"Mining HNT is done by installing a simple device on your home or office window," Helium wrote on their website, adding these "hotspots provide miles of wireless network coverage for millions of devices around you using Helium LongFi, and you are rewarded in HNT for doing this. And because of an innovative proof-of-work model (we call it "Proof-of-Coverage"), your Hotspot only uses 5W of energy."

There's no confirmation Helium hotspots are the devices being found by officials, but speculation indeed points to that.