COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Police in Montgomery County are looking for someone who used an Apple AirTag to follow a person home from a movie theater. That person figured out something was wrong when they got an alert on their phone.
The victim got to their Lower Providence home Friday night. They got a message on their iPhone saying “Unknown accessory detected. This item has been moving with you for a while.”
After they got inside the house, they got another message saying, "Your current location can be seen by the owner of this item.”
Then a map displayed on the phone, showing that they had been tracked between the Movie Tavern in Upper Providence and their house. The victim then looked out the window and saw a suspicious car, which slowly pulled away as the victim approached.
The police in Lower Providence are trying to figure out who was in that car, what the car was, exactly. There was a darker, older-model, light-gray silver hatchback. It could have been a Subaru, according to police.
So how did this person get tracked? And police say an AirTag was somehow connected to their car. AirTags are quarter-size devices you can put with your keys, wallet, or other items you want to keep track of.
Related
Police around the country say criminals have been using these devices to stalk people or track down cars they want to steal.
Apple says that users who get these messages should not ignore them, because if they do, the device will make a noise. When users are alerted, that is a good time to call the police.