Apple ‘Air Tags’ Being Used to Help Steal Cars? Find out More Here

A recent series of posts in the Facebook page Grant County Crime (a private group of about 6,000 members devoted to citizens' efforts to battle crime) got us thinking about this.

Apple Air tags used to mark cars to thieves to later steal?

Air Tags are from Apple, for i-Phones. they were first released about a year ago in April. They're small battery-sized disks that you can attach to just about anything that you don't want to be misplaced. Using Bluetooth via the Find My network.

Get our free mobile app

They send out a signal and can help you locate your keys under the couch. But like any other 'homing' device, they're starting to be used for nefarious purposes. A January 2022 NBC News article notes they're starting to show up in some crimes, especially theft.

 Moses Lake residents report finding them on their vehicles

A recent poster on the Grant County Crime page made this notation:

"(name omitted) just took one off of my friend’s car. She got in her car to come to my house, she got the notification, and he found it as soon as she got here. Local people BEWARE!!"

Several follow-up comments indicated a handful of people had also found them on their rigs.

According to other sources including the website Digital Trends, car thieves are starting to utilize these devices to help in their search.

We're going to look around Tri-Cities and try to find out if these devices are showing up in auto thefts.

How can you find out if an unwanted Air Tag is on your vehicle? According to the website CNET:

"You can use Bluetooth tracking apps to scan your area to see if an AirTag is nearby. While the apps won't identify AirTags by name, they may help you see if there is an unknown device nearby. A couple options noted by Macworld include Bluetooth BLE Device Finder and BLE Scanner.."