This is a copy of The Numbers Racket CD-ROM, which I prepared back in 1998. I am presenting it here, unedited, for historical purposes. Obviously most if not all of the information is 'out of date' today, but think of it as a snapshot of what the Spy Numbers scene was like in the late 1990s.
Like what you see here? Help support my work by taking a look at my software , and buy something of interest :) It's all available for download before purchase, so you can try it out.
Enjoy!
What are people hearing? There are many theories, including messages between drug traffickers, gambling information, and so on. But the most generally accepted theory is that these are messages from intelligence agencies to their agents in the field - messages to spies. As a result, these stations have been nicknamed "Spy Numbers Stations".
Numbers stations have been heard since the 1950's. It was only during the 1970's, with the availability of general coverage receivers that could tune in-between the international broadcasting bands, that shortwave listeners started paying serious attention to them. It is now known that a number of these stations are definately operated by intelligence agencies. For example, The Counting Station has been identified as transmitting from facilities operated by the National Communications System, located near Remington, Virginia, USA. It is believed that these transmissions are for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and are directed to CIA operatives. This site is also believed to transmit information for the US Department of State.
Other Numbers Stations have been identified as transmitting from former East Germany, and Cuba. The MOSSAD stations have been identified as transmitting from Israeli embassies, and their mission at the United Nations in New York City.
The different Numbers Stations each appear to use a unique format. Usually, each transmission starts with a callup, which seems to identify who the message is to. This callup takes several forms. Many stations continuously repeat a three to five digit number. The MOSSAD stations repeat three phonetic letters. Some stations, such as The Lincolnshire Poacher, also play a short piece of music. Presumably, this makes it easier for the recipient to find the station. We can assume that the music played has something to do with the nationality of either the sender or recipient of the message.
Next, the actual message is sent. Sometimes each group is repeated, sometimes the entire message is sent once and then repeated. This is obviously to help ensure the message gets through, since shortwave is prone to static, interference, and complete fadeouts. Interestingly, some complete messages have been observed to be repeated days or even months apart. It is quite possible that these are training broadcasts. In fact, there is much evidence that many, if not most, Numbers Station transmissions are either training exercises, or bogus broadcasts, intended to mislead other intelligence organizations.
It should be mentioned that there are no "official" names for most of the various Numbers Stations. That is, we don't know what the organizations who run the stations call them, with the exception of the very few stations which use an otherwise legitimate callsign, such as OLX in Prague. Most of the station names were assigned by listeners, usually relating to the opening message or music played at the start of a transmission. Some stations have multiple names. The CIA operation, usually referred to as The Counting Station, has also been referred to as "The Warrenton Woman", a reference to the likely origin of at least some of the transmissions. The female voice of this station has also been given a nickname - Cynthia. (CynthIA, get it?)
The club ENIGMA (European Numbers Information Gathering and Monitoring Association) has created a set of alphanumeric identifiers for each format of numbers station. This systems helps to reduce the confusion caused by the same station being referred to by several different names. A listing of these identifiers is available.
This information is believed to be correct at the time of publication but is given as an indication of station activity only. The only constant related to Numbers Stations is the fact that they're always changing!
This is a copy of The Numbers Racket CD-ROM, which I prepared back in 1998. I am presenting it here, unedited, for historical purposes. Obviously most if not all of the information is 'out of date' today, but think of it as a snapshot of what the Spy Numbers scene was like in the late 1990s.
Like what you see here? Help support my work by taking a look at my software , and buy something of interest :) It's all available for download before purchase, so you can try it out.