Apple AirTag Linked to Increasing Number of Car Thefts, Canadian Police Report

[sirozha]

in a sense. They are more aware of AirTags existing and the Apple p2p network is much bigger than Tile's, I would never expect their crowdsource to find anything unless I knew I would be in the area with a Tile phone all to ping it. Also, a "high end" car owner in the US is pretty likely to be carrying an iPhone themselves and apple's network for relaying position is on by default.

Apple made a distributed cheap tracker fob system work, and people are taking advantage of it. Not sure there is much of a way to prevent that.

This post is wrong on every point.

The presence of an iPhone in the car doesn’t help in tracking of the Airtag because the iPhone will stop reporting the AirTag’s location as soon as it detects that the AirTag is moving alongside. So, the iPhone will literally report the AirTag’s location once and then will stop reporting its location.

Tile doesn’t just use the Tile app on other phones to track a Tile tracker. it also uses Amazon Alexa compatible devices for that purpose, including video cameras, door locks, thermostats, Alexa speakers, etc.

 

[400]

Kick your front door in and steal your keys or use keyless entry relay to open and start your car.

Looking at the link that I missed, looks like they use weak security on vehicles to pinch them. Apple tags a small part in the overall rate of stolen, perhaps identifying vehicles with known weak security systems thus easy to steal? Close this down and the vehicles are still vulnerable.

 

[Wanted797]

I guess this just means Tile wasn't popular enough for criminals to use them to steal cars...

Or cool enough to have a news article about them.

 

[Skewlovevism]

lol, yeah I saw, but to be fair they're just wanting to sell the parts. Not keep the car itself. But still having it stolen would really suck. As it's my only transportation. Until I can afford my Porsche 911, lol.

Easy
Just buy an AirTag and stick it on some random Porsche 911, then follow the guide in the article
I will rather white “just kidding” not to get grilled for this comment, some might not get it

 

[urnotl33t]

I have to ask, does the benefit of informing people about this seemingly minuscule (as of now) issue outweigh the cost of the inevitable increase in AirTag related thefts by making this information public?

(Paraphrasing for the limited space/time here): That was the same question posed in the landmark Supreme Court case Sony vs. Universal Studios that legalized the VCR ("video cassette recorder", a magnetic tape for movies, for all you kids out there). That gave us the lifelong right to record video (including copying films and TV shows) "for personal use". The MPAA (Univeral Studios) argued "this device can be used to steal and pirate films!" But it also has valid "home/personal use" functions. SCOTUS ruled that "despite the limited use for theft, the personal use cases outweigh the uses of piracy" and so they ruled in favor of Sony (who had their Betamax player at the time).

So you are right: does the infringing use outweigh the valid personal use? That's metric all legal scholars live by and that is the "legal test" you'd have to meet in a case.

Same for (insert PRSI topic), same for spoons and towels and soap bars. The metric for this test does change with winds of society over time, however, so it's not set in stone.

That question has no specific and definitive answer. Currently. Maybe it does later. Hence courts.

 

[beerseagulls]

I was just wondering why my Bentley disappeared from the driveway yesterday. I thought the butler and the maid drove it to get groceries, but they never came back. I was going to deal with them on Monday. Now I get the feeling that someone planted Airtags and followed me home!!!

 

[Marshall73]

Looking at the link that I missed, looks like they use weak security on vehicles to pinch them. Apple tags a small part in the overall rate of stolen, perhaps identifying vehicles with known weak security systems thus easy to steal? Close this down and the vehicles are still vulnerable.

Any vehicle with keyless entry is vulnerable to relaying unless the keys have a motion sensor which disables the transmitter when they have been motionless for a period of time. Other cars can be hacked via the ODB port to create a cloned key. Most vehicles can be stolen within minutes unless they have additional security added.

 

[ericwn]

I was just wondering why my Bentley disappeared from the driveway yesterday. I thought the butler and the maid drove it to get groceries, but they never came back. I was going to deal with them on Monday. Now I get the feeling that someone planted Airtags and followed me home!!!

That’s probably just a team from Amnesty coming to recycle that thing because a Bentley must not come in SUV shape, that’s a crime against style, same with station wagon Jags. Special place in hell is reserved for the owners.

 

[400]

Any vehicle with keyless entry is vulnerable to relaying unless the keys have a motion sensor which disables the transmitter when they have been motionless for a period of time. Other cars can be hacked via the ODB port to create a cloned key. Most vehicles can be stolen within minutes unless they have additional security added.

I understand that some manufacturers/dealer are better than others in addressing this. My dealer cannot disable it. Which to me suggest that perhaps this is a way to save driving around clocking the cars on a drive but to tag the easy meat when you happen by.

Suppose more info needed on any scrotes they have caught.

 

[beerseagulls]

That’s probably just a team from Amnesty coming to recycle that thing because a Bentley must not come in SUV shape, that’s a crime against style, same with station wagon Jags. Special place in hell is reserved for the owners.

on a more serious note... the Bentley SUV was the most vulgar vehicle that I could think of buying if I won the lottery... (well... unless Ferrari is really planning to build its own SUV)

 

[DanTSX]

I have doubts about the veracity of this story.

 

[DanTSX]

That’s probably just a team from Amnesty coming to recycle that thing because a Bentley must not come in SUV shape, that’s a crime against style, same with station wagon Jags. Special place in hell is reserved for the owners.

Wagon jag is fine. It beats having a suv / crossover.

 

[ericwn]

Wagon jag is fine. It beats having a suv / crossover.

In a no style contest, any modern Jag is king.

