Stalker hides AirTag in model's coat to track her for hours across bars in New York City
Since AirTags were introduced by Apple last year, there have been speculations about whether or not maliciously-intended individuals could use the item-tracking accessory to stalk or follow someone. Since then, Apple has underlined the AirTags were designed to prevent stalking and to ensure they cannot be used for malicious purposes.
However, instances of AirTag-stalking have been recorded. Now, AppleInsider reports about another situation that recently occurred with Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Brooks Nader, who discovered she was being tracked by someone in a dark alleyway late at night.
An AirTag was used to track model Brooks Nader
The incident happened when Brooks Nader was bar-hopping in New York City one evening, and she detailed in a post on Instagram what had happened in an attempt to raise awareness and warn people to be careful. She said she had her coat on the back of a chair in a bar, then moved to another bar with her friends, and then to another, etc. It is possible the AirTag was placed inside her coat at some point when she was enjoying the evening with her friends.
She said she didn't receive any notification when she was at the bars. However, when she was walking home (alone) in the night she suddenly received a notification on her iPhone that she was being tracked with an AirTag. She stated the person had stalked her for five hours across the different bars she visited. When she got home, she discovered the AirTag in her coat.
"It was the scariest, scariest moment ever," she said in her Instagram post. "And I just want everyone to be aware of that this exists." She added that before the incident, she didn't even know AirTags existed.
Nader's scary incident is not the only time that AirTags were discovered to be used to track someone or for malicious purposes.
Other recent AirTag incidents
Recently, we reported about a similar situation involving an AirTag being used to track, but this time, not a person, but a person's car with the possible purpose of stealing it. The victim again received a notification informing them that an AirTag is moving with them.
Tapping the notification allows you to make the AirTag play a sound so you could easily discover where it is situated. In the case of John Nelson that we are talking about here, the item-tracker was placed underneath his Dodge Charger. It seems the person who placed it even unscrewed the drain cap beneath the trunk of the car to tuck the tracker inside and out of view.
Another similar incident happened to a Twitter user by the name of Jeana Jeana. She found herself being stalked by an AirTag illegally placed somewhere in her car. The notification she had was the same as the two aforementioned cases, by a message "AirTag Found Moving with You".
You may find interesting:AirTags and SmartTags: Apple is doing a better job to prevent unwanted tracking
Apple recently launched an Android app that notifies an Android user if an AirTag is used to track them
Apple's system to prevent tracking will make sure to send you a notification if you have an iPhone. And now, Android users can also be alerted in the case someone is tracking them with an AirTag. The app made by Apple for that purpose is called Tracker Detect and it is now available on the Google Play Store.
Things that are NOT allowed: