Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
A carjacker left empty-handed after failing to start the car he stole. It was equipped with a manual gearbox, and he didn't know how to drive a stick.
Andrew Moran got inside the Audi A3 after threatening the female owner of the vehicle. The man was holding his left hand in the pocket of his jacket, trying to make the victim believe he had a gun.
The victim stepped outside the vehicle and decided to run directly toward a nearby store to call the police. In the meantime, the carjacker was struggling to drive the stolen car, as the Audi was equipped with a manual gearbox. After a failed attempt to get the vehicle moving, the man decided to leave on foot, especially as he could hear the police getting closer.
Upon stepping outside the vehicle, the thief removed the keys from the ignition and put them into his pocket. He eventually ran away and took the Blue Line train in Chicago.
The car owner previously attached an AirTag to her car keys. As such, the thief was trying to run away with a location tracker in his jacket, without knowing that the police already knew precisely where he was.
The victim rapidly determined the location of the car keys using the Find My app. Apple’s AirTag is a tracking device that uses the Find My network to send its location to the owner. The pill-shaped gadget uses nearby iPhones to share location data. Given Moran tried to escape by train, the AirTag connected to iPhones belonging to other passengers and updated the police with his location in real-time.
The cops eventually managed to intercept and arrest the thief at the Addison station. He was charged with car hijacking and aggravated battery of peace officers.
Apple’s AirTag has so far been a double-edged sword. The device was launched with the sole purpose of keeping track of belongings, including car keys and wallets.
In the last few months, however, criminals across the world discovered other more nefarious uses, including stalking. Given its small form factor, the AirTag can be planted virtually anywhere, including behind the license place of cars or right in the wheel wells. As such, stalkers secretly installed the tracker into unsuspecting victims’ cars, eventually being able to monitor their location.
Apple has already fitted the AirTag with several protection systems, including a warning that is issued when the device moves with a nearby iPhone. The biggest shortcoming happens on Android devices, as users of Google’s mobile operating system need to manually scan for trackers using a dedicated Apple app. The next version of Android could automatically detect nearby trackers, just like it’s currently possible on the iPhone.
The victim stepped outside the vehicle and decided to run directly toward a nearby store to call the police. In the meantime, the carjacker was struggling to drive the stolen car, as the Audi was equipped with a manual gearbox. After a failed attempt to get the vehicle moving, the man decided to leave on foot, especially as he could hear the police getting closer.
Upon stepping outside the vehicle, the thief removed the keys from the ignition and put them into his pocket. He eventually ran away and took the Blue Line train in Chicago.
The car owner previously attached an AirTag to her car keys. As such, the thief was trying to run away with a location tracker in his jacket, without knowing that the police already knew precisely where he was.
The victim rapidly determined the location of the car keys using the Find My app. Apple’s AirTag is a tracking device that uses the Find My network to send its location to the owner. The pill-shaped gadget uses nearby iPhones to share location data. Given Moran tried to escape by train, the AirTag connected to iPhones belonging to other passengers and updated the police with his location in real-time.
The cops eventually managed to intercept and arrest the thief at the Addison station. He was charged with car hijacking and aggravated battery of peace officers.
Apple’s AirTag has so far been a double-edged sword. The device was launched with the sole purpose of keeping track of belongings, including car keys and wallets.
In the last few months, however, criminals across the world discovered other more nefarious uses, including stalking. Given its small form factor, the AirTag can be planted virtually anywhere, including behind the license place of cars or right in the wheel wells. As such, stalkers secretly installed the tracker into unsuspecting victims’ cars, eventually being able to monitor their location.
Apple has already fitted the AirTag with several protection systems, including a warning that is issued when the device moves with a nearby iPhone. The biggest shortcoming happens on Android devices, as users of Google’s mobile operating system need to manually scan for trackers using a dedicated Apple app. The next version of Android could automatically detect nearby trackers, just like it’s currently possible on the iPhone.
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