Lower Providence Township: Police Report Suspicious Activity Related To Air Tag

Press release from the Lower Providence Township:

January 17, 2022 - 12:21pm

On Friday, January 14, 2022 at 8:44 PM, the Lower Providence Township Police Department was dispatched to the 600 block of Barrington Road for suspicious activity.  The victim advised that they had just returned home from the Movie Tavern, located in Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County, when they received an IMessage on their I-Phone from Apple declaring the following message:

“Unknown Accessory Detected – This Item Has Been Moving With You For A While”

When the victim went inside their home, they looked at their phone again and received an additional message that read: “Safety Alert, Your Current Location Can Be Seen By The Owner Of This Item.  You May Be Carrying This Item, Or It Could Be Located Closely.  If This Item Is Not Familiar To You, You Can Disable It And Stop Sharing Your Location.”    

The victim then received a map of the area showing that at 7:19 PM, the device was activated by the Movie Tavern and then travelled along the map until they returned to their residence at 8:38 PM.  The victim looked out their front window and observed an unknown vehicle sitting just down the roadway from their residence and when they approached the vehicle it slowly drove away. As the vehicle was driving away, the victim received another notification on their phone that the device was currently driving eastbound and then eventually disconnected once the vehicle was out of sight. 

The vehicle in question was described as an older model, light gray or silver hatchback, possibly a Subaru. 

The device used on this victim’s vehicle was an Apple Air Tag, which is equivalent to the size of a quarter.  Apple Air Tags are relatively inexpensive and are becoming a very popular item created for the consumer to keep track of their belongings, such as keys and wallets. Unfortunately, criminals are starting to use this technology for several reasons such as stalking purposes or to track vehicles they want to steal.  The battery life of an Apple Air Tag can last for more than a year before needing to be replaced. Even though Apple Air Tags are designed to discourage unwanted tracking, it can still occur. 

Police urge everyone to be vigilant of their surroundings and if you get a notification like the one reported in this incident, call 9-1-1 immediately.

If anyone has additional information pertaining to this investigation, please contact the Lower Providence Township Police Department at (610) 539-5901.

Released under the authority of: Michael Jackson Chief of Police

This press release was produced by the Lower Providence Township. The views expressed here are the author’s own.