The Lower Providence Township Police Department in Eagleville, Pennsylvania, is issuing a warning to residents after a call came in last week regarding a person who received a suspicious message on their phone warning them of an unknown device tracking their location.
Police responded to the 600 block of Barrington Road at around 8:44 pm on January 14, 2022 for a report of suspicious activity.
The victim told police that they had just returned home from the movie theater when they received an iMessage on their iPhone stating: "Unknown Accessory Detected — This Item Has Been Moving With You For A While."
After returning home, the victim found that they had received another message on their phone that stated: "Safety Alert, Your Current Location Can Be Seen By The Owner Of This Item. You May Be Carrying This Item, Or It Could Be Located Closely. If This Item Is Not Familiar To You, You Can Disable It And Stop Sharing Your Location."
"The victim then received a map of the area showing that at 7:19pm, the device was activated by the Movie Tavern and the travelled along the map until the returned to their residence at 8:38pm," the press release states.
The victim looked outside their residence to see an unknown vehicle parked just down the street, and when they went outside and approached the vehicle, it drove away.
"As the vehicle was driving away, the victim received another notification on their phone that the device was currently driving eastbound and then eventually disconnected once the vehicle was out of sight," the press release added.
Police stated that the vehicle in question was describes as a light gray or silver older model hatchback, possibly a Subaru.
The device used to track the victim's vehicle was an Apple Air Tag, a small, quarter sized tracking device created by Apple for consumers to keep track of items like keys and wallets. Their battery life is exceptionally long, lasting over a year before needing replacement.
"Unfortunately, criminals are starting to use this technology for several reasons such as stalking purposes or to track vehicles they want to steal," the press release states.
Police said that while the Air Tags are designed to discourage unwanted tracking, "it can still occur." They urge anyone who receives such messages like the ones highlighted above to immediately call 911.
Following the publishing of their press release, police stated that they have received a number of calls regarding unwanted tracking devices.
"Fortunately, what we are noticing in many of those cases, is that there is a strong correlation between the individuals receiving these safety alerts and all of them owning Apple Air Pods," the police wrote in a Facebook post. "With that said, there is a possibility that an individual's Apple Air Pods or other Apple accessory may be activating the safety alert you receive on your phone."
They noted that in these instances, police have yet to locate any Apple tracking devices on and of the reporting parties' vehicles or belongings. They also note that a person can look to see if they are being tracked by an unknown device through the Find My app.
Police still urge though if a person receives those messages, to call 911 and arrange to meet with a police officer in a public location.
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