking.

Istanbul, 2023. I was walking from Sultanahmet to Karaköy—about two hours. Spotted three different people across that walk who all paused to check their phones whenever I stopped. Different clothing, different ages. Same behavior. That's progressive exposure. Textbook three-person tail.

I ran an SDR, lost them at the ferry terminal. Never saw them again.

Vehicle Surveillance

Note the details. In Bogotá, I logged: silver sedan, Toyota Corolla (~2020 model), tinted rear windows, plate ending in 47, solo driver (male, mid-30s, sunglasses). I took photos with timestamps and locations. This log matters if you need to brief security or police later.

The four-turn test. Make four consecutive right turns (or lefts). If the same vehicle is still behind you after completing a circle, it's not coincidence. I did this in Bogotá—the silver sedan stayed three cars back through all four turns.

Speed variation test. Slow down to 10 km/h below the speed limit. Watch your mirrors. If a vehicle behind you also slows to maintain distance (rather than passing), that's suspicious. Then accelerate back to normal speed. If they match your acceleration, probability of surveillance increases.

Structured stops. Pull into a gas station, parking lot, or drive-through. Legitimate traffic drives past. Surveillance vehicles will either pull in behind you (obvious) or park nearby and wait (slightly less obvious). In Bogotá, I pulled into an Éxito supermarket parking lot. The silver sedan drove past, but I saw it parked 100 meters down the street when I exited five minutes later.

Digital Surveillance Reduction

• Messaging: Use Signal with sealed sender. Delete event-specific groups after operations conclude.
• Metadata minimization: Strip EXIF from photos (exiftool -all= photo.jpg).
• Location services: Keep phone in airplane mode when entering sensitive meetings. Re-enable in safe zone to avoid timeline gaps triggers.
• Browser opsec: Browse via Mullvad Browser or Firefox with hardened profile. Avoid logging into personal accounts during ops.

Countermeasures

• Cover stops: Enter crowded, controlled spaces (hotel lobby, bank). If tail persists inside, escalate to security.
• Ride-hailing decoys: Call ride to safe location, note if suspicious vehicle follows. You can reroute with driver to confirm.
• Team comms: Share sightings with ops chat. Agree on code phrases (“coffee’s stale”) to indicate escalating surveillance.
• No direct confrontation. Let professionals handle (local security, embassy). Document details with time/location.

Data Exhaust Controls

• Rotate SIM/eSIM for sensitive tasks. Never reuse numbers tied to personal accounts.
• Use temporary email/alias for bookings when confidentiality matters.
• Pay in cash or privacy-preserving cards (Privacy.com) to avoid credit trail mapping.

Surveillance Detection Route (SDR)

Before high-risk meetings, I run a structured SDR to confirm I'm clean. This is a pre-planned route designed to expose surveillance without making it obvious you're checking:

1. Pre-plan the route. I map it in Google Maps the night before: hotel → metro station → shopping mall → café → Uber pickup → meeting location. The route includes 3-4 "choke points" where surveillance would be forced to reveal itself (narrow corridors, single-exit locations).

2. Mix transport modes. Start with a 10-minute walk, take the metro for two stops, exit and grab an Uber, then walk the final 500 meters. Surveillance teams struggle to maintain coverage across multiple transport switches without revealing themselves.

3. Use clean checks. Stop at a café with floor-to-ceiling windows. Sit facing the street. Order a coffee and spend 15 minutes on your laptop. Observe who lingers outside, who walks past multiple times, who's on their phone but not talking. In Bogotá, I used a Juan Valdez café in Chapinero—perfect sight lines, busy enough to blend in.

4. Decision point. If you spot the same person/vehicle at two+ clean checks, abort the meeting. Text the contact: "Traffic delay. Reschedule tomorrow?" Then go to a pre-agreed contingency location (public place, lots of witnesses). If you're clean after three checks, proceed to the meeting.

The Checklist

[ ] Log anomalies (weird vehicles, repeated faces, digital weirdness)
[ ] Vary your routes and timing—predictability kills
[ ] Secure comms, strip metadata from everything
[ ] Use cover stops (hotels, banks) to check if you're clean
[ ] If tail persists, escalate to actual professionals

What's in My Kit

• Faraday pouch (Mission Darkness, $50) for phones during sensitive meetings. Blocks all signals. Yes, it actually works.
• Insta360 GO camera ($200, looks like a tiny button). Captures evidence without making it obvious you're filming.
• Notion threat log synced offline. Date, time, location, description. Photos attached. Encrypted with 1Password.
• GL.iNet travel router with custom firewall rules to spot rogue devices trying to connect.

Look—anti-surveillance isn't paranoia. It's just situational awareness with better note-taking.

Most of the time? You're fine. Nobody's following you. That silver Corolla in Bogotá was probably just a guy who lives near your hotel.

But if someone is paying attention—and sometimes they are, depending on what you're working on—then knowing these drills means you catch it early. Document it. Shake it. Stay boring.

Boring is safe.