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alexandr

macrumors 603
Nov 11, 2005
5,413
9,833
11201-121099
phew, from the title i thought they were using airtags that are placed in cars to steal them... guess i'm safe :)
although my airtag does forget that it's mine and gives me the chime every once in a while when i get in my car...
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
No, the thieves looked into this, saw it was way more expensive than the stuff they can get elsewhere and paid no attention to it. If this is getting spread to anyone who didn’t already know, I’d guess it would be YouTubers. We should see in a few weeks! :)

No, these are the "good" thieves... the "smart" ones who "think different" and know that in anything you want to do, only use Apple stuff. Everything else is inferior or knockoffs of the best... probably (mis)powered by 'cheap chinese chargers' and are tools of that trade that are not needed by 99.9% of all thieves.

While we should see them negatively because of their profession, these should be viewed as the cream, elite thieves because they opt for the one and only, best tech. We probably should take a collection for their legal defense since they are an albeit dark offshoot of the ultra-loyal brotherhood of fans.

Now those thieves trying to do the same using some kind of samesung trackers... they should be executed: both for being thieves OR for daring to use non-Apple technologies for anything like this. ;)
 
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MVMNT

macrumors 6502a
Apr 28, 2010
529
705
The ordinary thief has been armed with a pocket tracking device. It's like something out of a movie...
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
well from what it sounds like, the apple car will be stolen immediately! :D

Yes, but when the thieves have to ask Siri to take them to their lair, all they will get is "I do not know what you mean by lair. Here's what I found on the web for lair."

"I do not know what you mean by hideout. Here's what I found on the web for hideout."

"I do not know what you mean by waterfront. Here's what I found on the web for waterfront."

"I do not know what you mean by abandoned warehouse. Here's what I found on the web for abandoned warehouse."

"I do not know what you mean by anywhere else. Here's what I found on the web for anywhere else."

"I can't do that Hal."

"Redrum. Redrum!"

Easily apprehended without actually moving the iCar one inch... probably babbling like the rooftop thieves at the beginning of Batman 89. Instead of mumbling "bat" as they are taken away, they will mumble "Siri" ;)
 

izyreal

macrumors regular
Sep 26, 2012
219
814
USA
My car is a 2005 SUV with over 250,000 miles, and many years of dog/toddler/teenager detritus, on it. According to Kelly's Blue Book it is worth less than an AirTag. I'd be up $29 if someone leaves a tag in it.
It really depends on whether you just filled your gas tank. You might end up being down $28.53. It's a risk to consider and come to terms with.
 
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Jason2000

macrumors 6502
Jul 19, 2019
357
725
Planet Earth
I guess this just means Tile wasn't popular enough for criminals to use them to steal cars...
Exactly what I was thinking. Its not like AirTags are a first. There are others including inexpensive GPS trackers. But people love to blame Apple for stuff.
 
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TopToffee

macrumors 65816
Jul 9, 2008
1,040
975
5 times it says this has happened according to the article?

So definitely the best thing to do is publicise it with informational videos and countless online articles, to ensure that the car thieves who hadn’t thought of it yet have a chance to get in on the act.
 
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alexandr

macrumors 603
Nov 11, 2005
5,413
9,833
11201-121099
Yes, but when the thieves have to ask Siri to take them to their lair, all they will get is "I do not know what you mean by lair. Here's what I found on the web for lair."

"I do not know what you mean by hideout. Here's what I found on the web for hideout."

"I do not know what you mean by waterfront. Here's what I found on the web for waterfront."

"I do not know what you mean by abandoned warehouse. Here's what I found on the web for abandoned warehouse."

"I do not know what you mean by anywhere else. Here's what I found on the web for anywhere else."

"I can't do that Hal."

"Redrum. Redrum!"

Easily apprehended without actually moving the iCar one inch... probably babbling like the rooftop thieves at the beginning of Batman 89. Instead of mumbling "bat" as they are taken away, they will mumble "Siri" ;)
sounds about right. makes me think of that scene in "us" where she tries to call the police and alexa play f the police :)
 
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psxp

macrumors 6502
Jan 8, 2008
380
444
Tile trackers could be used for the same thing.
but that would require more people to be running the tile app on their phone for it to be tracked. Not going to happen, Apple is the dominant smart phone that I see here in the Greater Toronto Area, and the area that these thieves target happen to be high end areas. The majority of people use iPhones, only seems to be Nerds/tech people that tend to buy the high end Androids.. the Average Joe/Jane, if had a choice to buy a iPhone vs Android phone will pick Apple, because, you know "Apple" .
If on a budget, thats where you will see the Andorids mainly picked.

Now all this above is all my personal speculation etc. lol! No scientific evident, just seeing and observing..
 

thays133

Suspended
Mar 25, 2021
528
988
Sounds like such a click bait …. Just put a small gps tracker that can’t be traced for the same results , also not sure what’s the shock is about , computers are used for fraud in the billions each year , it’s not like this AirTags made an impossible crime possible , but what can you do , it’s a weekend , news are slow
minus those other trackers that will work as well cost a lot more money and have a lot more things that can be traced. Plus they tend to be a bit larger as they need a larger battery and connect to the cell network. All things that great increase cost and increase the ability to trace back to who doing it. Apple tags are just making it cheaper and easier.

