AirTag put on my Bronco to track me

[Lcubed]

If Remington and Colt can be held liable for misuse of their products, why not Apple?

the airTag did exactly want was advertised and alerted you that you were being tracked by an AirTag that wasn't yours.

the equivalent Tile and other devices would have left you totally ignorant of the tracking.

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[Thr33Thr33]

Not an Apple guy so this might be a stupid question. But what happens if the user had an Android phone? Would there be no way for it to be detected still? Or would they never know where its at because the users phone wasn't an Apple?

 

[Carolina Jim]

the airTag did exactly want was advertised and alerted you that you were being tracked by an AirTag that wasn't yours.

I don't even use a smart phone...just how would it have alerted me?

 

[_brand13_]

the airTag did exactly want was advertised and alerted you that you were being tracked by an AirTag that wasn't yours.

the equivalent Tile and other devices would have left you totally ignorant of the tracking.

Yep, just sucks that it's being used for bad. A close friend had just sent me one of the TikTok's a few days before and I have 2 teens so as soon as I saw the alert, we immediately knew what was going on. My husband got a quick lesson in it all, along with one of the two officers.

 

[Lcubed]

I don't even use a smart phone...just how would it have alerted me?

brandi was definitely part of the targeted demographic. i'm pretty sure the airTags will issue no warning if you're using a landline!

maybe you need a 'friend' with a smart phone as a rider

 

[_brand13_]

Not an Apple guy so this might be a stupid question. But what happens if the user had an Android phone? Would there be no way for it to be detected still? Or would they never know where its at because the users phone wasn't an Apple?

this may be able to help you:

If anyone has more info, please share.

 

[Gritty]

Scary stuff, Thank you for sharing! I need to let my daughter know about this.

 

[Carolina Jim]

i'm pretty sure the airTags will issue no warning if you're using a landline!

Apple's defense would be like Remington/Colt saying..."but you should'a worn a kevlar vest!"

 

[_brand13_]

I don't even use a smart phone...just how would it have alerted me?

Here is some info:

According to Apple, an AirTag that is not close to the user who registered it for an extended period of time also will play a sound when moved, to alert anyone nearby and thus be able to be found more easily, even if that person does not have an Apple device.

The company has confirmed that the period of time that must elapse before the movement alert is activated is initially three days. It has also reported that after a trial period, said waiting time may vary, depending on the "feedback" of the first users.

So if someone close to you hears the AirTag beep, it will get their attention and they can be located. Once found, you can use any device that has NFC, such as an iPhone or Android phone, to see if its owner marked it as lost and see the owner's contact information if it was configured in his day.

 

[_brand13_]

Here is some info:

According to Apple, an AirTag that is not close to the user who registered it for an extended period of time also will play a sound when moved, to alert anyone nearby and thus be able to be found more easily, even if that person does not have an Apple device.

The company has confirmed that the period of time that must elapse before the movement alert is activated is initially three days. It has also reported that after a trial period, said waiting time may vary, depending on the "feedback" of the first users.

So if someone close to you hears the AirTag beep, it will get their attention and they can be located. Once found, you can use any device that has NFC, such as an iPhone or Android phone, to see if its owner marked it as lost and see the owner's contact information if it was configured in his day.

And here is what the sound is:

 

[Murph914]

Seems to me if I bought one and put it say, in a camera bag, the jerk that stole it would get all kinds of warnings there was a tag and would toss it. Or wait till it played a noise and tossed it.

 

[Lcubed]

Seems to me if I bought one and put it say, in a camera bag, the jerk that stole it would get all kinds of warnings there was a tag and would toss it. Or wait till it played a noise and tossed it.

dump the bag when the cops show up at the front door!

 

[Cat]

I don’t get on here as often as I would like to, so if there is any delay in responding, please accept my apologies. I’ll try and keep up through email notifications.

As this could affect a lot of us here, I wanted to make you all aware:

Some of you may be aware of the recent AirTag situation where people are using them to track others.

After leaving an industry gala Thursday evening, I was driving. While driving, I don’t answer my phone unless an alert goes through Apple CarPlay, but I have my phone on Do Not Disturb from 9pm to 8am, so all alerts were silent.
May be worth mentioning, at the event, we parked in the hotel’s parking garage.
I got home, went into the kitchen and placed my handbag and phone on the counter when I noticed an alert (you’ll see photos on this post, the alert I received was from the Find My iPhone app stating “Unknown Accessory Detected Near You.”)
When I clicked on the alert, it showed that a portion of our route home was tracked, the red circles in the other photo indicating where my location update was seen. The alerts stopped at the entrance to our neighborhood.
We checked our clothes, my bag, shoes, and everywhere outside and inside of the Bronco that we could.

As the app suggested, we called our local PD, and two officers came by and started a case and also helped us search the Bronco. One of the officers also worked for Verizon, our provider, and instructed that we go to Verizon or contact Apple.

We downloaded an app called BLE Scanner 4.0 to see if any devices near the Bronco was trying to emit a Bluetooth signal.
My husband even went to the last location on the tracking map to see if he could find an AirTag but could not (it’s a busy area so we assume it was run over and destroyed, or ricocheted somewhere).

Do note that the owner of the AirTag can be retrieved through Apple by request of police (this is why it’s important to have a case number with the police and either Apple or your cell phone provider if you’re not an Apple owner) if you found it and have it in your possession.

I don’t have Android so I can’t speak on specifics of the steps needed to locate or report an AirTag with Apple if you have one.

These devices have been used to track people and vehicles, and I assume my Bronco was targeted as a two door hard top isn’t common at the moment, they don’t want my old ass.

I’ve been in contact with a local reporter that is calling me on Wednesday for one of her investigative reports.

Here is what Apple sent to me if you get a notification that an AirTag is found near you and what to give to police:

What to do if you find an AirTag or get an alert that an AirTag is with you https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212227
The law enforcement information they need to work with Apple is located at: https://www.apple.com/legal/transparency/government-information.html

I’ve included photos of both the alert I received from Find My IPhone, the map that tracked me, and links to recent TikToks that I received and saw recently about this.



Stay safe folks. Apple needs to get this under control. While I was talking to the first rep, during our call, the reports and comments on their site about this went from 34 to 98. It’s clearly an issue.

I’m a bit shaken up by this, obviously.

Also, you’ll see an option to disable it, but you cannot do this unless you have it.

Wow! Brandi!! This is scary indeed. Thank you so much for posting this.

 

[Cat]

we were at an event in the Galleria area. It started tracking me while I was on I-10 near IKEA and then pinged me again by the Beltway, then fell off the vehicle before I got to my neighborhood.

Thank goodness it fell off before you got home. You are unnerved as it is.

 

[Delight]

Hum.
I am very familiar with using AirTags and yes, using them to follow people is a real issue and the cautions mentioned are valid.

But being ever so suspicious of anything...as I was reading through this thread I noted the Scanner app was only mentioned in the first post....then bang...mentioned again in the next post I read.

Hum.

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