A pair of armed criminals used Apple's AirTag to track a couple for miles before they tried to abduct them. This doesn't have to happen to you — here's what you can to to keep yourself safe.
Despite AirTags finding missing children, missing luggage, and many times stolen cars, they have also been used before by criminals tracking victims. Now according to the New York Post, two armed burglars in Florida tracked a couple's SUV by sticking an AirTag underneath it.
Luis Charles and Odardy Maldonado-Rodriguez are accused of using the AirTag to follow the couple back to their home on Odessa. As the couple got out of their car, the two men grabbed them and took them inside their house.
In security video released by the local Sheriff's Office, one of the two abductors can be seen pulling some kind of weapon out of his pocket. That man also had to carry the woman after she resisted being pushed into the house.
Once the couple were inside the house, though, its alarm went off and the two burglars fled. They were later arrested and charged with multiple crimes, ranging from illegal use of a tracker to armed kidnapping.
Still from security camera footage showing two men (one in high-vis jacket) grabbing a couple out of their SUV — image credit: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
"To be ambushed at gunpoint in the very place you should feel safest is every family's worst nightmare," said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister. "Thanks to the work of our detectives, these dangerous criminals are now behind bars where they belong, and the victims, along with our community, can rest a little easier."
Breaking down the crime
It's not been reported when the two criminals affixed the AirTag to the SUV. It was presumably premeditated, as the two arrived at the house right behind the couple. It's not clear why they didn't just follow the couple as they drove home.
What is clearer is that the AirTag cannot have been placed on the car very long. If it had been, then the AirTag would have started to make a very loud and very persistent sound.
It might not have been audible over the SUV's engine, since it was outside the vehicle.
Then on an iPhone, if an unknown AirTag is detected traveling with you for a certain undisclosed period of time, there will be an on-screen notification warning. So driving with someone else's AirTag on your car would eventually have triggered the notification.
So in this particular case, the criminals must have planted the AirTag shortly before following the couple home.
The two men are currently being held in a Hillsborough County jail without bond.
What to do when being tracked
Right from when AirTags were first released in 2021, they came with anti-tracking and anti-stalking features. Those features were shockingly far in excess of what previous companies had incorporated, though they still had room for improvement — which they have since had.
The anti-stalking and anti-tracking features boil down to alerting the victim, and giving that victim information to present to the police.
Apple has also released an Android app to help with this, plus Google has implemented unknown tracking detection. Android users have to elect to turn either or both of these on, though, and most users may not even think to do so.
But all users, iPhone and Android, will also get an audible alert from the AirTag itself. It is startling how loud that tiny device can be, and it has many times alerted victims.
Once the victim has found the AirTag, they can hold their iPhone next to it and get certain identification information. Apple will immediately release the owner's details to authorities, on request.
