History Main / BluffTheEavesdropper

People notice their phone is tapped, or see a microphone in their potted plant, or otherwise discover that someone is spying on them. So they start acting.

* ''Film/KingOfTheRocketMen''. Jeff King finds a bug placed by Dr. Vulcan and places a PhonyCall offering to illicitly sell a top-secret item of equipment, knowing Dr. Vulcan's men will steal it off him. It's actually a radio location device for finding Dr. Vulcan's lair, but unfortunately Jeff's colleagues were outside the door listening and think he's in league with Dr. Vulcan, so they try to recover the device.

* In ''Film/{{Heat}}'', professional thief Neil [=McCauley=] knows the LAPD is probably onto his next job but needs a way to smoke his tail and turn the tables. So his crew gathers in a shipyard and lays out their target and escape routes for the benefit of the cops listening in nearby. As the officers gather in the same spot later, and see a lack of both lucrative targets and viable escape routes, it hits Detective Hanna that they've been successfully bluffed and smoked out.

* During World War 2, US Intelligence intercepted Japanese Navy communications about plans to attack a target but couldn't tell what the target was. They suspected it to be Midway Atoll, so they had the Midway base transmit a radio message that they were running low on water. Sure enough, Japanese communications were soon intercepted stating that the target was low on water, confirming that the Japanese intended to attack Midway.

* In the United States, it's a common practice among middle and highschoolers to post misleading updates about fake parties about to happen or are currently happening in order to intentionally mislead police tracking said Facebook or Twitter posts in the opposite direction of a real party, or just in a random direction for laughs.

* In the United States, it's a common practice among middle and highschoolers to post misleading updates about fake parties about to happen or are currently happening in order to intentionally mislead police tracking said Facebook or Twitter posts in the opposite direction of a real party, or just in a random direction for laughs. It's come to be called "Pied Pipering", at least in southern states. It's also common (and highly illegal) to "weaponize" police by posting fake concerns of nonexistent suspicious activity on fake accounts to send police or other authority figures to spy on the houses of people the poster doesn't like, in the same vein as "[=SWATting=]".

