AirTag Owner Uses Device to Find Stolen Car Despite Thief Ditching the Accessory

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 15 October 2021, 09:10 am

(Photo : Unsplash/ Paul Hanaoka) Apple AirTags may be used for stalking and the Cupertino company brought out a Personal Safety User Guide to avoid this from happening and protect your mental health.

An AirTag owner who had their vehicle stolen was able to locate it thanks to the Apple device. The owner was able to retrieve the vehicle despite the thief finding the AirTag and ditching it afterward.

AirTag Helped Owner Retrieve Stolen Car

Reddit user thinkscotty posted about the situation on Oct. 14. He explained how an AirTag placed within the car helped the police locate and track it down.

The user wrote that his vehicle, a 2010 Subaru Forester, was stolen. He went out to get in his vehicle around 3:00 A.M. on Oct. 14, and he found his car gone.

The Reddit user then called the authorities and filed a report. He said that the police officers were not optimistic about the chances of getting his car back,.

The user wrote that after the dust had settled, he had put a spare AirTag in the sunglasses holder of the vehicle. He bought a four-pack AirTag and figured that there might be a chance that it would help him find his vehicle.

Also Read: Apple AirTags Hidden Debug Mode on iOS 14.5: Here's How to Use and Activate it on iPhone

Since there are millions of iPhones in Chicago, he figured that the chances of the accessory getting pinged were high.

As soon as the AirTag was marked lost, he received a notification that it had been found in a suburb area in Chicago just 10 minutes after turning the feature on, according to 9to5Mac.

The user called the police and explained what had happened. When the police officers arrived at the area, they could not find the car in the Walmart parking lot where the accessory was located in.

The Reddit user looked for the device, which was underneath a parked vehicle. It was obvious that the thief found it and ditched it.

The user waited, and he almost gave up. Just before he left, he saw the stolen car turn back into the Walmart parking lot.

The Redditor called the police, who then arrived and detained the thief who was still in the vehicle.

Thinkscotty said that the AirTags worked to track his car, and he would not have found the vehicle without the device.

The user added that iPhone users must hide the AirTags well so that if the same thing happens to them, they can find their vehicle sooner.

Just make sure that it is hidden in an area where it will not be blocked from transmitting a Bluetooth signal.

Apple AirTags was not received well when it first came out because some people pointed out that it may be used to stalk others.

AirTags Used to Find Stolen Items

This is not the first time that Apple's AirTag was used to find a stolen item. Earlier this year, a security expert was able to recover his electric scooter thanks to the device, according to Apple Insider.

According to the founder of cybersecurity firm Trail of Bits, Dan Guido, he used two AirTags to retrieve his electric scooter. The scooter was stolen because he was not able to lock it down properly.

However, he placed two AirTags in the wheel well and inside the stem of the scooter.

Guido called the police after a week after discovering that his scooter was placed in the same location. They found his scooter next to an e-bike store.