An AirTag ruins a double car theft attempt in Texas

There have been many incidences where we have reported an AirTag used to stalk someone or for some sort of malicious purposes, but now a new report comes to show that it is not only bad news surrounding Apple's item tracker. 9to5Mac reports that in Texas, an Apple AirTag was responsible for unveiling a double car theft in progress.

AirTag interrupts a double car theft in Texas

These thieves won't be happy with their little AirTag tool this time. In Texas, a motorist was heading to work when he received the ominous notification that an AirTag was moving with him. He then immediately reported the incident to the police. The little item tracker was found between the seats in the vehicle.

Pretty much, the driver had just purchased the used truck with an $800 down payment. The notification arrived because the AirTag is designed in such a way (to prevent exactly this type of occurrence from happening), that your iPhone will notify you when a tracker that's not linked to your phone is traveling with you. Basically, this is done to prevent any type of stalking attempts.

So, it seems the purchased truck in this situation was in fact, stolen. The police suspected the truck's identification number has been altered, and then found out that the vehicle was reported missing. The presence of the AirTag in the truck basically means the thieves were tracking it, probably to steal it again from the person who just bought it, thinking it was legit.

In the end, the actual owner of the truck was reunited with his machine thanks to the AirTag which actually ruined the thieves' master plan. Unfortunately, though, the man who purchased the used vehicle cannot recover his money, at least not until the offenders have been caught.

But the AirTag's handiness is a bit controversial

There have been many instances where the AirTag has proven useful. Recently, we reported on one Army family moving to a new post which was able to bust a lying mover with an AirTag. Valerie McNulty was planning her move from Colorado to New Jersey, and has thoughtfully placed an AirTag inside her items. When the mover called her, telling her he had just picked her belongings, she knew he was lying and actually just a few hours away from her.


Swimsuit model from Sports Illustrated, Brooks Nader, has recently shared that she seems to have been stalked for hours using an AirTag. She reported she received the notification on her way home after bar-hopping in New York, and she believes the stalking has been going on for hours before that. Of course, there's no way to confirm when the AirTag was placed in the model's coat.

The AirTag has a system aimed at preventing stalking, but details on it and how it works are scarce. Pretty much, it should display a notification that the AirTag (not linked to your phone) is moving with you after a certain amount of time. In the beginning, this amount of time was around three days, now, it will make a beeping sound between 8-24 hours after a device is detected moving with an unregistered phone (via the BBC). 8 hours is a long time for someone to track you home, though. So, it's not all fine and dandy as of now.