Posted on 12/07/2021 8:17:36 AM PST by Red Badger
In brief: When Apple launched the AirTags earlier this year, they seemed like a helpful tool to avoid losing valuable items like laptops, phones, tablets, or anything else. However, car thieves are now using them to track high-end vehicles, showing them the location of their target in real-time.
From September 2021 until now, the York Regional Police have already encountered five cases where suspects used Apple AirTags to track vehicles they were allegedly planning to steal. Thieves put the trackers on publically parked cars and situate the device in out-of-sight places, including trailer hitches, bumpers, and gas cap area. Thieves can then track the vehicle until they find it in a suitable location to steal, like the victim's residence.
Hiding Apple's AirTags in a car is only possible because of its compact shape and size. Its round shape and small dimension make hiding the tracker easier and quicker than actually stealing the car in a high-risk area. Applying an adhesive magnet to it makes placing it on any out-of-the-way place on the vehicle easy and fast.
To prevent AirTag owners from using Apple's tracker to stalk others, the manufacturer implemented countermeasures to hinder those who try. If your car has a thief's AirTag hidden somewhere and you have an iPhone, you can detect it in your vicinity. Even if you don't own an iPhone, the tracker will start emitting an alarm sound sometime between eight and 24 hours after moving from the owner's vicinity.
This time window is still more than enough time to steal the car, but you can use other measures to prevent thieves from succeeding in their objective. A couple of examples include parking your car in the garage instead of your driveway or using steering wheel locks to prevent them from driving, even if they can start it.
I like the countermeasure ‘cause it gives the car’s owner the opportunity to lure the thief down a dark and lonely DEADend road.
thx, interesting. I wonder if they all (samsungs galaxy smarttg etc) work like that.
Easy enough for DIY-types to build their own. The technology is not difficult, and is cheap off-the-shelf (buy a cellular module, GPS module, and cheap controller to combine them).
A greyhound bus........................
DIY-types usually aren’t the car-jacking types as well...............................
LOL
Two reasons, one of the last working rotary phones (mine) finally had problems and all those "press two to listen in English because you xenophobes don't yet live in a non-english speaking country" and "which account do you wish to inquire about?" types of mandatory questions now.
Maybe they bought it at the ‘Smash and Grab’ Sale.
she’s getting nailed by the king of real estate!
LOL!!
LOL!
If you’re seriously into stealing high-end luxury cars, you probably know someone inclined to build such gadgets. There are few of these, but not zero.
(That said, criminal IT types baffle me: smart enough to earn a good buck legitimately, yet opt to risk it all on criminal endeavors.)
An AirTag is considerably cheaper than all that.
High-tech pays my bills, but I’m increasingly fond of 18th-century living.
Am tempted to buy a 200yo log cabin and eek out a living over open fires and large garden. ...with an iPad Pro, Starlink dish, and Cybertruck handy. :-)
actually.. they are.
GPS tracking devices are available to the general public.
Since you're so fkn smart in answering everyone... what about people who don't have IPhones, or don't really GAS about phones altogether?
Funny.
On the Bob Newhart series with Suzanne Pleshette one thing after another caused his camping trip in the woods getaway vacation to be postponed.
Finally he set up a corner of the parking garage for a tent.
As he left he proclaimed “I’m taking nothing of the modern life with me, nothing the pioneers wouldn’t have used.”
He came back a few seconds later. “What did you forget?” his wife asked.
“My Water-pik.”
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