Here's a local story about a stalker using an Air Tag.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/suspect-uses-apple-airtag-to-stalk-victim-in-montco-police-say/3110058/

It's a big problem where we live. People are tagging cars they are interested in at shopping centers or such, then locating the cars at night and stealing either the car or parts from them. Catalytic converter theft is huge around here right now (probably the rest of the country too?).

It is a real problem, and has huge potential for serious misuse. At least Apple gives you the warning, which is better than not knowing at all.

Just go to your local cop station and ask them to check out your car. They shall find the Airtag attached to your car.

I was just going to post but sushipup beat me to it. I heard this on the radio as I was driving today ( I am in the Philly area as well) and I remembered seeing this post yesterday.)

How can police (or anyone else) find an Airtag attached to a car? If there isn't a quick and easy electronic device to do this, I don't imagine there is any way on God's green earth my city police are going to search for an Airtag for me.

They did it for a local woman. She posted on Nextdoor app.

@matthias_lang, from the article link posted by @juneroses Z9a Cntrl Fl

“The first is if you’ve got an updated iOS device and it recognizes an AirTag that doesn’t belong to you, you’ll receive a notification telling you as much. From there, you can see how long it’s been with you, and the route it’s tracked.

From the notification, you’ll be able to disable the AirTag so that it can no longer track your location. You should also contact your local police department if you suspect you’re being tracked.

AirTags will start playing noises randomly between 8 to 12 hours after they are separated from their owner. Apple would originally only allow the AirTags to start making noise after three days, but cut it down over concerns about misuse.

If you receive a notification on your iOS device about AirTag, you can also make it play a noise to better help you find it.”

I’m guessing the PD could track the AirTag’s noise once activated and take the report.

Just to show you what I’m talking about. You see the device tracking down Rt 17 in NJ for just a short while. Then there’s just a straight line to my house (which I’ve cut off) where it says “last seen at 11:14pm” which is the time I got home. That straigt line is not indicative of my route through Fort Lee and over some bridges to Long Island. If it hadn’t been for that final timestamp I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, maybe just next to someone on Rt 17 for a while. But it’s got me at home. Neither of the links at the bottom did anything, just a message that it’s unable to connect to the server.

My best guess is it’s a false alarm. But it’s weird.

Do you think it might be a phishing scam?

If an iPhone owner does not have their Bluetooth or location on will it still notify them should they be in the vicinity of an alien tag?

The video with the news article that was linked said to call 911. I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s not exactly an emergency.

I'm sorry for anyone who is upset or fears for their safety. I hope any issues are promptly resolved.

I must be missing something. Most people's home addresses are easy to find. If there's someone or something in your life that makes you fearful about your location being known, unless it's a rare case of an anonymous stalker, any person wanting to know where you are or where you could be found could likely do so with little trouble, without use of a tracking device. If a random person is after your car, leave nothing of value in it (always a good practice anyway), make sure your insurance is current, and then relax.

One explanation that strikes me immediately is that a person's iPhone, with Bluetooth turned on, could be sending out signals received by passing devices that are misinterpreted. Try turning off Bluetooth and see if the messages continue.

You are indeed missing something, Elmer. The anonymous stalker now has a tool and this is it. I have heard that most of the time it's a possible property crime than crime against the person. The bad guy sees your car in the Safeway parking lot, and knows that it has a particular catalytic converter. So rather than try to steal it in the parking lot (which is done often enough) or just driving thru neighborhoods looking for your make and model, he tags your car, follows you home, then comes back at night to make the theft. It's real.

It also shows your location, not just your home address........while people's addresses may be easy to find (or not), the issue isn't that someone could find your home address, the issue is that people could find you even if you're not at home. That could be a big concern for people in domestic abuse situations, and there are more of those than we'd like to believe (millions in the US). Nobody with a controlling partner wants to be secretly tagged with a device that would allow someone to always know where they are.

The air tag is about the size of a quarter (thicker though). They have been used to track unsuspecting people. They are easy to slip into a coat pocket or purse. The can also be fastened to solid objects with the correct tape/glue.

