Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Car theft gangs have found yet another nefarious use of Apple’s AirTag: they install the tracker on cars stolen to order specifically to let their customers keep an eye on vehicles.
This way, the new owners can monitor the ordered cars as they are shipped to their locations.
Insurance company NFU Mutual released a warning for luxury car owners after discovering an AirTag on a recovered Range Rover. The SUV was about to ship to Africa to a new owner.
Car thieves use AirTags to offer premium services, as options to monitor stolen vehicles double as a guarantee that customers get what they paid for.
As such, experts recommend car owners to always keep an eye out for potential AirTags planted in their vehicles. The most common places to hide an Apple tracker are behind the license plate or in the wheel wells. Once they are planted, AirTags provide thieves with information on the vehicle's location, allowing them to monitor the whereabouts specifically to find the proper method and time to steal it.
Eventually, the AirTags are repurposed to let the thieves’ customers monitor the location of the vehicle, most often as it’s loaded in a shipping container to be sent to an overseas location.
Apple launched AirTags specifically to let customers monitor their belongings, such as car keys or wallets. Its small form factor, however, has become a double-edged sword, as the device can be placed virtually anywhere. This is why criminals turn to the tracker for things like stalking and monitoring cars they want to steal.
AirTags connect to the Find My network and can transmit location information to the owner using nearby iPhones. The tracker connects to smartphones in proximity and sends GPS coordinates, with the Find My app eventually processing the data to mark the location on the map.
Apple has already implemented a series of privacy protections, though it’s pretty clear they’re not enough to ensure the right use of the device. The tracker sends a notification to a nearby iPhone when traveling with the smartphone, warning the owner of potential stalking activity.
The bigger concern happens on Android devices. Owners of phones powered by Google’s mobile operating system must download an application from the Google Play Store and manually scan for nearby AirTags. On iPhones, AirTags can natively generate warnings without any configuration on the device.
The insurance company tells expensive car owners to also install tracking devices into their vehicles, as such equipment could help recover them before it’s too late. Also, parking the car in a garage or in well-lit areas is definitely recommended. In the case of keyless vehicles, keeping the keys locked in boxes that block signal transmission could help prevent electronic key cloning.
Insurance company NFU Mutual released a warning for luxury car owners after discovering an AirTag on a recovered Range Rover. The SUV was about to ship to Africa to a new owner.
Car thieves use AirTags to offer premium services, as options to monitor stolen vehicles double as a guarantee that customers get what they paid for.
As such, experts recommend car owners to always keep an eye out for potential AirTags planted in their vehicles. The most common places to hide an Apple tracker are behind the license plate or in the wheel wells. Once they are planted, AirTags provide thieves with information on the vehicle's location, allowing them to monitor the whereabouts specifically to find the proper method and time to steal it.
Eventually, the AirTags are repurposed to let the thieves’ customers monitor the location of the vehicle, most often as it’s loaded in a shipping container to be sent to an overseas location.
Apple launched AirTags specifically to let customers monitor their belongings, such as car keys or wallets. Its small form factor, however, has become a double-edged sword, as the device can be placed virtually anywhere. This is why criminals turn to the tracker for things like stalking and monitoring cars they want to steal.
AirTags connect to the Find My network and can transmit location information to the owner using nearby iPhones. The tracker connects to smartphones in proximity and sends GPS coordinates, with the Find My app eventually processing the data to mark the location on the map.
Apple has already implemented a series of privacy protections, though it’s pretty clear they’re not enough to ensure the right use of the device. The tracker sends a notification to a nearby iPhone when traveling with the smartphone, warning the owner of potential stalking activity.
The bigger concern happens on Android devices. Owners of phones powered by Google’s mobile operating system must download an application from the Google Play Store and manually scan for nearby AirTags. On iPhones, AirTags can natively generate warnings without any configuration on the device.
The insurance company tells expensive car owners to also install tracking devices into their vehicles, as such equipment could help recover them before it’s too late. Also, parking the car in a garage or in well-lit areas is definitely recommended. In the case of keyless vehicles, keeping the keys locked in boxes that block signal transmission could help prevent electronic key cloning.
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