Do you know what an Apple AirTag is and how they're being abused by dangerous stalkers? If not, please keep reading, for the safety of you and your loved ones.

An Auburn Hills woman posted a screenshot on Facebook of a post her friend had made regarding an extremely scary incident that happened to her this past Wednesday, August 31st. She was going to pull into the Buddy's Pizza Plaza on Squirrel Road in Auburn Hills when a white BMW SUV pulled up beside her, started hooting and hollering at her in a suggestive manner, and started following her car.

94.9 WMMQ logo
Get our free mobile app

Already uncomfortable, the woman pulled into the plaza and ran inside the Inline Vape store, where a kind cashier understood the situation and let the girl hide in the back. She says the man waited 20 minutes for her to leave the store, and when she didn't, he went up to her car. This is the moment when, unbeknownst to her, he must have placed an Apple AirTag somewhere on her vehicle.

When the worker saw him leave and the woman was confident that she was now safe, she got back in her vehicle and started driving toward the Oakland Community College campus in Auburn Hills. It was at this time when, seemingly out of nowhere and almost impossibly, this man found her again and continued following her. Panicked and terrified, the girl did the right thing, and rather than going to OCC and getting out of her car or, worst of all, going home and letting the man know where she lives, she drove to the Auburn Hills Police Department, which of course made him stop following her. It was amazing that even in a state of panic, she did the right thing.

So How Did The Man Know Where She Went? How Was He Able to Follow Her?

To her shock and horror, after she drove home, she found an Apple AirTag hidden by her exhaust pipe beneath her license plate. For those who don't know, the Apple AirTag is a tracking device released by Apple in April 2021. It was designed to help people find their keys, or their wallet, or anything that they might have trouble keeping track of. And starting at $29, it's not hard for someone with bad intentions to buy several of them and use them to keep track of something else — unsuspecting victims.

And that's just what this man did in Auburn Hills on Wednesday. He saw a pretty girl driving a car alone, he waited until she was inside a store, he snuck a tracking device onto her car, and used it to follow her to her next location, where she would hopefully be alone with him with no means of escape.

And he's not the first one to think of this. Apple claims on their site that their AirTags "discourage unwanted tracking" because the device will start beeping when separated from its owner, but there are many loopholes to this, one of them being that you likely won't hear beeping if it's on the outside of your car, which they always are, typically under license plates or in other hard-to-see areas, depending on the vehicle.

Many people have advocated for Apple discontinuing this product that can be very dangerous in the wrong hands, for things like stalking, stealing, even human trafficking. This can be perpetrated with an AirTag by someone who is a stranger to you, or more likely, a jealous or angry ex-partner who wants to keep tabs on you at all times.

Apple released a statement in February of this year condemning the abuse of their product, and assuring users that they are safe and have state-of-the-art security features that work to prevent this misuse of the product as much as possible. They are cooperating with law enforcement when necessary, and the fact that each AirTag has a unique serial number is often helpful in the investigations.

Moral of the story, please be safe when parking in a public place and then driving back to your home if you are doing so alone. If you see anyone near your car before you get into it, be vigilant, and if you see someone following you, follow this woman's lead and DRIVE TO THE POLICE STATION!

It could just save your life.

Behind-the-Scenes and Backstage at Flint's Capitol Theatre, Pt. 1

Take an exclusive look behind-the-scenes and Flint, Michigan's historic Capitol Theatre. Dressing rooms, control rooms, catwalks, and more.

Behind-the-Scenes and Backstage at Flint's Capitol Theatre, Pt. 2

Take an exclusive look behind-the-scenes and Flint, Michigan's historic Capitol Theatre. Dressing rooms, control rooms, catwalks, and more.

Behind-the-Scenes and Backstage at Flint's Capitol Theatre, Pt. 3

Take an exclusive look behind-the-scenes and Flint, Michigan's historic Capitol Theatre. Dressing rooms, control rooms, catwalks, and more.

 

More From 94.9 WMMQ