Apple AirTags reportedly being used to stalk women — what to do
Apple tree AirTags reportedly being used to stalk women — what to practice
More tales are surfacing online about the Apple tree AirTag being used to track cars, or even stalk women, in nefarious ways.
"Someone fastened an Apple AirTag to the underside of my forepart bicycle well while I was inside a bar," wrote Baltimore-area Twitter user @Sega__JEANAsis over the weekend in a tweetstorm that was widely forwarded.
The Twitter user, who besides uses the proper noun Jaz Due west. online, said the incident took place early Saturday forenoon (Dec. 18) and was "kinda terrifying." She said she started getting alerts on her iPhone as she collection abroad from the bar that an AirTag was found moving with her — even with no other cars on the road.
Hi friends. So something kinda terrifying happened to me terminal night—someone fastened an Apple tree AirTag to the underside of my forepart wheel well while I was inside a bar. (1/iii)December 18, 2021
"I checked all my things, like my purse, my trench glaze pockets, my wallet — couldn't detect anything," @Sega__JEANAsis wrote. "While I was comatose I had someone shut to me bank check my car and they found it stuck on the underside of my front passenger wheel well."
"It bothers me cause no matter how *safe* women endeavour to be," she added, "information technology doesn't matter if someone truly wishes to impairment you."
It wasn't clear if the person who put the AirTag on @Sega__JEANAsis's auto intended to follow her or her car. Recent reports have come up from Toronto, Detroit and Houston of car thieves using AirTags to follow prospective vehicles from public places to locations where they can be more than easily stolen.
@Sega__JEANAsis admitted that "they def could accept just wanted my auto, it's slightly on the higher stop side but nada crazy."
"I similar to think this is the reality instead of them physically wanting me for God knows what," she added.
(Fifty-fifty more reports of AirTag stalking were reported in late December 2021 and early January 2022, although in virtually of these incidents, local law took the reports very seriously. Then modified AirTags with their speakers removed then they wouldn't beep turned upward for sale online.)
Many more such incidents
This isn't the only such incident to be reported in recent months. A Jonesboro, Arkansas, woman, who wanted to remain bearding, institute an AirTag taped her machine's body later she shopped for a Christmas tree in November, according to Television station KAIT-TV.
California resident @_ashleyscarlett, identified by InTheKnow equally Ashley Estrada, said on TikTok Sept. 13 that she had found an AirTag wedged backside her car'south license plate soon after she drove from her home in the Inland Empire into Los Angeles.
In a follow-up video, Estrada mentioned that her car was a Contrivance, and her clips seem to show a Dodge Charger, the same model that seems to be sought by Detroit-area automobile thieves.
@_ashleyscarlett Respond to @ann_baby7 ##greenscreen ##greenscreenvideo I volition be contacting @apple tree with the air tags info merely never in a million years did I think! ðŸ˜
♬ original sound - ash 💕
Estrada said that when she reported the incident to police, they dismissed it every bit a "non-life-threatening situation" — no relief to Estrada, who chosen the incident "super scary." Estrada said she planned to contact Apple straight.
Another TikTok user, @kimbreezeh, said in a video posted Sept. 20 that when she told police that there seemed to be a rogue AirTag subconscious on her machine, they also told her they could non have her written report because nothing illegal was going on.
@kimbreezeh This is definitely the scariest affair thats happened to me 🥴 ##fypシ ##fyp ##stalker ##airtag ##airtagsapple ##staysafeeveryone ##ThatCloseMessenger
♬ original sound - Kimbrreezeh
"I'm to call them when someone shows up," she said in her video. "That's when they can help me."
TikTok user @murasakisweetpotatoes had meliorate luck with her local police department, co-ordinate to a video posted June 11. She too found an AirTag under the license plate of the motorcar that she'd been driving, and then wrote down the series number and reported information technology to law.
@murasakisweetpotatoes and for my birthday i have received One Stalker! merely actually not funny pls be enlightened this can happen ##appleairtags ##stalker
♬ original sound - shelb
Apple can, in theory, link that series number to the device's owner, then someone might be getting an unwelcome call from the cops.
Once more, most of these incidents could be interpreted as setups for car theft as well as possible stalking. There's much less ambiguity with TikTok user @angel.edge95, who on Nov. 21 posted a video saying that a rogue AirTag had followed her on a flight from Austin, Texas to Boston.
@angel.edge95 ##greenscreen ⚠️share this with your loved ones ⚠️ ##ASOSChaoticToCalm ##traffickingawarenes ##airtag
♬ original sound - biker baddie ✨
She too went to local police, who institute an AirTag taped to the inside of 1 of the bags she'd checked on the airplane, @affections.edge95 said in a follow-up video.
It's not articulate what has happened with the cases that the police force accept taken seriously. We've reached out to Apple with questions about how many incidents of possible AirTag stalking the company has received, and we will update this story when we receive a reply.
What to do if an AirTag is tracking yous
If your iPhone tells you that an AirTag has been "institute moving with yous," accept the alert seriously. If y'all're driving, check the outside of your car for places where an AirTag might be subconscious — nether the bumpers, inside the bicycle wells, backside a license plate, even inside the gas-cap door or trailer hitch attachment.
If you're not driving, and so check your coat pockets and the bags you're carrying. AirTags are supposed to get-go chirping if they've been separated from their paired iPhones for viii to 24 hours, but the chirps might not exist aural from inside a moving vehicle or if the AirTag is muffled by wear.
(In February 2022, Apple said it would make the chirps more than aural, sync them with notifications sent to iPhones and allow iPhone owners apply Precision Finding to locate rogue AirTags.)
There'southward a lot of concern that Android users won't receive such notifications. Apple terminal calendar week released an Android app called Device Tracker that does observe rogue AirTags, just the take hold of is that scans must be initiated manually. If you're truly worried about stalking, you might take to run such scans several times a solar day.
A better option might exist an Android app called AirGuard, adult by researchers at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Federal republic of germany. It automatically scans for AirTags and other Apple tree Find My devices that seem to be moving with you.
We can't vouch for the legitimacy of the AirGuard app, and it does enquire for a lot of permissions when y'all install it, including precise GPS location, access to Bluetooth, total network access, and the abilities to disable battery optimization and prevent an Android device from sleeping.
Simply AirGuard's source lawmaking is posted on GitHub for anyone to review, and the same squad of researchers have adult other AirTag-related tools in the by several months.
If you practice notice the rogue AirTag in your wear or belongings, or on your machine, exercise not throw out or destroy the AirTag. Instead, disable it by removing the battery — push down on the AirTag's front, twist it counterclockwise and open upward the unit of measurement. Write downwards the AirTag's serial number and report the incident to your local police department and Apple itself.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/airtag-stalking-incidents
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