The local case that I am aware of is that of a college age woman who had a knock on her door late one night. Luckily, she had roommates who answered the door. The guy couldn’t tell them the name of his ’ friend’ he said he was there to visit. After he was turned away from the door, they watched him as he went to the woman’s car (which was parked in front of her duplex) and removed something from her wheel well. Police were called, they caught the guy. This happened months ago before Apple started sending notifications to those being tracked.

Air Tag

sushipup, for decades the insurance companies have published stats of the most stolen cars and you can be sure they also keep track of the most stolen catalytic converters.

The people who do these things have been doing so for ages and long before these digital tag devices have been available. People looking for particular models for particular reasons can easily find what they're looking for by driving around, as they always have. This is nothing new, I don't think I'm missing anything.

For those who want to worry less about such things, the way to avoid having your car become a target for an evil-doer is this way - before buying your next car, call your insurance agent and ask which cars (of the category that interests you) are least frequently stolen in your area. Get one and you'll free up time to spend worrying about more important things.

The video with the news article that was linked said to call 911. I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s not exactly an emergency.

Wouldn't the danger level depend on how close the tracker was at the moment, and why the air tag was placed? I agree that a planned property crime might not be an emergency, but a domestic abuse situation might be.

Regardless the reasons, apparently people ARE finding it useful to track people or cars with these devoces, and it IS happening enough and raising enough concern that Apple is spending money to try to address it.

I wouldn’t need to turn off bluetooth to stop notifications. Bluetooth turns back on automatically anyway and besides there’s a setting to turn off such alerts. I can’t imagine why anyone would opt not to know they’re being tracked but each to their own.

My original point of posting was because I’m not convinced my alert was correct, and I wondered if anyone else here has experienced this. I guess not.

"Blutooth turns back on automatically anyway"

My suggestion to turn off Bluetooth was to see if maybe that was the source of a bogus "tracking" signal. Try it and see.

Bluetooth can be turned permanently off on an iPhone (no automatic restart) by going to Settings, Bluetooth, Off. Then, restarted anytime at the user's option at the same place.

Apple is spending money to address the concern because otherwise, a product they spent a lot of money on to develop and bring to market and are earning a lot of money from selling, will go away.

If your car is identified in a public place, like a shopping center parking lot, you and its overnight location can be determined by driving behind and following you home. Does anyone pay attention to that?

The intent of my comments was to try to calm what seemed to be overreactions and unwarranted concern, not to be a horse's back end. If there's someone in one's life who might do such a thing, their identities are known and other devices are available to do the same thing that don't send out broad messages to the person concerned . When active imaginations can be a cause to generate fear, sometimes a timeout for clear thinking can help. Sure, it may be all kinds of things. Or nothing, a software bug. What's most likely?

About calling 911. In our little community of 20,000 people, we are told to call 911 to report any crimes. The police station office phones aren't answered except for usual business hours. Things are changing and this is becoming a more common way to report crimes in many small communities.

Elmer, I get what you’re saying, people freak out about remote threats. I wouldn’t think most people should have any unnatural fear of being tracked or stalked. But if it does happen, it can be concerning. Was my case software bug? I don’t know. The trail starts about four hours into a five and a half hour drive, and ends with a ping at home. Coincidentally shows starting within a mile or two of the one quick stop we made. I figured if it were a bug then when I asked here at least one person would have experienced similar, or known of someone who did. That’s usually the case here. Maybe if it happens to someone else they’ll take comfort in knowing it happened to me and it doesn’t seem to be anything of concern.

ETA - Just thought of something: In case it was unclear, the subject line of this thread was referring to a tracking warning I got, not me warning people about tracking devices.

And i get what you're saying too. I'm putting money on it being a misunderstood Bluetooth signal from your phone other phones "heard" ,

Elmer, say it wasn't a misunderstood BT signal but surreptitious tracking as fos was alerted to and as articles posted by sushipup, madidelee, Apple, et al have all mentioned. And, that message came to you or a family member. What would be your thoughts then?

Fair question. My answer is - I think my prior comments, however inarticulately expressed, sum up my take on this. There are ways to apply any number of otherwise useful products and put them to use for nefarious purposes. I can't imagine this to be a major problem.

