We have seen many unorthodox uses of Apple Air Tagsincluding serious violations of privacy, with people spying on their ex-partner and parents tracking their children.
AirTags were created by Apple to recover lost or stolen items, and here we have a good example of its usefulness. A luggage thief stopped thanks to an AirTag.
At the beginning of August, Several suitcase thefts at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport in Florida have drawn the attention of the authorities. So the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office decided to launch an investigation.
The first clue, which in the end turned out to be key, was given by a victim who reported her suitcase stolen, with valuables over $1,600. The AirTag that he had entered into it reflected that he was in the district of Kathy Court in Mary Esther.
But the location wasn’t accurate, and a lot of people live there, so it wasn’t enough to find the thief, as Apple Insider explains.
A second clue came thanks to the other complaints. Almost all of them were suitcases containing valuable objects: one victim claimed the suitcase contained $15,000 worth of jewelry.
Also, all stolen bags were marked as lost/stolen, in the airport’s computer system.
It was like if the thief had had time to choose the suitcases more likely to contain valuables, or even have access to the airport’s computer system. Namely, It seemed to be an employee.
The next step was the most logical: the police he tracked down the airport employees who lived in the Kathy Court area who had revealed the AirTag. There was only one: a 19-year-old named Giovanni De Luca, who was outsourced to transport luggage.
They arrested him at his home, and they found the jewels worth 15,000 dollars. Curiously, they were unable to recover the suitcase containing the AirTag, as the thief had discovered the device and destroyed it. He possibly got rid of it and sold the items to remove the evidence.
A AirTag “dead” in the line of duty, who could not help his owner, but other victims of the robbery. Well done!