How FBI Created ANØM: The Fake Phone Company That Fooled Criminal Organizations

What if the FBI convinced the world's most dangerous criminals to pay thousands of dollars for phones that were secretly recording their every word? In this episode, Daniel Torres uncovers ANØM, the fake encrypted phone company that became the most successful undercover operation in law enforcement history. For three years, criminal organizations worldwide unknowingly funded their own surveillance. They paid up to $2,100 per phone, thinking they were getting military-grade encryption. Instead, the FBI was reading every single message in real time. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • How a convicted drug dealer became the FBI's secret weapon in creating ANØM phones • Why criminals paid premium prices for phones that could only text (no calls, no internet) • The exact moment 800 criminals realized their "secure" communications had been compromised for years • How law enforcement coordinated the largest global takedown in history across 100+ countries 👤 Perfect for: true crime fans and anyone fascinated by how modern investigations actually work. 📍 Chapters: [00:00] Daniel Torres introduces the phone scam that fooled international crime syndicates [01:45] How the FBI turned a criminal informant into their secret tech entrepreneur [04:20] Inside the $2,100 phones that could only send texts but somehow sold like crazy [07:30] 27 million intercepted messages: what criminals thought no one would ever read [09:45] The coordinated global raids that seized 8 tons of cocaine and $48 million [11:15] Why this operation changed undercover investigations forever The numbers are staggering: 27 million messages intercepted, 800 arrests, seizures worth hundreds of millions. But the real story is how the FBI convinced criminals to voluntarily carry surveillance devices while paying premium prices for the privilege. 🔔 Never miss an episode: Follow Proof Positive on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and turn on notifications. New episodes drop daily with Daniel's signature deep dives into the investigations everyone else stopped questioning. 🔍 Topics: FBI operations, undercover investigations, encrypted communications, international crime, law enforcement technology Get new episodes at Proof Positive ------- Keywords: espionage stories, political intrigue, investigative reporting, cold war secrets, unsolved mysteries, undercover operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices