They lie, cheat, and steal for everyone to hear. They have real live phone sex that makes reading the Penthouse Forum seem like Garfield cartoons. I was once involved in a court case involving my family and a governmental agency. One day an envelope was delivered to my house with a cassette tape in it. The scanner buff involved had accidentally stumbled across the conversation and was alert enough to realize what being said and to record it.
Cell phones are fairly easy to listen in on, but can sometimes present technical problems.
None of these problems is insurmountable. With practice and the right gear, specific cell phones can be specifically targeted and scanned. It is way better than daytime soaps. And best of all there are no codes to learn because people just gab and blab in plain language. Close to the cordless phones in both frequency and voyeuristic kick are baby monitors.