This connection to theft and AirTags is a bit premature / isolated cases. If the cars are "stolen from the driveway" people could easily walk down a street see a nice car in the drive way and steal it! no AirTag required.

How dumb is a criminal though that they can't just walk down a street in a good neighborhood? Maybe I'm the dumb one, lol
These tend to be more organized crime or saying there is an order out to steal an a specific car. It is really easy to go to a sporting event and walk the parking lot looking for a targeted car put a app tracker on it then go steal it from the persons home where it will be easier.
Even not at that higher level but just wanting some nice cars same place fince the nice car put a cheap tracker on it then go to person home and get it. Walking a street is hit or miss if the car will be there. Also those streets with a high target of good cars might be harder to get into.
Flip that around to say where I live where yes their are nice house but the range of cars that are all over it are down from cheap base model honda's to there are a few high end BMW and porsche. I have see a newer 911 GT around here. Most of the cars just newer nicer Honda's and lower level luxury but there are some really high end cars. The tracker could lead them to one of those places to hit where security is less tight and there is good target. Most of those high end cars tend to a normal suburb. Just they are not super dense so hard to find.

Over all this is just something to work on a good solution for and have a balance point Apple and others need to find. AT the very least on these cases Apple should in theory be able to trace it back to at least the fake account set up and then pull that persons history to hand over to police.
 

Larabee119

macrumors regular
Sep 16, 2014
191
343
Want to really confuse thieves have a car with a manual choke and a switch for the ignition separate from the starter
That’s too much man. Don’t want to kill the guy. His head may explode while trying to figure it out.

This article is the staple of bad journalism. Piggy back on the fame of the brand to fuel of readers’ flame.
 
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Planetary

macrumors newbie
Jan 29, 2014
29
135
My iPhone says I've left my bag behind, when it's a few feet behind me in the trunk of the car.
 

DeepIn2U

macrumors G5
May 30, 2002
12,826
6,880
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Well, that blows. Apple hurry release the Apple car, ASAP.
Apple Car with imbedded AirTag probably will not solve the issue.

This is thieves being very tech savvy and very unfortunate for my fellow Canadians. I guess time to get a Tesla or something similar with similar features such as a real theft deterrent system that will slow down the car, indicate towards a road shoulder/curb and stop the vehicle. All while audio/video recording the assailants.

Having such a vehicle, theives just might as well turn themselves in ... as stealing/break+enter such vehicle is like this:



^ anyone remember this? 'The Money Team' LMAO.
 

TrapDoorSpider

Suspended
Aug 25, 2021
65
103
Inspect vehicles regularly for trackers?

There are a few people who live outside my place who do that regularly anyway... and they're always asking for change in front of the 7-eleven. Turns out they were just being responsible the whole time.
 

Haust

Cancelled
Sep 3, 2011
262
332
Aren’t most car thefts common, inexpensive cars that are easily chopped and sold for parts? Here is the list. But, perhaps thieves using AirTags are targeting expensive cars.

  1. Ford full-size pickup
  2. Chevrolet full-size pickup
  3. Honda Civic
  4. Honda Accord
  5. Toyota Camry
  6. Nissan Altima
  7. GMC full-size pickup
  8. Toyota Corolla
  9. Honda CR-V
  10. Dodge full-size pickup
 

Skewlovevism

Suspended
Aug 2, 2021
153
171
Japan
Anyone remembers, when thieves mod their Nokia phones to be able to open a car like car remote? It was also able to be mod into a police radar notification:)

This one was also interesting

Good ol’ days
(not that I would be a car thief or anything:) )
 

Bass Ackwards

macrumors newbie
Jul 27, 2010
18
8
just curious, if someone was to find the AirTag and report it, would the police have a way of tracking the AirTag to the would be thief?
 
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Skewlovevism

Suspended
Aug 2, 2021
153
171
Japan
I guess that's good I just drive a Toyota Corolla.
Look at the post #120, just 1 down after yours :)

I prevent car thieves from stealing my car, by not having a car. I also prevent my huge and expensive tv and sound system system from being stolen, by not having a tv and sound system, at all.
I also prevent… (do you see the pattern in here?). Being moderately broke has got its own advantages
 

axcess99

macrumors regular
Jul 1, 2005
150
150
Apple should make free, freely distributed, apps for non-iOS devices that warn if an unknown AirTag is following you. Not just for Android, but for smart car systems.
But for good other reasons "following you" takes longer than a day. All a thief would have to do is covertly remove it from the car in the driveway the next day once they have identified where the owner parks overnight. They could come back any time after that for a good opportunity to get the car itself.
 

Nicky G

macrumors 65816
Mar 24, 2002
1,148
1,284
Baltimore
Apple's statement on this: " I missed the part where that's my problem...''
"You're driving it wrong." ;)

Seriously though, I have to wonder how mans stolen cars have been found because of Airtags? I have to think it dramatically outnumbers the number that have been stolen.
 
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