 

[AlexisV]

Not sure if you are joking but that information isn’t readily available for £2.50 at all. It is unlawful for the DVLA to reveal the registered keepers details unless there is just cause. That just cause might be a parking enforcement company or a council. Individuals can’t just get that info easily and the government certainly don’t ‘happily tell you the address a number plate is registered to’. Ignoring GDPR and handing that info out would be a stalkers dream.

You'd think so, but you just need to post off a V888 form with a cheque.

Request by an individual for information about a vehicle (form V888)

Use a V888 form to apply for information from DVLA's vehicle records.

www.gov.uk

You need to have "reasonable cause": https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/2742/regulation/27/made

Reasonable cause is any reason in the DVLA's book because they make £15million a year from it. You can put any reason down and it'll get through, especially at the moment now they're so understaffed.

Forget GDPR - this legislation overrides it.

 

[jtopp]

Apple's AirTags are being used in an increasing number of targeted car thefts in Canada, according to local police.

Outlined in a news release from York Regional Police, investigators have identified a new method being used by thieves to track down and steal high-end vehicles that takes advantage of the AirTag's location tracking capabilities. While the method of stealing the cars is largely conventional, the purpose of the AirTag is to track a high-end car back to a victim's residence where it can be stolen from the driveway.

Since September 2021, police officers in York Region alone have investigated five incidents where suspects used AirTags in thefts of high-end vehicles. Thieves target any particularly valuable vehicles they find in public places and parking lots, placing an AirTag in an out-of-sight area, such as in the tow hitch or fuel cap, in the hope that it will not be discovered by the car's owner.

• 'AirTag Found Moving With You' - What it Means and What to Do
• What to Do If You Find an AirTag Making a Sound

Thieves have no way to disable Apple's anti-tracking features that alert users when an unfamiliar nearby AirTag is tracking their location, but not all victims receive or act on the notification, or have an iPhone.

While only five thefts have been directly linked to AirTags so far, more than 2,000 vehicles have been stolen across the region in the past year, and the problem is likely to extend to other localities and countries around the world. The police expect to see AirTags used on a wider scale in an increasing number of vehicle thefts in the future.

The police have encouraged car owners to park in a locked garage if possible and inspect their vehicle regularly for trackers, especially if they receive an unknown AirTag notification, and have released two public information videos related to the growing problem.

Article Link: Apple AirTag Linked to Increasing Number of Car Thefts, Canadian Police Report

Get a car alarm wilt tilt sensors on it. Factory alarms only go off on a broken glass which you can muffle with a certain tool that they use to shatter your glass. Factory alarms also don’t work on the back window of a car so it’s smart to spend an extra 400-700 on an after market alarm that alerts you. It’s called a 2 way alarm and your fob goes off if your car is tampered with.

A few years ago someone pushed my car out the driveway onto the street when I was house sitting at my dads in Detroit where another car pushed it away and they found it a couple miles away missing the wheels. $5000 insurance claim after the tow the last found it dragged it onto the flat bed tearing up the undercarriage of my Lincoln MKZ.

I live in the suburbs in a neighborhood vet area but Jump to two months ago l go out and say that someone removed all the nuts on my wheels but couldn’t get past my wheel locks (he must have been a beginner or got scared off)so back to the alarm shop for another alarm with tilt sensors and 2 way fob. It’s annoying to have to have to get alarms but if you don’t want to become a victim you have to do something proactive.

 

[jtopp]

Can Apple CarPlay notify the driver about a suspect AirTag? Most newer vehicles are getting CarPlay. Car Play could alert an Android user.

It uses the find my app through apple so I don’t think it will alert android users unless they make an app for it.

 

[Hypereides]

If my phone alerts me that I am driving with an unknown tag AND I can not locate where it is hidden... and I drive to One Infinity Way at the Apple HQ... will they find it and remove it for me?

 

[antiprotest]

Waldo can never hide from me again.

 

[ericwn]

If my phone alerts me that I am driving with an unknown tag AND I can not locate where it is hidden... and I drive to One Infinity Way at the Apple HQ... will they find it and remove it for me?

Sounds like the address of an Infinity dealership, but strangely similar to Apple’s 1 infinite loop.

But sure, they do nothing there but repair stranger’s cars and track AirTags there.

 

[Steviant]

How the Apple Car would resolve this tracking issue?

iCloud Lock will brick the car and the thief will just throw it in the landfill or the sea like they do with all the other iDevices. It doesn't help you get your stuff back or stop it getting stolen in the first place, and it's putting toxic waste into the environment, but at least it stops anyone else using it.

 

[doobry]

Why advertise if they only had 5 out of 2000?? They also only had 5 arrests out of 2000 so want more of these schmucks to use this as it allows them to roll them up in seconds as they know who and where they are..

Genius.

 

[antiprotest]

How the Apple Car would resolve this tracking issue?

The car will lockdown and refuse to budge like a sulking husky. Then Tim Cook will appear on screen and try to sell the thief Apple One Legal subscription, then report the thief to the police.

 

[SFjohn]

How the Apple Car would resolve this tracking issue?

Apple cars will likely never be sold to individuals. Instead you’ll be able to book rides on them in crowded inner cities. It will become Apples’s first Hardware As a Service.

 

[psxp]

So a thief is gonna put an Apple AirTag on a fancy car, hoping that the owner leaves the fancy car outside their house and not in a garage where most fancy cars are kept, hoping that the owner doesn’t respond to the notification that they are being tracked, hoping that the AirTag will actually eventually give them the location of the owner’s house, and hoping that the owner of the fancy car has less security at home than the place where the AirTag was originally placed??? Seems a bit of a stretch…

funny thing is here no one parks their cars in garages as garages are full of junk. So there are a lot of cars on driveways, even fancy ones.. random shot from North York street taken from Google maps

 

[Dammit Cubs]

that's the problem with technology, wonderful times to progress the overall well-being and productivity of both humans AND criminals.