The "reporting", such as it is, comes from a number of anecdotal incidents. Media reporters often misunderstand and/or don't get a complete picture of a "story", or all the facts straight, when producing their pieces. I thought the Bluetooth suggestion I came up with was an interesting first take as a possibility but without knowing all of the other things Apple may have built into iPhones to do or the wrinkles in the ad hoc network processing Apple set up to locate AirTags, the possibilities are limited only by one's imagination.

I believe without reservation foodonastump's account of what he saw on his iPhone. I believe his description but not his explanation. That there have been some number of people who've been the target of AirTag misuse is neither surprising nor concerning to me. As I said before, there's a small number of people in our country who are victims of random or known stalkers, the misuse of AirTags doesn't enable a new capability that can't be done in other ways.

“I believe without reservation foodonastump's account of what he saw on his iPhone. I believe his description but not his explanation.”

Curious, what’s my explanation? I wasn’t aware that I had one. I was by the mall today so I stopped by the Apple store. A couple techs huddled around my phone and had no idea, saying they’d never seen this before. Like me, the section where I was ”traveling near” did not look odd to them, but the final timestamp at home did. They suggested I call Apple to see if they could figure anything out. I’m slowly losing interest so I’m not sure if I will.

Inside Edition ran a segment about this on their show last night . I came across it by accident after finishing a program I’d recorded and my TV happened to be on this station.

My SO and I were traveling together in the car. I could actually see his phone, he has a dash mount. We both have iPhones. FWIW we have separate plans and Apple has no clue we are related. (Actually, strike that - Apple probably knows everything there is to know about us...ha...)

Out of nowhere, my phone sent me a ping that SO had just enabled "share my location" with me. Except that he didn't - we'd been driving for some time and he'd been no where near his phone.

It was weird. It got even weirder when a few days later I got another ping that he had disabled share my location with me...and again, he swears he was nowhere near his phone and hadn't touched this feature.

What happened? I have no clue. Gremlins.

"Curious, what’s my explanation?"

What you said was:

"the phone is warning you that you’re being tracked by another device"

"It was weird. It got even weirder when a few days later I got another ping that he had disabled share my location with me...and again, he swears he was nowhere near his phone and hadn't touched this feature.

What happened?"

Put your money on this being another manifestation of software bugs.

One way to describe how avoid an assessment miscue is this advice: "When you hear the sound of running hooves, expect to see horses, not zebras.". Said another way, the simplest explanation has the greatest likelihood of being the correct one.

Apparently, hundreds or thousands (or more) of devices are getting curious messages. The likeliest explanation (in my view) is that Apple's device OS and network systems are malfunctioning, not that those hundreds or thousands (or more) of people are suddenly being tracked. I could be wrong.

Gremlins is the Patrice-Approved Terminology for software bugs.

I'll send you the decoder ring for P.A.T-speak. :)

I was hoping my tracking-related gremlin example would make FOAS feel better, because I too suspect what happened to them was a bug.

Yes. My comment was for others.

“What you said was:

’the phone is warning you that you’re being tracked by another device’”

Imprecise wording on my part. It did not say I was being tracked. It said that items were detected with me and that ”These are items that aren't yours, but have been seen with you for a continuous amount of time.”

Regardless, I have no explanation for why I got such a message.

I called Apple. Screen-shared with rep, said she gets a lot of calls about these notifications but hasn’t seen one quite like mine before. She went to talk to someone about it and came back to say they won’t look into it further because I’m not on the latest software. (I got this phone three weeks ago and got my first update notification today.) Mystery will not be solved!

Maybe that's the issue?

Apple has a reputation of releasing software that's not backward compatible. Meaning, when different pieces of software from different sources or for different purposes need to interact, new releases can often refuse to play nice with older code they're otherwise supposed to work with. We had a 5-year-old otherwise functioning iPad get turned into a paperweight by Apple's practices - the iPad got locked out of the App store because it had an older OS that wouldn't be upgraded. This. prevented the iPad from accessing updates or even new apps we wanted to have. Even installed apps stopped working, because as with something like Netflix, when trying to connect, Netflix would send a message "you need to upgrade your app version". Except, the App Store wouldn't allow us to do so. The iPad became useless.

