In a TikTok video posted earlier this week, a woman in California revealed she found an Apple AirTag attached to her license plate, tracking her whereabouts throughout the night.
The user, @_ashleyscarlett was driving around the Los Angeles area with her cousin's girlfriend, when the passenger received a notification on her phone relaying that an AirTag had been detected near the phone.
"I'm literally fu**ing shaking," Ashley said in the first video. She later posted a follow up explaining the events in more detail.
@_ashleyscarlett This is something you see in movies 🥺😣🤯😱 #fyp sextrafficking
♬ original sound - ash 💕
In the video, Ashley shows a screenshot of the iPhone notification her cousin's girlfriend received when they were first alerted. The app shows every stop the car had made since the device was first detected, which they can see from the app, was at 7:34 p.m.
They were able to play a sound from the AirTag, much like the feature for iPhones when a user misplaces their device, and followed the sound to find the tag placed behind the plate.
By using the tracker already placed in her car by Dodge, Ashley said she was able to figure out when she first parked in Los Angeles, and it was just four minutes prior to the time when the tag was first detected on her car.
She contacted the police who she said described the incident as a "non life-threatening emergency" and to come into the station—though the station would not open until the next morning. Ashley said in the follow up video that she plans to contact Apple as she was able to find the last four digits of the phone number and serial number associated with the device.
@_ashleyscarlett Reply to @ann_baby7 #greenscreen #greenscreenvideo I will be contacting @apple with the air tags info but never in a million years did I think! 😭
♬ original sound - ash 💕
On Apple's website, the company outlines that the devices are designed to "discourage unwanted tracking."
"If someone else's AirTag finds its way into your stuff, your iPhone will notice it's traveling with you and send you an alert. After a while, if you still haven't found it, the AirTag will start playing a sound to let you know it's there," the website continued.
The company said these alerts are only triggered when the tag is separated from its owner.
It is not clear from the videos which police department Ashley made contact with, though she stated she lives in the Inland Empire area of California—a metro area adjacent to L.A.
Ryan Railsback, the public information officer for the Riverside police department said they don't have a recent report of such an incident though confirmed it is illegal to put a tracking device on someone's car without their consent.
"If caught and tracked back to the person who did it, they'll have consequences under the law," Railsback told Newsweek.
He said that while the crime would be considered a misdemeanor there could be possible fines or restitution.
A similar incident went viral in June when TikTok user @murasakisweetpotatoes posted a video explaining how she was alerted to an AirTag attached to her brother's car which she had been borrowing, reported In the Know.
The user said in a follow up video that Apple required a court order before giving law enforcement any information and instructed her to give authorities the serial number to the tag.
Newsweek contacted Ashely but she did not respond in time for publication.
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