AirTag hidden in luggage forces tourists to change vacation plans

AppleInsider

Australian travelers made major changes to their trip to Bali after discovering someone had placed an AirTag into their luggage.

AirTag on a bag.

Emily Sinclair had paid a visit to Bali with her partner Jane for a vacation. Plans for the trip changed dramatically after Emily found an AirTag had been slipped into a bag.

"It gave us quite a fright," said Sinclair.

The AirTag was discovered after a "strange noise" was heard from one of the bags.

"We took the battery out straight away and dismantled it and saw that the device was made in Indonesia, so we believe it was put into Jane's bag at the airport on arrival," reports 7News.

"We are both very seasoned and careful travelers and have never had anything like this happen before," she continued. "Our bags never left our backs, and the main compartment of the bags were locked. The device was found in a front pocket of Jane's backpack that isn't able to be locked."

The discovery of the tracker spooked the couple. After feeling "really unsafe" about being in a small village called Amed with the concern that someone could be looking for them, they made a big change to their trip.

Despite having eight nights of accommodation left in the village, they took a taxi to the more populated Kuta three hours away.

Ultimately, the event was too much to enjoy the rest of the trip. The couple paid to change flights and flew home earlier.

"We had no idea why or how it got into Jane's bag, but we felt that if somebody had gone to the trouble to put it there, they were intending to use it," Emily added. "So it really frightened us, and we just wanted to get home as soon as possible."

Apple has incorporated a number of anti-stalking features into its AirTag, including emitting a periodic beep if it's separated from its owner for a period of time. This was the sound the couple heard on their trip.

An AirTag seemingly traveling along with someone who isn't the owner can also trigger an alert on an iPhone. The couple admits they didn't own any Apple products, so they wouldn't have seen it.

Despite the protective measures, AirTag has featured in a number of stories where someone attempted to track someone or something else. It has repeatedly been used in stalking attempts, which has led to arrests on the discovery of the tag.

It has also been used to track vehicles, including an owner's car that was taken by thieves in North Carolina, and in New York, to seemingly monitor a patrolling NYPD police car.

AirTag prices start at $29, with Amazon running a sale right now on the 4-pack.

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indiekiduk

if it was beeping it has been put in lost mode which means someone lost it some how

beowulfschmidt

indiekiduk said:

if it was beeping it has been put in lost mode which means someone lost it some how

I thought they would start beeping all on their own after a certain amount of time?  Was that changed?

Regardless, I'm skeptical that someone "lost" an AirTag in someone else's backpack.

LouLouD

Apple has incorporated a number of anti-stalking features into its AirTag, including emitting a periodic beep if it's separated from its owner for a period of time. This was the sound the couple heard on their trip.

GrannySmith99

Just because the device was made in Indonesia, does not mean that was where it was put into the backpack!

Xed

I hope they contact Apple so the identity of the tracker can be determined.

indiekiduk said:

if it was beeping it has been put in lost mode which means someone lost it some how

That is not how the anti-stalking feature works. It will make a sound if it's traveling with you but not with the owner's Apple device.

EsquireCats

Just a tip: If you find any tracking device on you - then go to a new location prior to disabling it, since the last location will be known to the stalker and you don't want to force their hand to seek you out at your actual location.

Also instead of throwing out the tracker, consider attaching it to a benign moving object, so that a stalker will be confused and drawn away from you e.g. put it in an envelope and post it to the police, put it in a public waste receptacle, leave it on a bus, etc - just don't put it on another person. You don't want the stalker to have any certainty over your whereabouts.

sbdude

GrannySmith99 said:

Just because the device was made in Indonesia, does not mean that was where it was put into the backpack!

That was the best quote I've read all day. I guess I bought my phone in China!

Clearly these two aren't the loudest airtags in the bag.

bloggerblog

The reason AirTags get a lot of news coverage is because the anti stalking feature works. Had it been a Tile or SmartTag they may've never noticed.

Xed

bloggerblog said:

The reason AirTags get a lot of news coverage is because the anti stalking feature works. Had it been a Tile or SmartTag they may've never noticed.

Instead it could've been a story about how an Australian couple were murdered on their Bali trip.

Himay

This whole story is BS for two reasons. First, Airtags aren't made in Indonesia. They are made in China. The manufacturer, Foxconn doesn't even have plants in Indonesia. Second, the Airtag only beeps under two circumstances. Either the owner put it in lost mode and why would a stalker do that and alert the person they are stalking, or the Airtag isn't travelling with the owner AND it is detected as travelling with another Apple device. Since these two said they don't own Apple devices, the Airtag wouldn't have alerted it was travelling with someone else.

