AirTag owner in car thief, iPhone gets notified and escapes difficulty – Get the Japanese version

It is reported that Apple’s AirTag drop tracker was attached to the car and was targeted by a car thief.

John Nelson, who lives in Michigan, USA, visited a local shopping center and spent about two hours. After leaving his 2018 Dodge Charger, he said he told him that his iPhone had been “tracked by an unknown AirTag.”

When you tap on the notification, the iPhone offers the option to AirTag to make a sound. This is one of the safety measures that Apple has set up to find suspicious AirTags around you. Mr. Nelson followed the sound and found the AirTag under the drain cover in the trunk. At this time, the car thief removed the cover and put it in the AirTag.

Nelson also told local media that the car thief’s goal was to “scrape the car and remove its parts.”

The Michigan Auto Theft Action Headquarters also commented that “cases like this” are increasing in the Detroit area. The trick is to track the target vehicle first with AirTag and steal it at the perfect time. Furthermore, it appears that Dodge cars such as Mr. Nelson are often targeted.

Just days ago, local Canadian police reported a growing number of luxury car thieves abusing the AirTag. There is also an explanation of how to search for expensive cars in malls and parking lots, set up AirTags, and then track down the victim’s home and rob it in an unobtrusive location.

Fortunately, in Mr. Nelson’s case, I had an iPhone (iOS 14.5 or later) that notified me of an unknown AirTag, so I hope I can prevent the theft before it happens. On the other hand, there are criticisms that Android users, who are more popular than the iPhone in the United States, are helpless, and in response, the Android detection app “Tracker Detect” has also started to be distributed.

However, while AirTag notifications on iPhone are triggered automatically, Tracker Detect for Android requires the user to bother to launch the app and consciously check it. If AirTag abuse continues to increase, Apple may be required to take further action.

Source: Fox2 Detroit

Via: MacRumors