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Light did this with Kyomi Takada in ''Manga/DeathNote'': They were having one conversation for the benefit of the Task Force listening in, while secretly writing notes to each other containing the real conversation.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** Hawkeye needs to get Mustang a message about [[spoiler:the identity of the homunculus Pride]], but knows that [[spoiler:Pride]] is observing her, so she signals Mustang by tapping her mug. They then have a long, apparent innocuous conversation that's a cover for a coded message.
** Roy does this for an undefined amount of time, he's a well-known ladies' man so he acts like he's talking to one of his girlfriends in his phone while in truth he is giving coded instructions to his underlings.
* In an episode of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', the Major realizes that the Tachikomas are observing her meeting with Batou. She and Batou proceed to hold two conversations simultaneously: they speak audibly to mislead the Tachikomas, while using their neural implants to message each other wirelessly and say what they really mean.
* Happens in ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'': Miho realizes the enemy is listening on their radio transmissions, so she begins giving false orders through the radio to lure the enemy tanks into ambushes while delivering her real instructions with her cell phone.
** Used against Ooarai by BC Freedom in ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzerDasFinale''. It is well known that Yukari is stealing intel from other schoolships before a match, so BC Freedom students act like their school is still divided by their previous class segregation when they were still two schoolships. When Ooarai adjusts their strategy on this supposed divide, BC Freedom proceeds to flank Ooarai when they're the least expecting it. Yukari is driven to tears when she realizes her intel fails her team.
* Combined with BluffingTheMurderer in ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'': On at least one occasion, Kindaichi stages a fight and pretends to go off alone in order to lure out the suspected killer.
* ''Manga/MakenKi'': Takaki demonstrates [[TheSmartGuy why]] she's Tenbi's [[BigGood chief strategist]] by outwitting Jigoku, after Sui warns her of Jigoku's ability to detect sound across great distances. Then adds that even if they wrote their conversation down, he'd still be able to discern it based on the sound of their penstrokes. So Takaki [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame feeds Jigoku false information]] by using her right hand to write a phony mission brief, while using the index finger of her left hand to relay her real strategy in midair. Gen follows suit, leaving Jigoku none the wiser.
* Sasuke did this in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' by giving his teammates a long and complicated password that the real Naruto would never be able to remember. They get separated soon after, and when they next see Naruto, he gives the correct password, and Sasuke correctly assumes this Naruto is an impostor using Transformation Jutsu who had been eavesdropping earlier. (The best he expected from the real deal is Naruto only remembering that there ''was'' a password, especially if it was a long one... which was the point.)
* Done rather humorously in an episode of ''Anime/SonicX'' with a bugged prison cell. Knuckles caught on and interrupted the conversation about the Chaos Emerald with one about food. The pair of them begin to lower their voices so the eavesdropper has to turn up the volume on his equipment to try hearing them better: only for Knuckles (having snuck quietly up to the microphone while this was happening) [[SuddenlyShouting immediately scream]] LEAK BUN! at the top of his lungs into the microphone to stun the guy on the receiving end.
* Done for laughs in ''Manga/WildAdapter''. Kubota, having guessed that they're being spied on, finds a bug in their apartment, and when Tokito asks what he is looking for, shows it to him and asks if Tokito has seen his glasses (which Kubota is wearing). Tokito takes a second to realize what's going on, and replies that they're [[LastPlaceYouLook on top of Kubota's head]], playfully wondering if Kubota is growing old. The guys listening are then treated to an increasingly explicit dialogue that suggests the two [[HoYay are about to have sex]], and are promptly disgusted. Cut to the duo sitting on their sofa with completely deadpan expressions, improvising the conversation before Tokito breaks the device, letting the listeners know that they've been found out and messed with.[[note]]What makes it even more hilarious is that the panel that reveals Tokito and Kubota sitting on the sofa is at the top of its page, meaning that until that point even ''the reader'' can fall for their trick.[[/note]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''-set tale ''Fanfic/GapYearAdventures'', Assassins Horst Lensen and Mariella Smith-Rhodes are "administrative detention" by the local police in [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica Rimwards Howondaland]]. Horst, who has just been searched, loudly apologises to Mariella that all his weapons and equipment have been discovered and taken away. Aware Mariella has not been searched yet as the local police cannot find any qualified female personnel to conduct a search, they conduct a ''second'' conversation in Assassin sign-language and finger-code in which Horst suggests it would be a good idea if she slips him some of hers, so that ''one'' of them has some weapons available.
* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''/''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' crossover ''[[https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-7866-6/Mandolin+New+Blood.htm New Blood]]'', Mike Corbett finds a listening device in the Sunnydale High library. He and the Scoobies then make all their plans in the hallway outside the library (or in Giles's house), and discuss fake plans in the library in order to throw the listeners off.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Used in ''Literature/The39Clues'' series, more than once to throw the other Cahills of the track.
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'':
