You’ve heard about thieves placing Apple AirTags onto cars they plan on stealing at a later time to keep track of it. It seemed like a very isolated occurrence or even an internet joke. But as Fox 2 Detroit lays out, discovering Apple AirTags is becoming more frequent in Metro Detroit, if not other locales around the country. 

Thieves can find your car with an Apple AirTag

The tracking devices were created to help people find those pesky misplaced items like keys or backpacks. It notifies the Apple Find My app where the item is. But now, it is being used to keep track of expensive or popular cars. The thieves can see where you live, and work around your schedule and theirs, to steal the car at their convenience. 

Stories from Austin, Texas, show it is spreading. And in York Region, Canada, numerous reports of similar discoveries have been followed by the media. In Atlanta, Georgia, it was an Atlanta police officer who found an AirTag by the gas tank of her car. 

The thing is that unless they are discovered, nobody knows they’re being tracked. So we suspect, but don’t know, if it is more prevalent than a baker’s dozen reports. But the good news is that the tracker knows if it is tracking someone other than the original AirTag owner. 

If an AirTag is on your car you will get notified, even if your phone is Android

That is what happened in John Nelson’s case. He took his 2018 Dodge Charger Scat Pack that he just bought two days previously, to run some errands north of Detroit. Returning to his car after going shopping, he got a notification on his phone of an AirTag tracking him. 

Nelson was lucky he had an Apple iPhone as opposed to an Android device. However, Apple has just released an app for Android users. Now they can be notified if they are being tracked as well. As it was, Nelson found the AirTag and removed it. “I was able to click on that notification and it gave me an option to have the air tag emit a sound, and I heard it underneath my vehicle,” Nelson told Fox 2.

If you find one take it to the police

Once you find an AirTag, you can imagine all kinds of ways to mess with whoever is tracking your car. But you should suppress those ideas to instead take it to the police so they can possibly determine who’s tracking device it is. 

Turnabout is fair play. If the tracking device can be used to determine the owner, then we may not see them being used by police to track those into car theft. But until that time, be vigilant. If you’re notified or hear an audible beep, you should quickly remove the AirTag.