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Seems like doing this with a rooted phone would be even sneakier. You've got everything you need built in: battery, modem, etc. When it eventually does get opened, the mailroom person is going to think "oh someone ordered a phone" instead of "holy shit, this bunch of wires and circuit boards is maybe a bomb and definitely something I should tell the police about".

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The really nasty one is compromising the return supply chain. Many (especially unopened) returned electronic devices go right back into the supply chain. For many retailers it's literally a free attack to carry out, with the only downside being you don't get to pick your target (although you can probably get ok odds on a target population).

IDK. If they put it in a stuffed animal like the pic in the article, how many would rip it open to see what's inside?

But what is more suspicious - a phone nobody ordered or (in the worst case of discovery) a stuffed animal nobody ordered with custom electronics in it?

Just disguise your electronics to look like a voice box. Heck, you could even make it functional; microphone, speaker, and a tiny bit of software would make a convincing toy.

The Furby scare is back!

How likely are they to rip open a stuffed animal and find the electronics? Depends on the security level, and the weight.

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