** During the "David" arc in the series, once the team realizes how unstable and dangerous David is, they sometimes do this while discussing their plans, in case he is eavesdropping on them in morph.
** They host a similar fake conversation when some Andalite assassins (claiming to be there solely to kill Visser Three) show up and the Animorphs are pretty sure that the assassins are not what they claim to be. The Animorphs pretend to break up when they strongly suspect Estrid and Arbat are listening in, allowing Ax to join with the assassins and figure out what their ''real'' plan is.
* In the ''Literature/ArabianNights'' story "The Prince and the Tortoise", the youngest prince's tortoise wife and her soon-to-be sisters-in-law have to prepare meals for the sultan at their wedding feast. One of the sisters-in-law is not very good at cooking, so after hearing the youngest prince boast that his wife is a SupremeChef, she hides behind a tapestry in the tortoise's room to learn her secret. The tortoise notices her and exclaims, "Oh, I hope I have enough rat and pigeon droppings for my dish at the wedding!" At the wedding feast, the sister-in-law's dish is a disgusting mess of droppings while the tortoise's dish is delicious (and dropping-free).
* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': Opal Koboi has her none-too-bright henchmen the Brill brothers convinced to the point of paranoia that she can read minds, simply by turning on them at random and shrieking "I heard that!". Mervall Brill at one point tests her by thinking treasonous thoughts at her as loudly as possible.
-->'''Merv [thinking]:''' [[BerserkButton Holly Short is prettier than you]].\\
'''Opal Koboi:''' Mervall?\\
'''Merv:''' [[OhCrap Yes, Mistress Koboi]]?\\
'''Opal Koboi:''' [[BaitAndSwitch Don't stare at me like that. It's bad for my skin]].
* Invoked in ''[[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan And The Manhunters]]''. Some priests pay a couple of guards to stand outside a prison window and discuss how the city's treasure is going to be stored in the basement of their new temple. Conan, a robber chief this round, is in that cell and manages to escape. [[spoiler:The priests needed magic present to begin the awakening, and there was no way Conan's band could move all the cash without a wizard's help.]] Complications ensue.
* Creator/PennAndTeller's book ''Cruel Tricks For Dear Friends'' includes a sample letter to put on your laptop and pull up when a nosy neighbor reads over your shoulder. It makes it look like you're writing a letter about how you just got out of prison for killing someone who annoyed you by reading over your shoulder, and how you wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
* In ''Defending Elysium'' by Creator/BrandonSanderson, one of the protagonists (Jason) is being spied upon by the other (Coln), including taping into his conversations with [[MissionControl Lanna]]. Jason and Lanna deal with this by speaking in code, switching to another channel (giving the eavesdropper a prerecorded conversation on irrelevant things) and finally let the guy know they're on to him and just cut him off.
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' books, Vetinari sends all his semaphore communiques using codes that are "fiendishly difficult" but not unbreakable. He wants people to read them so that [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow he knows what they think he thinks they're thinking]].
* In ''{{Literature/Doom}}: Hell on Earth'', Fly and the squad meet some infiltrators posing as drug dealers and making zombie serum. The spies blast obnoxiously loud music and everybody talks about bands and drugs while holding the real discussion on notepads.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' book ''Literature/ColdDays'', Harry knows [[spoiler:Lara has placed bugs in Thomas' apartment]]. So when he calls up a contact, he speaks with a representative of the contact, warns them the line is bugged, and uses big words like "operative". Harry knows this will get her attention and send her to keep track of whomever Harry has contacted. [[spoiler:The bluff comes when Harry reveals he wants Lara to try and track Odin as he will spot them and this will tell him how the White Court does its surveillance now. This information is payment to him for agreeing to meet Harry at all.]] Harry then [[spoiler:blows out every electronic device in Thomas' apartment]], which really should have been a tip-off, but was awesome nonetheless.
** [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''Literature/SkinGame'' with [[spoiler:the possibility that Anduriel is listening and watching ''[[ParanoiaFuel at any time]]''. Harry has to do a book-long, solo version of this, which strains his interactions with his friends since he isn't telling them anything]].
* In one of the ''Literature/Foreigner1994'' novels, protagonist Bren is in a situation where, to communicate with the alien ''atevi'', he must use the communications systems of a group of humans who are not only eavesdropping on him, but blocking the transmission of anything they don't like. To get around this he sends a message comparing his situation to a scenario in a particular genre of ''atevi'' popular culture, a comparison which seems innocuous to the human eavesdroppers but which clearly explains exactly how much trouble he's in to any ''atevi''.
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': During the Dark Days, the Capitol created a species of genetically engineered birds called jabberjays to spy on the rebels, listen to their conversations, and repeat them to the Capitol's command centers. When the rebels found out, they staged fake conversations for the jabberjays to take back to the Capitol, which led to the program being shut down and the birds being abandoned to die off in the wild.
* ''Literature/KeasFlight'': When Kea and Draz are communicating [[TalkingThroughTechnique through chess]], they make sure to have some vocal conversation and make a few meaningless moves so no one will get suspicious.
* ''Literature/TheLawOfInnocence'': In one scene Mickey decides to test whether or not the guards are listening to his prison phone calls, by having a fake conversation with Jennifer about fleeing to Baja. When the prosecutor brings this up in court, Mickey nails her.
* In Christopher Anvil's short story ''The Plateau'', the invading aliens have no concept of fiction. Aware that they will probably be eavesdropped on in their cell, two captured earthmen have a conversation that plants the idea that [[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars The Warlord]] is real. This leads to a snowball effect, as they are already under the impression that [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Shurlok]] is real.
* Taken to LogicalExtreme in "A Private Eye", short SF story, as it takes place in the future where ''your entire life'' is being constantly taped.
* In Creator/JohnGrisham's ''Literature/TheRainmaker,'' Rudy Baylor discovers that the attorneys for the insurance company he's suing have tapped his phone. He considers exposing them, but he realizes he'll never prove they were the ones who did it. Instead, he leaves the tap in place and tricks them into thinking he's directly contacting one of the prospective jurors, making them look like fools in the courtroom and rigging the jury in his favor.
