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This is weird. I had this notification pop up on my android phone earlier, that it had detected an unknown Apple Airtag travelling with me.
The above is from my notification history. I can't pull up the original notification but it included a small street map that showed a line from this supermarket I was at earlier, to my home street.
This freaked me out a bit as I was at the supermarket on my little vespa scooter and I thought maybe someone might have planted an Airtag on the bike while I was inside to see where I park it, for later on, obviously for theft.
There is an Apple app in the Android Playstore that you can download to scan for airtags, and when I do that it tells me that one has been detected. It also says that you can make it play a sound.
When I try to play a sound, it seems to try to connect but never does, eventually failing.
I've been out to my scooter and have physically checked everywhere I can think of that one could have been stashed but can't find anything. Also, the scan picks up the tag again by the bike but it still won't play a sound, same as in the house.
I've never come across this before and was wondering if anyone else on here might have done.
It's made me kind of paranoid about the bike tonight I have to say.
Have you got another phone you can scan with to see if it finds it?
What happens when you do a scan when you're not near the scooter?
If it doesn't find one then I'd say there is one on the scooter.
It is possible to remove the speaker from an AirTag to prevent it sounding
I thought that, but it doesn't connect. You'd think that if it was connected and playing a sound (despite no speaker) that it would tell me and I would just get the spinning wheel of nothing happening.
A guy reviewing the Android app noted that it wouldn't force an airtag to play a sound so it might be a "feature" op.
I wonder if you might have better success finding the thing with a borrowed iPhone?
What happens when you do a scan when you’re not near the scooter?
That's where i got the notification originally. Sat in my house with the scooter parked up the street about 5 houses away.
It says there is one when I'm in the house AND by the bike, though the sound playing feature won't connect in either place
Have you got another phone you can scan with to see if it finds it?
Just loaded the app on my partners Android and it finds an unknown Airtag on that too.
Definitely won't connect to play a sound.
That would freak me out a bit. Good luck in getting to the bottom of it.
Good luck, I would be paranoid too, id go full Gene Hackman to find the thing
I don't think Vespas have rocker panels 🙂
Don't know anyone with an iPhone but I'll ask about a bit.
Might go and put my movement sensor disc lock alarm on the scoot too.
Just loaded the app on my partners Android and it finds an unknown Airtag on that too.
What happens if your partner takes their phone down the road like 100m (away from the scooter and you and your house) and tries it there?
MACWORLD.COM Have you checked your pockets? Not looking after a neighbour's cat and got their house keys?
Don’t know anyone with an iPhone but I’ll ask about a bit
they have 52% market share in the uk and you don’t know anyone with one?
do you take the Vespa to work, tomorrow would show if it’s on that or in your house.
Or if you are more worried about it, go out tonight.
Is it a bright yellow or orange GTS300? They're really pretty!
I'd be moving it into an alarmed garage if your able, but your buggered if it is a rouge criminal air tag as they now know where it lives....
The scooter is at the end of our small street locked to a telegraph pole. Hopefully trying to mess about with it would set the alarm off at least and I can lean out the window shaking my fist.
I don't want to bring it into our back yard as I've got an Asgard shed.
I'm sure I must know someone with an iPhone but it's not something I've noticed and it's 10pm on a school night so I don't want to bother anyone.
What happens if your partner takes their phone down the road like 100m (away from the scooter and you and your house) and tries it there?
This.
Kind of doesn't tell you anything useful really as they could be airtags on someone's keys in their house or something.
Is it a bright yellow or orange GTS300? They’re really pretty!
No, it's an 11 year old LML 125 manual, so not even a real Vespa but Indian made under license. Deffo not worth loads, but I enjoy it and would prefer that it wasn't stolen.
Could you ride it to a local police station and see if the AirTag moves? One of the police officers will probably have an iPhone.
wzzzz
Free Member
Try a faraday cage, Wrap the scooter completely in tinfoil, then move it.
I like your style but we could go full mission creep and hit the whole scooter with an EMP blast.
The scooter won't start afterwards but at least the airtag will be toast.
If the Americans can do it to a B52 then a scooter should be cake walk.
They start chirping either when in a faraday cage or when released from one, the internet is not sure.
The Faraday cage for car remote and AirTag problem
byu/pointthinker inAirTags
So wrap the scooter in tinfoil, listen for chirps.
If none, leave awhile then remove the tin foil and listen for chirps.
Hold up....
This seems just like a scam message to get you to engage.... there's no way you'd get an alert like that on an android phone for obvious reasons...
was it just an SMS/text mesage? = SCAM
mattyfez - no android devices have functionality in them to alert users to Apple and other AirTag style trackers than seem to be disconnected from their host but in proximity to you.
you can launch a scan at anytime from your Android device by doing: Settings → Safety & emergency → Unknown tracker alerts and tap the “Scan Now” button
the range on an air tag is about 30m, if there are no obstructions you might get lucky with slightly more. If you add walls it will go down. So if it’s showing up indoors and at the scooter 5 houses away then its unlikely to be on the scooter.
its not impossibly that it’s something nefarious but I’ve had these alerts just sitting on a train.
I did initially think scam as earlier today I got this random text message.
