Digital Spying and Black Squads in Venezuela

The increasing proximity and severity of threats in Venezuela are becoming alarming. On the other hand, amidst the current turmoil, exposing the truth is crucial to defending ourselves against abuses. While justice may be slow, it remains our best hope for preventing or mitigating physical harm.

Just as one wave of concern subsides, another emerges. If you’re curious about what I’m referring to, continue reading.

The internet has undeniably transformed our lives through the widespread accessibility of information. While this has numerous benefits, it also presents significant risks.

We are all aware of the dangers we face as citizens striving for a change in our country’s leadership. As citizens who want and work for a change in the control of our country, we are subject to spying and other random illegal actions. Civilians have been subject to military court trials, an absolute aberration of justice, something that never should have happened in any civilized country. But the gang holding the guns is everything but democratic and respectful of civilian rights. They consider themselves to OWN the people and rule over them.

They don’t work for public safety or security. On the contrary.

What I call “black” squads, by the way, are the gangs roaming in black pickup trucks without any license. This is State-sponsored terrorism in the best Middle Eastern way. Masked and armed to the teeth on the pickup back platforms, nobody knows who they are. They are the packs that will do the dirty job that neither policemen nor NGs want to do to dodge further legal prosecution.

But this has been previously exposed by journalists, and it’s all over the Internet.

A suspicious incident

In our apartment building, we have a WhatsApp group for sales. Anyone selling something posts it there, pictures, videos, etc. The general chat has become a virtual marketplace where people sell everything from cars to snacks.

Recently, several neighbors began receiving strange, unsolicited calls from the phone number of one of our group members. However, the caller’s profile picture didn’t match the elderly woman who owned the phone.

It’s now easier than ever to clone a phone number if the owner is unaware or has weak security measures. Your smartphone, while a robust device, may have inadequate security software.

With a cloned number, scammers can engage in a spectrum of illegal activities using the owner’s identity.

US dollars

This being said, I need to inform you that a transaction involving both local and Russian criminal groups injected 150 million USD into our economy to “stabilize” it a few years ago. Where did this money come from? Very likely some Russian baron who needed to launder? The exact terms of this deal remain a mystery, but it’s clear that our country is often disadvantaged in such exchanges.

We don’t know what was given to Putin and his cronies. Someday, though, the truth will come to light.

Therefore, many people receive their salaries in USD and then exchange them for local currency to get goodies and groceries. They get the Bolivares (Bs) usually at a rate slightly over the official one. Only imagine what would happen when a neighbor offers to buy 100$ and receives nothing because his/her phone was cloned, and then, the transference in Bolivares went to someone else’s bank account, leaving you with nothing but a national ID number (that could very well be fake) and a cellphone number that can disappear in a blink…even worse: the chats could be used to blackmail the owner, asking for money to avoid them being sold to the “authorities” as a “domestic terrorist” only because of a few comments against the bus driver and cronies…it is already starting a razzia against those selling the USD to prices over the “official” rate. This rate is slowly increasing, by the way.

Yes, this scam, or blackmail, has already happened in other cities. Several times. That’s why the ICC is (supposedly) already in a process with the leaders and has collected a payload of information based on the victims’ testimonies.

I haven’t heard recent reports of people being missing. However, some leaders of the opposition party (I can’t give his name to avoid disclosing my location) are still in jail under fake charges. It takes only a fake denunciation to provide the excuse to get them in jail. This is the system that the Cubans were here for in the first place.

People, don’t believe even for one second that just because you don’t see “anything” about Venezuela in the news, things are “going good”.

This is not the reality. Most people are working their backsides off to get only groceries for the week, and God forbid some elder or kid gets sick. Everyone is dressing in ragged and parched outfits and garments. Well-worn shoes and unmatched socks. Everybody´s underwear is as thin as a spider web. Even with the general state of lack of money, scammers come and go taking advantage of defenseless elders.

This is the sort of situation that will flourish anywhere once the economy has been drained down the toilet. No matter where you are, it is a universal behavior.

What are we doing to prevent being labeled?

First, we don´t speak with strangers about current events, or openly about politics with anybody. Much less criticizing the regime. Not too much to say, anyway. They have made the world aware of their intentions: they control of the country no matter what they have to do. After the crushing of the democratic procedures on July 28th by force using armed illegal groups, the gang has invested vast resources into the repression to neutralize and spread the terror amongst citizens. They look to promote a second migratory wave in 2025. They can control elders and kids, not the population of working age with nothing to lose and desperate for a change. It’s the same scheme used in Cuba and NK: keep the parents, relatives, elders, and children like hostages to impede the migrants from getting organized in a resistance movement to free the country.

However, the experiences show that the best way (reasonably) is to avoid exposing our thoughts or comments openly on social media; it is the only way to remain unseen enough. It’s way easier for any regime to hunt down a group of people through their IP addresses (that lead to physical home addresses) provided by a team of hired keyboards and then give that list to two or three teams of mercenaries (including Putin’s Wagner boys, who have been openly identified). These will go out like a pack of wolves, and the psychological impact will be striking in a weak society that hasn’t lived through a serious armed conflict in 200 years and is so terrified by crime that it runs at the first shot. Meanwhile, the rest of the world does nothing to avoid annoying Russia and China.

This influence is nothing but new. The KGB has been operating in South America in one way or another for many years already.

How to enhance smartphone security for Android and iOS

Given the current state of things, many of us have decided to take measures to strengthen our devices. This includes using VPNs, two-way access,

• Enable strong, unique passwords: Combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters for your device password. Avoid using easily guessable information like birthdays or pet names.
• Consider using a password manager to generate and store strong, unique passwords for all your accounts.
• Keep your software updated: Regularly install the latest operating system updates and security patches. The updates are for fixing vulnerabilities that hackers use to gain control of your device.
• Enable automatic updates to ensure your device is always protected.
• Be cautious about downloading apps: Only download apps from official app stores.
• Read app reviews and permissions before downloading to ensure they are reputable.
• Avoid installing apps from unknown sources as they may contain malware.
• Be careful with whom you share personal information. Many scammers and thugs use data provided by the user, especially the people who sell and buy through the marketplaces, to blackmail them later. Keeping a record of who you shared your data with is a good way to hunt back a possible scam attempt.

To finish, there is a reality that many people seem to be oblivious to. Wherever the non-democratic part of the world gets its claws in a territory, generates chaos and distress.

It’s the same pattern to destabilize. Only different names and actors, but the script doesn´t change.

This is not new, but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t stop it.

The world can’t keep going as it is.

Too much stress is damaging for our health. Don’t get caught in that trap! Make prepping part of your life, but at the same time, you can self-indulge a little! There is no harm in that.

Thanks for your reading!

And special thanks to those generous sponsors, always so necessary.

Stay safe, and keep tuned!

About Jose

Jose is an upper middle class professional. He is a former worker of the oil state company with a Bachelor’s degree from one of the best national Universities. He has an old but in good shape SUV, a good 150 square meters house in a nice neighborhood, in a small but (formerly) prosperous city with two middle size malls. Jose is a prepper and shares his eyewitness accounts and survival stories from the collapse of his beloved Venezuela. Jose and his younger kid are currently back in Venezuela, after the intention of setting up a new life in another country didn’t  go well. The SARSCOV2 re-shaped the labor market and South American economy so he decided to give it a try to homestead in the mountains, and make a living as best as possible. But this time in his own land, and surrounded by family, friends and acquaintances, with all the gear and equipment collected, as the initial plan was.

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