* Used in the third ''Literature/SammyKeyes'' book by Sammy and her friend Marissa, who are catcher and pitcher, respectively, of one of their school's softball teams. They're eating lunch before a big game when Sammy notices a member of the rival team lurking nearby, so she and Marissa start loudly going over what signals Marissa's going to use for each of her pitches--the ''wrong'' signals, of course.
* In ''Literature/TheSecretLifeOfKittyGranger'', Kitty returns to her room at the manor and immediately notices that her things aren't quite where she left them. Thinking the room might be bugged, she tells Verity, "I think I left my handbag at church. Will you walk me down to look for it?" so the two of them can get outside for a private conversation.
* The ''Literature/TommyAndTuppence'' book ''The Secret Adversary'' uses this with the character of Annette. [[spoiler:Annette is actually Jane Finn, pretending to have trauma-induced amnesia so she can't be forced to reveal the location of a set of secret documents. Part of her ruse is "forgetting" how to speak English and only using French; at one point, she realizes she's being spied on and starts crying and wailing in French so her kidnappers are convinced the amnesia is real.]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* On ''Series/AllMyChildren'', a villain has bugged his girlfriend's house, suspecting (correctly) that she's on to him. Luckily, she finds it and proceeds to sing his praises to her equally suspicious friends, who play along when they realize what she's doing. However, it's then subverted, as even though he wrongly believes that she still trusts him, he knows the others don't.
* In the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Dad", Wolfram and Hart have cameras in the Hyperion Hotel and are spying on the team. Lorne hears the humming sound the bugs make and passes a note to Angel telling him that they are being watched and explaining his plan. He also sneaks a hint into their conversation that he should read the note in the janitor's closet to avoid being spied on. The team then Bluff The Eavesdropper for the rest of the episode: even the audience don't know it was all an act until the end.
* Used more than once on ''Series/Babylon5'':
** PlayedWith in one episode: Londo discovers a listening device in a bag of groceries from a Drazi grocer. He spends a few moments saying several insulting things about the Drazi ambassador's wife under the pretense of not knowing he was being recorded, before "accidentally" dropping and smashing the bug.
** In another episode, Londo, MagnificentBastard that he is, pulls this off ''without even being in the room''. [[spoiler:He gives some information to his aide Vir Cotto. Vir is later captured by one of Londo's enemies, who uses a Centauri telepath to get the information from Vir's mind. The information is false, but the bad guy thinks it's true because ''Vir'' thinks it's true]].
** In a fourth-season episode, Garibaldi, now a private investigator/troubleshooter, is escorting a couple of visitors when they're ambushed by paid killers. He tells his panicked clients to think about nothing except their destination, so that they will be able to meet up again if they get separated from him. [[spoiler:He doesn't tell them that their pursuers are telepaths who can read their minds, and he's using them to give the telepaths a false destination. He then proceeds to lead them to an entirely different part of the station and has a guard report the location of the gunmen to Security]].
* On an early episode of ''Series/{{Benson}}'', listening devices are found in several rooms of the Governor's mansion. Benson goes the extra mile with this trope and has the staff recite a scripted scene for the eavesdropper.
* In ''Series/BetterCallSaul'', Lalo calls Hector to tell him he has proof of Gus Fring's treachery, but then realizes that Gus has bugged the phone. He instead says (over Hector's strenuous objections) that he couldn't find proof so he's going to do a full-on assault on Gus that night. Gus, who is listening in, decides to bunker down, leaving his lawyer Saul unprotected...
* ''Series/LeBureauDesLegendes'': After a bug is found in Dr. Balmes's office, she and Malotru conduct a legitimate therapy session, which results in the listener ceasing to monitor them.
* In one of the last episodes of ''Series/{{Boss}}'' before the series was CutShort, Kitty is hired to talk with Kane while wearing a wire to get information on his plans. Instead, she shows Kane her wire to get back into his good graces, and the two enact this trope.
* ''Series/BreakingBad'': Hank has enlisted Walt to put a tracking device on Gus Fring's vehicle. Walt manages to tip off Gus, but Gus tells him to proceed, then only drives between home and work in an attempt to allay Hank's suspicions.
* ''Series/BurnNotice'':
** Michael often bluffs people listening when he knows he is being bugged.
** Michael gets it used ''against'' him: in one episode when it's clear that his apartment is under surveillance, he tries to hold an innocuous conversation with Fiona, who instead uses the opportunity to force Michael to talk about their relationship (which is still innocuous, at least to the people listening).
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' realizes in one episode that Casey is eavesdropping on him, so he begins talking about sandwiches with Morgan to annoy Casey.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E4TheTwoDoctors "The Two Doctors"]]: The Doctor gives some key exposition to his companion about the progress of a prototype time travel capsule and is overheard by one of the villains, but he later reveals that he knew the villain was listening and sabotaged his exposition accordingly so that they would believe the device was safer than it actually was.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall "Spyfall"]]: As part of her plan to escape 1943 Paris, the Doctor [[spoiler:has SOE radio operator Noor Inayat Khan send a wireless message, which the Germans intercept, claiming that the Nazi officer the Master is currently impersonating is a DoubleAgent. This gets him arrested, allowing the Doctor to steal his TARDIS.]]
* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', Crichton and Aeryn eventually do this to Scorpius, apparently getting him to believe that their relationship is at an end and Aeryn can't be used against Crichton. [[spoiler: "Apparently" being the operative word; Aeryn ends up getting kidnapped in an operation that Scorpius apparently had a hand in, so the whole gambit is rendered completely pointless because Crichton ends up offering Scorpius everything he wanted in return for Aeryn's safety.]]
