Posted on 01/12/2025 6:34:32 PM PST by simpson96
A Key West man is accused of placing Apple AirTags on two peoples’ cars to illegally track them, according to police.
Key West detectives’ investigation dates to Nov. 8, when two people went to police after receiving cellphone notifications alerting them that an unrecognized AirTag was detected near them and tracking their location, said Alyson Crean, a spokesperson for the police department.
Apple introduced the AirTag in 2021 to help people track their belongings. But criminals soon began using the small devices to illegally stalk victims. Since then, Apple updated its security measures so a person’s iPhone would alert them if an unknown AirTag was tracking them.
That’s what happened when two people were leaving the Overseas Market on North Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West in early November, Crean said. One of them had utilized the “play sounds” feature on her phone and began hearing a beeping sound that grew louder as she neared the rear passenger side of her car, Crean said.
When she crawled underneath the vehicle, she found a magnetic device wrapped in black duct tape that contained an AirTag attached to the wheel well, Crean said.
Police found a similarly attached AirTag located on the spare tire underneath the vehicle of the second person, said Crean. Both devices were deactivated by the time the people arrived at the police station, Crean said.
Working with agents from the Department of Homeland Security, detectives connected the devices’ subscriber information to 52-year-old Mariusz Swiecicki of Key West, Crean said.
On Friday, detectives went to his house and interviewed him. They “allowed him to review the overwhelming amount of evidence collected against him during their investigation,” Crean said.
Swiecicki confessed to placing the AirTags on both cars and was arrested on two counts of installation or use of tracking devices, which are third-degree felonies, Crean said. If convicted, Swieckicki could face up to 15 years in prison.
Swieckicki was released from jail on a $70,000 bond Saturday, according to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office records. He could not be reached for comment, and information on his legal representation was not immediately available.
Crean said detectives are continuing their investigation to determine a motive and if there are more victims.
The government and G**gle both track us everywhere we go, but it’s a crime for a common citizen to do it?
Where’s the logic?
Sure... We’ll go with that... They only track you if you say ‘yes’... On-Star would never track you otherwise... Wink, wink... nudge, nudge.
Unknown Tracker Alerts
This feature is available on Android phones running Android 6.0 or later. To use it, you can:
Go to Settings
Tap Safety & Emergency
Tap Unknown tracker alerts
Tap Scan now
Turn on “allow alerts” to receive automatic notifications
When an AirTag is detected, you can:
Open the map to see the location of the AirTag
Tap Play sound to make the AirTag play a sound to help you locate it
Tap Next steps and follow the onscreen instructions
https://www.pcmag.com/news/iphones-android-phones-can-now-detect-more-rogue-bluetooth-trackers
Oh cool - thanks for the info - I don’t know if my cheap phones have that but I’m definitely going to look!
I tried it - it works! - thanks again
nothing found - good lol
Is there an Android app that does a similar bug finder?
I tried “Bug Finder” and it told me that my refrigerator was spying on me.
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