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People S**K - Lost AirTag Stolen

contacos

contacos

macrumors 603
Original poster
Nov 11, 2020
5,755
21,940
Mexico City living in Berlin
Picked up my dog from the dog sitter today and noticed the AirTag was gone from his harness. I opened find my and I see it inside of a building and since it keeps being updated with the same location, I assume an Apple device has to be nearby.

i already put it into lost mode but so far no luck. So rude! The worst is, seeing it but not able to get it!!! Obviously I can’t just ring random doors and accuse people. This also kind of worries me that if I ever loose my keys, that some A is just gonna take the AirTag and leave my keys.

the only satisfaction i am getting out of this is knowing that whoever got it, won’t be able to use it
 

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contacos said:
Picked up my dog from the dog sitter today and noticed the AirTag was gone from his harness. I opened find my and I see it inside of a building and since it keeps being updated with the same location, I assume an Apple device has to be nearby.

i already put it into lost mode but so far no luck. So rude! The worst is, seeing it but not able to get it!!! Obviously I can’t just ring random doors and accuse people. This also kind of worries me that if I ever loose my keys, that some A is just gonna take the AirTag and leave my keys.

the only satisfaction i am getting out of this is knowing that whoever got it, won’t be able to use it
Click to expand...
Can somebody use an Air Tag after stealing it or finding it? If not, no purpose in doing so other than to be an idiot. Kind of shows the limitation of these tags if someone finds your keys and then removes the tag. You are then out your keys and an Air Tag.
I think I will just continue to safeguard my belongings the old fashioned way.....remember where I put things and be careful.
 
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Yes once it has been put in lost mode, it cannot be connected to another iPhone. I even send a message to email me but so far no luck. Stupid people. I wish I could amend the message like PLEASE RETURN. YOU WONT BE ABLE TO USE IT ANYWAY but the message cannot be adjusted
 
If you went closer does the tracking not get more precise? ie, so you wouldn't be knocking on too many doors.....
 
Ifti said:
If you went closer does the tracking not get more precise? ie, so you wouldn't be knocking on too many doors.....
Click to expand...

it’s a backbuilding and it is surrounded by a fence. I actually wonder how it could have ended up there to begin with. So weird. I also tried to ping it but it’s too noisy here to hear that quiet beep. I don’t think the dog sitter would steal it and it’s a different street + he has an android phone. Strange that the location keeps updating so like I said an iOS device must be nearby. Tbh I have another spare AirTag. At this point I am mostly curious to know how it ended up there or who has it out of principal
 
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contacos said:
it’s a backbuilding and it is surrounded by a fence. I actually wonder how it could have ended up there to begin with. So weird. I also tried to ping it but it’s too noise here to hear that quiet beep
Click to expand...
Well, you have your dog which I assume was the purpose of having the Air Tag on his collar. No point in confronting what could be a lunatic prone to violence over a 30 euro item. How do you think the tag came off the collar?
 
To be honest, I would just leave it as-is and forget about your tag. It's a hassle like you said to go door-to-door to try and get back $29 worth. Plus, whoever took it, won't give it back.

AirTags are nice, but people en masse don't know yet how they work and won't understand they can't be paired in Lost Mode.
 
contacos said:
Picked up my dog from the dog sitter today and noticed the AirTag was gone from his harness. I opened find my and I see it inside of a building and since it keeps being updated with the same location, I assume an Apple device has to be nearby.

i already put it into lost mode but so far no luck. So rude! The worst is, seeing it but not able to get it!!! Obviously I can’t just ring random doors and accuse people. This also kind of worries me that if I ever loose my keys, that some A is just gonna take the AirTag and leave my keys.

the only satisfaction i am getting out of this is knowing that whoever got it, won’t be able to use it
Click to expand...
I mean its just $29 - move on
 
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In the old days when you lost something it was just gone. Now you get a whole year of watching, tracking, pinging, getting frustrated, suspicious and angry with your fellow man. Imagine how much worse it would be if your dog was still attached to it.
 
contacos said:
Any idea why I always just get this when I am getting close? Doesn’t help at all.
Click to expand...
Macrumors is an English board - helpful to post translations, rather than forcing others to have to look them up?

Per google translate: "Search signal Try moving to another place"

Which should reflect the message others have seen: "Signal is weak.Try moving to a different location"

Have you tried using precision finding, either with the airtag that you lost previously, or with the one that you have? (best to make sure it's actually working on your phone).

I do suspect that message indicates that the phone is just barely picking up the bluetooth signal from the airtag - it's not strong enough for the phone to try to guess direction or distance.

There's some troubleshooting steps for precision finding here:

Airtag Precision Finding stopped working - Apple Community

discussions-cn-prz.apple.com discussions-cn-prz.apple.com

Oh...and it looks like precision finding doesn't work worth a damn through walls:

 
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the Tag is still in the same position by the way. Once I get closer, I get the "green" search now icon instead of the route via Maps. I suppose someone took it home but does not know what it actually is, kind of annoying seeing it on the map haha curious if it will ever be moved :D
 
contacos said:
the Tag is still in the same position by the way. Once I get closer, I get the "green" search now icon instead of the route via Maps. I suppose someone took it home but does not know what it actually is, kind of annoying seeing it on the map haha curious if it will ever be moved :D
Click to expand...
I think this is an interesting situation and would not just move on as some have suggested.

Can you get a notification once it is on the move? While it may just sit in someone’s stolen stuff pile until the battery dies, it could leave the building and I would def try to get it back if it did.
 
This plot should be a short film 😂

Curious to know of any developments.
contacos said:
Yes once it has been put in lost mode, it cannot be connected to another iPhone. I even send a message to email me but so far no luck. Stupid people. I wish I could amend the message like PLEASE RETURN. YOU WONT BE ABLE TO USE IT ANYWAY but the message cannot be adjusted
Click to expand...
What if they connected it to their phone before you put it in lost mode? Would you have access their any of their details at all, being the original owner?
 
Ralfi said:
This plot should be a short film 😂

Curious to know of any developments.

What if they connected it to their phone before you put it in lost mode? Would you have access their any of their details at all, being the original owner?
Click to expand...
?! AirTags should be activation locked once paired with an AppleID. Unless you removed them, they can't be paired to another AppleID. (making them worthless to steal).

Lost mode will notify you when the AirTag moves.
 
Is it possible the AirTag simply came loose and fell off the collar instead of someone taking it? Hard to imagine someone taking the AirTag without the dog sitter noticing.
 
fischersd said:
?! AirTags should be activation locked once paired with an AppleID. Unless you removed them, they can't be paired to another AppleID. (making them worthless to steal).

Lost mode will notify you when the AirTag moves.
Click to expand...
Yeah I thought it sounded weird. I incorrectly interpreted the post…
 
That does bring up the scenario, however, that we should have an option to flag an AirTag as stolen. (leave it activation locked, so it can NEVER be assigned to another Apple ID, but give me the option of hiding it in Find My, so I'm not bothered with seeing it anymore).

Also should give the option of muting lost mode notifications at that point (so, you're not bothered every time the thief moves the item).

Submitted to Apple as a feature request with the Feedback app.
 
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