* ''Series/GeneralHospital'': Jason is forced to wear a mic by the FBI to bring down Sonny. He's able to clue Sonny in on it without letting the FBI know about it. They are not pleased.
* Needless to say, this happens in ''Series/GetSmart'', and needless to say, Max talks loudly and woodenly into the listening device.
* ''Series/HogansHeroes'':
** Hogan finds out that one of the new prisoners of war is actually a German spy, so they pretend to trust him and tell him they're going to take him to their secret hideout blindfolded. They then let some false information slip out while talking and make noises that imply their hideout is under the watertower.
** In "Eight O'Clock and All is Well", a [[TheMole Mole]] uses the technique against them. As far as the Heroes, listening through a bug in Klink's office, are concerned, the new prisoner is playing Klink to get out of a punishment. Meanwhile the [=Mole=] has passed Klink a note identifying himself as Gestapo, and is pouring Klink a drink.
** In another episode, the Germans plant a bug in the prisoners' barracks. Hogan uses it to feed the Germans false information, with the prisoners reading parts off of scripts.
* A comedic version on ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' when Nate's ex-wife is approached by a member of his team. She was flirty and talked about all of her ex-husband's shortcomings, including in the bedroom, before finishing by saying that the worst thing he did was forget that she bought him that button camera.
* In ''Series/LoisAndClark'', a bad guy has tapped into Lois's eyes and ears, so he can see and hear everything and orders her to break up with Clark. She manages to scribble a note behind her back to warn him.
* While trying to round up the Cavendish Gang, ''Series/TheLoneRanger'' realizes that Cavendish only faked being knocked out. So, he bluffs him with a story of a cavalry detachment nearby, then reveals to his friends later, that he was faking so that Cavendish would be distracted while he came up with a plan to get the entire outfit.
* This was done in the season 3 finale of ''Series/TheMentalist'', to give one of the CBI employees who might be Red John's spies the room number of a person they were hiding. The person is actually somewhere else, and the room number is a trick to reveal who is Red John's spy.
* While posing as a spy couple in ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', Tony and Ziva have (simulated) sex because they know the room is being filmed.
* ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'':
** In "Hammer into Anvil", Number Six takes advantage of the fact that he's being watched to give the impression he's spying and sending secret messages, as part of a ParanoiaGambit to break a particularly nasty Number Two.
** In "It's Your Funeral", some of the prisoners (who call themselves "jammers") invent and circulate nonexistent conspiracies against the people who run the Village, forcing them to waste time and effort sifting through the chaff for any wheat that might exist.
* ''Series/ThePunisher2017'': Upon finding out that her office is bugged, Madani decides to feed the bug false information about a fictional sting where Frank Castle will buy guns from a dealer, in hopes of luring out the people who are targeting Frank. This prompts Billy Russo and a team of mercenaries to go to said warehouse. A deadly shootout ensues during which [[GoneHorriblyRight several of Madani's SWAT officers and her partner Sam Stein are killed]], as well as all of the mercenaries except Russo.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', Dr. Cox realizes that [[ButtMonkey Doug]] is listening to him and says to himself:
-->'''Dr. Cox:''' If this kid [Doug] doesn't leave I'm gonna kill him!\\
'''Doug:''' ... ''(begins to leave)''\\
'''Dr. Cox:''' ... Now, if you leave, I'm going to know that you were listening to me [[MortonsFork and I'm gonna go ahead and kill you anyway!]]
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': While in the diner waiting for a reporter who's going to do a story on Jerry, he and George notice a young woman eavesdropping on their conversation, so to mess with her they pretend to be gay for each other. It turns out that she's the reporter Jerry was waiting for, who then outs them in her school newspaper as gay. They try desperately to convince her that they're not gay -- NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat.
* ''Series/TheShield'':
** At one point, Vic realizes that a fellow officer is wearing a wire for IA. Vic then uses this to record himself "confessing" to the cop that he's not bad, he just actively cultivates a reputation as a corrupt and murderous cop to intimidate gangs and crooks into thinking he's a loose cannon.
** At one point the Strike Team realizes that their clubhouse has been bugged. They all laugh along loudly as Shane tells a long drawn out joke for the benefit of whomever's listening, while at the same time using paper and pen to plan how to move forward.
* In the climax of the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Deadly Years", due to having been rapidly aged by mysterious radiation and gone senile Kirk has stepped down from command and his incompetent replacement has led the ship through the Romulan Neutral Zone and the latter are about to destroy them. Suddenly a cure is found, a restored Kirk appears on the bridge and gives an order to relay a message to Starfleet... using a code previously established as having been broken by the Romulans, which briefly causes the crew to wonder if he's still senile. Nevertheless, they open the channels and Kirk sends a message that the ''Enterprise'' will self destruct via the [[CallBack Corbomite Device]] and destroy any ship in a huge radius. The Romulans intercept the message and leave.
* In one episode of ''Series/SueThomasFBEye'', the characters play football. The other team hides their mouths during huddles so Sue, who is deaf, cannot read their lips. On the final play, they let her see their lips, but call a fake play. She doesn't fall for the bluff.
* ''Series/WhiteCollar'': Fowler is tapping Peter's phone, so Peter pretends not to know that his cell phone is also bugged and uses it to call Neal so they can feed Fowler false information.
* In "Little Green Men" of ''Series/TheXFiles'', Scully is followed by two tacky spies. She ditches them off by calling Mulder's answering machine (other shadowy people occupy his apartment) and giving them wrong info about where she's heading.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* Used in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'' to make Beatrice and Benedick fall in love with each other.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', Liquid and Ocelot discuss their PAL codes and Snake's card key deactivating Metal Gear Rex, knowing that Snake is spying on them, to further fool Snake into unwillingly doing their bidding for them.