Xed

Himay said:

This whole story is BS for two reasons. First, Airtags aren't made in Indonesia. They are made in China. The manufacturer, Foxconn doesn't even have plants in Indonesia. Second, the Airtag only beeps under two circumstances. Either the owner put it in lost mode and why would a stalker do that and alert the person they are stalking, or the Airtag isn't travelling with the owner AND it is detected as travelling with another Apple device. Since these two said they don't own Apple devices, the Airtag wouldn't have alerted it was travelling with someone else.

1) I believe the AirTag emits a sound when moved regardless of whether the people moving with a rogue AirTag have an Apple device not. It would seem folly for Apple to suggest that an AirTag should only prevent stalking from people who own Apple devices. If you own an Apple device it will also display on screen, which I hope gets opened up for Android devices to access, too.

2) Every pic of the AirTag that I found shows "Assembled in China" on the back cover, but under that cover the CR 2032 batteries all seem to say "Made in Indonesia." Since the women took the AirTag apart to disable it don't think it's possible that they saw Indonesia on the battery, even if their logic of why it would say that is incorrect?

Here's iFixit's teardown of the AirTag showing the battery.

nzmac

Maybe someone was tracking the unmarried couple so they can apple the Bali sex ban

bloggerblog

Xed said:

Himay said:

This whole story is BS for two reasons. First, Airtags aren't made in Indonesia. They are made in China. The manufacturer, Foxconn doesn't even have plants in Indonesia. Second, the Airtag only beeps under two circumstances. Either the owner put it in lost mode and why would a stalker do that and alert the person they are stalking, or the Airtag isn't travelling with the owner AND it is detected as travelling with another Apple device. Since these two said they don't own Apple devices, the Airtag wouldn't have alerted it was travelling with someone else.

1) I believe the AirTag emits a sound when moved regardless of whether the people moving with a rogue AirTag have an Apple device not. It would seem folly for Apple to suggest that an AirTag should only prevent stalking from people who own Apple devices. If you own an Apple device it will also display on screen, which I hope gets opened up for Android devices to access, too.

2) Every pic of the AirTag that I found shows "Assembled in China" on the back cover, but under that cover the CR 2032 batteries all seem to say "Made in Indonesia." Since the women took the AirTag apart to disable it don't think it's possible that they saw Indonesia on the battery, even if their logic of why it would say that is incorrect?

1) There's an Apple Android app for AirTags. Until there's a standard, it'll always be an app.

They should reach out to Apple to find out who it belongs to and open a Police report.

mknelson

nzmac said:

Maybe someone was tracking the unmarried couple so they can apple the Bali sex ban

That doesn't apply to foreigners - they also haven't taken effect yet.

Himay said:

This whole story is BS for two reasons. First, Airtags aren't made in Indonesia. They are made in China. The manufacturer, Foxconn doesn't even have plants in Indonesia. Second, the Airtag only beeps under two circumstances. Either the owner put it in lost mode and why would a stalker do that and alert the person they are stalking, or the Airtag isn't travelling with the owner AND it is detected as travelling with another Apple device. Since these two said they don't own Apple devices, the Airtag wouldn't have alerted it was travelling with someone else.

The Airtag could have reacted to somebody they were travelling with - somebody in a neighbouring room perhaps.

And everything Xed said.

AppleZulu

There are a lot of incorrect assumptions and disinformation in this thread. Maybe read up on the tech before writing about it. 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212227

lordjohnwhorfin

Just do what I do, stay home and stare at the wall.

robin huber

Concerned that anti-stalking measures such as periodic beep have lessened the tag’s effectiveness. We got them as much for theft as loss, and beeping will alert thief to its presence. My bag was first lost by airlines during a transfer, then stolen from wherever it had ended up. This was a year before AirTags appeared. 

Madbum

Complete BS

These are Australian Social media idiots looking for some publicity.

No apple AirPods are made in Indonesia , Apple should sue these morons

Madbum

beowulfschmidt said:

indiekiduk said:

if it was beeping it has been put in lost mode which means someone lost it some how

I thought they would start beeping all on their own after a certain amount of time?  Was that changed?

Regardless, I'm skeptical that someone "lost" an AirTag in someone else's backpack.

You should be skeptical of these liars and attention whores . air pods are not made in Indonesia . 

Case closed 

sflagel

AppleZulu said:

There are a lot of incorrect assumptions and disinformation in this thread. Maybe read up on the tech before writing about it. 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212227

So. If you put an AirTag in your check-in suitcase, it will start beeping throughout the flight?

(the user manuals for Apple products are as long as they used to be for MS Office applications….)