But this notification came from Google Play Services so seemed legit.
its not impossibly that it’s something nefarious but I’ve had these alerts just sitting on a train.
Good to know thanks.
LIVE UPDATE
It's 5.10am, can't sleep, scooter currently still there when I look out of the window.
android devices have functionality in them to alert users to Apple and other AirTag style trackers than seem to be disconnected from their host but in proximity to you.
you can launch a scan at anytime from your Android device by doing: Settings → Safety & emergency → Unknown tracker alerts and tap the “Scan Now” button
Thanks for that. I've tried a scan this way and it doesn't find one (lying in bed). A new scan with the Apple app still finds one however.
Using the inbuilt Android scanner that Poly mentions above, it seems to locate the Airtag (unlike 25 minutes ago) and it looks like a sound is being played.
I can't hear anything though and interestingly, the sound playing works in the house, but not when I'm stood right by the bike. It can't connect then.
Have you ever scanned the bike before?
Did your phone just update and newly has the ability to find such things?
Maybe the previous owner fitted it - are they contactable?
Glad it's still there.
Have you ever scanned the bike before?
Did your phone just update and newly has the ability to find such things?
Maybe the previous owner fitted it – are they contactable?
Never scanned before. Don't think the phone has updated or owt.
I'm wondering if it's just someone nearby who came back from the same area at the same time as me.
Just walked the dog and couldn't pick up the tag away from the street.
I've since been able to look at the map that I saw originally because of the tips Poly gave, and actually, the original travel path of the tag doesn't go from the supermarket I was at but in fact a 1/4 mile away in the housing estate.
It also doesn't come back to my street via the roads but is an as the crow flies straight line, which I suppose is all that level of tracking tech is capable of.
I'm slightly less paranoid, but still, it's all a bit odd.
I can’t hear anything though and interestingly, the sound playing works in the house, but not when I’m stood right by the bike. It can’t connect then.
First of all, an unpleasant and unnerving feeling. I hope you resolve it soon
I'd be inclined to look through clothing, shopping bag and the sorts of things that made the same trip with you and the bike but are now in and around your house
Baddies always hide stuff in the heel of a shoe, but watch out for wee before you pick them up 🙂 🙂
An AirTag detector app will presumably find any AirTags within range. I’d expect to find at least six in my house usually, but probably twice or three times that as there are other houses and gardens and a street within range. It’s specifically the “following” AirTag you could be concerned about, rather than any that turn up in a scan. Take the Vespa somewhere remote and scan there: if there’s an AirTag on you or on the Vespa you’ll still detect it (and probably be told that it’s travelling with you). I think I’ve had notifications while driving along the A1/A1M though, so it’s not entirely foolproof.
Meanwhile in the supermarket ...
The air tag itself has no GPS capability, it relies on its location being inferred from proximity to phones which do have that ability. I assume that an android user looking that the history map of an air tag you can only see the location YOU have assigned to it rather than any locations inferred from other peoples phones, so “as the crow flies” suggests it was close you at the start of that and the end of that but probably not for some time in between. I think the AirTag check in Android only shows devices which are out of range of their parent device, eg if I had an AirTag and an iPhone paired to it, but my iPhone is close to the AirTag it wouldn’t alert my neighbour. Of course if my phone battery is dead, or I leave it at home and take my air tagged keys with me that would make nearby android devices suspicious. If the same tag comes up at multiple locations in a short period of time - Android thinks you might be being stalked.
so how can that happen innocently? A neighbour puts an air tag on their keys and goes for a run when their phone battery has died. They happen to be close to you on the run then again at home. Alternatively they put an AirTag on a cat’s collar. When they are home the tag is paired to them, but when they are away from home or the cat is on the prowl it’s unpaired and could appear in your alerts.
Shouldn’t be too hard to take yourself and the scooter to middle of nowhere (100m from other people) and eliminate that tag being on either of you.
Presumably if it is on a pet and you make it ring they will be very confused?
I can’t hear anything though
I can barely hear AirTags of my own when I ask them to make a noise.
If the AirTag is in your neighbour’s house on their keys presumably they’ll be noticing the occasional beeping at some point.
Is it possible that you’re detecting different AirTags in different places?
Admittedly, it does require that the AirTag is close to you for some while before you’re alerted on iPhone. But in a store or even on the street that’s possible. At home, more likely to be a neighbour or animal collar?
IDK if putting a £35 AirTag on an old scooter is the MO of many prospective thieves. Seems a bit overly conspiratorial.
IDK if putting a £35 AirTag on an old scooter is the MO of many prospective thieves.
Hiding an AirTag to the extent the poster can’t find it on a Vespa seems like more work than just knicking it from outside the supermarket.
Is it hammered into your lawn inside a frozen sausage?
Thanks all, particularly Poly. Really helpful and makes me a little less paranoid.
Is it hammered into your lawn inside a frozen sausage?
What if I'd been buying frozen sausages at the supermarket? Makes you think.
Hiding an AirTag to the extent the poster can’t find it on a Vespa seems like more work than just nicking it from outside the supermarket.
Yes, it did occur to me that there surely must be bigger fish out there, but hey, people nick anything.
Anyway, while I was sat having breakfast, I was ringing the Airtag repeatedly so hopefully that'll annoy a cat at the very least.