* A common strategy in the AsymmetricMultiplayer game ''VideoGame/SpyParty'' is for the spy player to utter the code phrase "banana bread" when far away from the DoubleAgent, hoping to throw the sniper player off of his/her trail.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' Zola plays up her false ditsy blonde persona and acts like her plans are much less complex and dangerous while walking in the parts of Castle Heterodyne that can listen in to her conversation with Gil. As soon as she's in a "dead zone" she drops part of the act and explains that she's got a device to kill the castle.
* Subverted in ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFoxHound'' when Gurlukovitch calls Ocelot on a cell phone to discuss their evil plan. Rather than bluff the people he knows are listening in, Ocelot ''flat out scolds Gurlukovitch by telling him exactly who is listening in on the other end''. Cue said eavesdroppers breaking silence to wonder how Ocelot does it while Ocelot rolls his eyes and Gurlukovitch listens in disbelief.
%%* In ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', Faye, Dora and Marten against the Vespavenger, starting [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=739 here]].
* ''Webcomic/{{XKCD}}'' [[http://xkcd.com/525/ #525]]:
-->Now and then, I announce "I know you're listening" to empty rooms. If I'm wrong, nobody knows, and if I'm right, maybe I just freaked the hell out of some secret organization.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'', the king tries to find out a famous chef's secret recipe by listening at the door, which the chef thwarts by reciting absolute nonsense instead of his ingredients. However, this does not thwart Cubbi, Sunni, and Tummi, who are hiding ''in'' the kitchen and can write down the actual steps he's taking.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan decides to stage a "disappearance" to see how quickly Francine would move on without him. When he gets back, he discovers that Francine had intentionally moved on as quickly as was plausible to get to him, remarking that it was suspicious that the house was full of {{Incredibly Obvious Bug}}s.
* From ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': a masterful example by [[TheDragon Azula]], when she has [[SugarAndIcePersonality Mai]] and [[PerkyFemaleMinion Ty Lee]] purposely reveal that they're Fire Nation in disguise... to the pair of Dai Li agents they knew were eavesdropping, overhead. She knew they'd ferry the news back to [[EvilChancellor Long Feng]], and knew he couldn't resist the opportunity to use it against her. So she wasn't surprised when those same agents brought her to his cell, where he coerces her into helping him under threat of exposing her to the Earth King. [[MagnificentBastard Azula]] "[[ObfuscatingStupidity reluctantly]]" agrees. It doesn't end well for Long Feng.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' centers around Dale attempting to sue the Manitoba Tobacco Company for "ruining Nancy's skin" with their cigarette smoke, [[ItMakesSenseInContext so he can use the money to get her some plastic surgery]]. They send him a singing placard fish that's bugged, in order to get proof against Dale's claim. Being the paranoid nut he is, Dale almost immediately recognizes the bug, and decides to counter-bluff them. Unfortunately, he does this in some of the saddest and most painful scenes in the series by acting as a total {{Jerkass}} towards her.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E16TheHiddenEnemy "The Hidden Enemy"]], while searching for a traitor in the base, Rex spots footprints indicating he's hiding in the vents above the ceiling and silently indicates them to Cody. The two officers then proceed to loudly discuss the traitor having apparently gone to the south exit, so Rex will therefore go over there as well, to lure the traitor out of the vent so they can catch him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The Finnish military bought equipment from the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Finns knew that their hotel rooms would be obviously bugged so while discussing in "private" they would mention X as absolutely definitely maximum agreeable price for a given item and like clockwork the next day Soviet negotiators would ask X+Y which would then be haggled to X.
* In the United States, it's a common practice among middle and highschoolers to post misleading updates about fake parties about to happen or are currently happening in order to intentionally mislead police tracking said Facebook or Twitter posts in the opposite direction of a real party, or just in a random direction for laughs. It's come to be called "Pied Pipering", at least in southern states. It's also common (and highly illegal) to "weaponize" police by posting fake concerns of nonexistent suspicious activity on fake accounts to send police or other authority figures to spy on the houses of people the poster doesn't like, in the same vein as "[=SWATting=]".
%%* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Army Ghost Army]] did this amazingly well during the Second World War.
* During World War 2, US Intelligence intercepted Japanese Navy communications about plans to attack a target but couldn't tell what the target was. They suspected it to be Midway Atoll, so they had the Midway base transmit a radio message that they were running low on water. Sure enough, Japanese communications were soon intercepted stating that the target was low on water, confirming that the Japanese intended to attack Midway.
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* Sasuke did this in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' by giving his teammates a long and complicated password that the real Naruto would never be able to remember. They get separated soon after, and when they next see Naruto, he gives the correct password, and Sasuke correctly assumes this Naruto is an impostor using Transformation Jutsu who had been eavesdropping earlier. (The best he expected from the real deal is Naruto only remembering that there ''was'' a password, especially if it was a long one... which was the point.)
* Combined with BluffingTheMurderer in ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'': On at least one occasion, Kindaichi stages a fight and pretends to go off alone in order to lure out the suspected killer.
* In an episode of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', the Major realizes that the Tachikomas are observing her meeting with Batou. She and Batou proceed to hold two conversations simultaneously: they speak audibly to mislead the Tachikomas, while using their neural implants to message each other wirelessly and say what they really mean.