I contrast that with the PC I'm using right now that has a legal copy of Microsoft Office 2007 installed. It works just fine, although it was released for what existed about 5 versions of Windows ago, Windows XP. This PC is about a year old, has Windows 10 on it, and as I've done for the few PCs I've had since 2007, I uninstall Office 2007 from the one being replaced, install it on the new one, and continue to use it. Not possible with Apple products.

On Inside Edition, they showed that some people who got that message on their Iphone, found a tracker had been placed on their car. I found the clip on YouTube if anyone wants to watch it themselves.

Just watched a a segment on cbs morning show regarding this very thing. It is really scary. These tags are very small and can be placed just about anywhere especially on your car since the tags are magnetic. The advice they gave is to never drive to your home or workplace if you get a warning on your phone that you are being tracked. They advise to drive to a police station and tell them you are being tracked. The bottom line is there is not much you can do if you can't locate the tag. Some trackers are actually turning the tags off and on. What a bad situation.

Link to CBS segment:

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/how-apple-airtags-are-being-used-to-stalk-people/

Apple product or not you can easily detect apple AirTags with an app released by Apple for Android phones and tablets.

tracker detect

If you're still using a flip phone chances are slim a thief would waste an Airtag to steel your 2005 buick or 2012 Toyota.

Why would you assume someone driving an older car would be using a flip phone?

why do you care what I assume or did something strike a nerve? A flip phone is meant to identify with inexpensive and would suggest you haven't the financial means to afford the types of vehicles targeted by organized criminals.

"A flip phone is meant to identify with inexpensive"

To me, a flip phone signifies fear of new technology, not cost.

“Apple product or not you can easily detect apple AirTags with an app released by Apple for Android phones and tablets.”

I wouldn’t say ”easily” as you have to actively scan. Unlike the iphone which is constantly passively scanning. It would take a certain amount of paranoia to regularly scan your surroundings.

"To me, a flip phone signifies fear of new technology, not cost."

Tell that to the 90 year old oldster in my family who has limited vision, arthritic hands, and uses her flip phone with large numbers only to make and receive phone calls. The world is wider than your limited perspectives may show.

DH has a flip phone. When his last phone died, he got another flip phone. He literally only uses it for phone calls. He said he likes that he can fold it and put it in his front pocket and it's pretty indestructible.

"Tell that to the 90 year old oldster in my family who has limited vision, arthritic hands, and uses her flip phone with large numbers only to make and receive phone calls. The world is wider than your limited perspectives may show."

Huh? You act as if your experience with 1 person should make me change my opinion. It doesn't - that's still what flip phones signify to me. There are probably more accommodations for those with limited vision on a touch screen than on a flip phone anyway, without a cover to flip open with those arthritic fingers.

Some of you seem stuck in the past.

https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-z-flip3-5g/

https://www.creativebloq.com/buying-guides/best-flip-phones

https://www.bestproducts.com/tech/electronics/g2938/best-flip-phones/

I’d agree with a phone with buttons for someone with dexterity issues. I’m far less likely to misdial on my land line handset than on my iphone, and the number pad is slightly smaller. And just touching the phone doesn’t cause things to go nuts.

Until the newer Samsungs came out, to me ”flip phone“ was definitely synonymous with a cheap phone, regardless of the reason for having one.

Nonsense ignored.

"The world is wider than your limited perspectives may show." My perspective isn't founded on the superficial isolation of houzz commentators and comes more from reality of the real world and the purchasing power of Lower socioeconomic people.

About 29% of those who are retired have no savings and live on an average income of $1500 per month from social security. Odds are many are driving the car they retired with or a lower valued used car and possibly some are on a government cell plan like lifeline.

22% of people make less than $25,000 a year and 49% makes less than $50,000 a year. These people would be less likely to have or even qualify for the vehicles sought after by organized auto thieves. Some may have expensive phones but none will have both and most living on a tight budget would be more inclined to purchase a less expensive phone, but not always. Then you have people who qualify for free government phones like Alcatel Dawn, Kyocrea Hydro Reach and ZTE Prestige 2, not exactly top of the line and won't have a U chip. people with these phones exist.

These people I mentioned above may not be in your family or circle of friends but they exist and they're not driving new Denali Yukons or Tesla models x vehicles. Referencing an example of an uncle or brother with a low value phone but of higher socioeconomic status is from a perspective they can't see beyond their nose through rose colored glasses.