Rash reported last week: “Last night I was out on 18th St with friends and was walking home and got a notification that my AirPods were being tracked via AirTag. Has this happened to anyone else??”
Unfortunately there have been a few reports of this happening to others and Samara shares this article: “Apple AirTags Can Be Used for Stalking, Other Crimes”
WHAT TO DO IF YOU’RE ALERTED TO AN UNKNOWN AIRTAG
If an Apple device owner gets an unknown AirTag alert, they can go to the Find My app to check it and hit “Continue and then tap Play Sound” to set off an AirTag’s beeping noise, according to the company.
Once an unwanted AirTag is found “you can use any device that has [Near Field Communication technology], such as an iPhone or Android phone, to see if its owner marked it as lost, and if you can help return it,” Apple says.
You can also find its serial number and the ending digits of the owner’s phone number. This can be done by holding “the top of your iPhone or NFC-capable smartphone near the white side of the AirTag until a notification appears,” that one can click for more information on the owner. Watch how you can do this here.
Apple advises taking a screenshot of this notification for documentation.
If you’ve determined that the AirTag is definitely a stranger’s, you might want to disable it by taking out its battery.
Instructions to do so are available on an Apple device user’s screen or by watching this video here.
Read the full article here.