** Roy does this for an undefined ammount of time, he's a well known ladies' man so he acts like he's talking to one of his girlfriends in his phone while in truth he is giving coded instructions to his underlings.
* Light did this with Kyomi Takada in ''Manga/DeathNote'': They were having one conversation for the benefit of the Task Force listening in, while secretly writing notes to each other containing the real conversation.
* Done rather humorously in an episode of ''Anime/SonicX'' with a bugged prison cell. Knuckles caught on and interrupted the conversation about the Chaos Emerald with one about food. The pair of them begin to lower their voices so the eavesdropper has to turn up the volume on his equipment to try hearing them better: only for Knuckles (having snuck quietly up to the microphone while this was happening) [[SuddenlyShouting immediately scream]] LEAK BUN! at the top of his lungs into the microphone to stun the guy on the receiving end.

* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''/''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' crossover [[https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-7866-6/Mandolin+New+Blood.htm New Blood]], Mike Corbett finds a listening device in the Sunnydale High library. He and the Scoobies then make all their plans in the hallway outside the library (or in Giles's house), and discuss fake plans in the library in order to throw the listeners off.

* Film/JamesBond:

* In ''{{Literature/Doom}}: Hell on Earth'', Fly and the squad meet some infiltrators posing as drug dealers and making zombie serum. The spies blast obnoxiously loud music and everybody talks about bands and drugs while holding the real discussion on notepads.
* Invoked in ''[[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan And The Manhunters]]''. Some priests pay a couple of guards to stand outside a prison window and discuss how the city's treasure is going to be stored in the basement of their new temple. Conan, a robber chief this round, is in that cell and manages to escape. [[spoiler:The priests needed magic present to begin the awakening, and there was no way Conan's band could move all the cash without a wizard's help.]] Complications ensue.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' book ''Literature/ColdDays'', Harry knows [[spoiler:Lara has placed bugs in Thomas' apartment]]. So when he calls up a contact, he speaks with a representative of the contact, warns them the line is bugged, and uses big words like "operative". Harry knows this will get her attention and send her to keep track of whomever Harry has contacted. [[spoiler:The bluff comes when Harry reveals he wants Lara to try and track Odin as he will spot them and this will tell him how the White Court does its surveillance now. This information is payment to him for agreeing to meet Harry at all]]. Harry then [[spoiler:blows out every electronic device in Thomas' apartment]], which really should have been a tip-off, but was awesome nonetheless.
** [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''Literature/SkinGame'' with [[spoiler: the possibility that Anduriel is listening and watching ''[[ParanoiaFuel at any time]]''. Harry has to do a book-long, solo version of this, which strains his interactions with his friends since he isn't telling them anything.]]
* The Literature/TommyAndTuppence book ''The Secret Adversary'' uses this with the character of Annette. [[spoiler: Annette is actually Jane Finn, pretending to have trauma-induced amnesia so she can't be forced to reveal the location of a set of secret documents. Part of her ruse is "forgetting" how to speak English and only using French; at one point, she realizes she's being spied on and starts crying and wailing in French so her kidnappers are convinced the amnesia is real.]]
* Creator/PennAndTeller's book ''Cruel Tricks For Dear Friends'' includes a sample letter to put on your laptop and pull up when a nosy neighbor reads over your shoulder. It makes it look like you're writing a letter about how you just got out of prison for killing someone who annoyed you by reading over your shoulder, and how you wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
* Taken to LogicalExtreme in "A Private Eye", short SF story, as it takes place in the future where ''your entire life'' is being constantly taped.
* ''Literature/KeasFlight'': When Kea and Draz are communicating [[TalkingThroughTechnique through chess]], they make sure to have some vocal conversation and make a few meaningless moves so no one will get suspicious.
* In Christopher Anvil's short story ''The Plateau'', the invading aliens have no concept of fiction. Aware that they will probably be eavesdropped on in their cell, two captured earthmen have a conversation that plants the idea that [[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars The Warlord]] is real. This leads to a snowball effect, as they are already under the impression that [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Shurlok]] is real.
* ''Literature/TheLawOfInnocence'': In one scene Mickey decides to test whether or not the guards are listening to his prison phone calls, by having a fake conversation with Jennifer about fleeing to Baja. When the prosecutor brings this up in court, Mickey nails her.
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': During the Dark Days, the Capitol created a species of genetically engineered birds called jabberjays to spy on the rebels, listen to their conversations, and repeat them to the Capitol's command centers. When the rebels found out, they staged fake conversations for the jabberjays to take back to the Capitol, which led to the program being shut down and the birds being abandoned to die off in the wild.

* In ''Defending Elysium'' by Creator/BrandonSanderson, one of the protagonists (Jason) is being spied upon by the other (Coln), including taping into his conversations with [[MissionControl Lanna]]. Jason and Lanna deal with this by speaking in code, switching to another channel (giving the eavesdropper a prerecorded conversation on irrelevant things) and finally let the guy know they're on to him and just cut him off.

* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': While in the diner waiting for a reporter who's going to do a story on Jerry, he and George notice a young woman eavesdropping on their conversation, so to mess with her they pretend to be gay for each other. It turns out that she's the reporter Jerry was waiting for, who then outs them in her school newspaper as gay. They try desparately to convince her that they're not gay -- NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat.

* PlayedWith in an episode of ''Series/BabylonFive''. Londo discovers a listening device in a bag of groceries from a Drazi grocer. He spends a few moments saying several insulting things about the Drazi ambassador's wife under the pretense of not knowing he was being recorded, before "accidentally" dropping and smashing the bug.

* In one of the ''Literature/{{Foreigner}}'' novels, protagonist Bren is in a situation where, to communicate with the alien ''atevi'', he must use the communications systems of a group of humans who are not only eavesdropping on him, but blocking the transmission of anything they don't like. To get around this he sends a message comparing his situation to a scenario in a particular genre of ''atevi'' popular culture, a comparison which seems innocuous to the human eavesdroppers but which clearly explains exactly how much trouble he's in to any ''atevi''.

** Taken UpToEleven and mildly [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''Literature/SkinGame'' with [[spoiler: the possibility that Anduriel is listening and watching ''[[ParanoiaFuel at any time]]''. Harry has to do a book-long, solo version of this, which strains his interactions with his friends since he isn't telling them anything.]]

* In the ''Literature/ArabianNights'' story "The Prince and the Tortoise", the prince's tortoise wife and her soon-to-be sisters-in-law have to prepare meals for the sultan at their wedding feast. One of the sisters-in-law is not very good at cooking, so when she hears the prince boast that his wife is a SupremeChef, she hides behind a tapestry in the tortoise's room to learn her secret. The tortoise notices her and exclaims, "Oh, I hope I have enough rat and pigeon droppings for my dish at the wedding!" At the wedding feast, the sister-in-law's dish is a disgusting mess of droppings while the tortoise's dish is delicious (and dropping-free).

* ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'': While Zonker is being kept in a hotel awaiting trial for possession of marijuana, Mike finds a bug under a lamp. The two start ''very'' obviously acting, talking about [[BlatantLies how completely sober Zonker is]] in order to tip off the prosecutors that yes, they know there's a bug in the room. It gets the case thrown out of court.

* ''Series/LeBureauDesLegendes'': After a bug is found in Dr. Balmes's office, she and Malotru conduct a legitimate therapy session, which results in the listener ceasing to monitor them.