After using AirTag to track down his luggage, a traveller found something unusual.
Apple AirTags have proven incredibly useful for tracking down our lost items, anywhere from lost car keys to personal vehicles.
And one California traveller's experience shows just how powerful these tiny devices can be when you need them most.
Daniel Scott was flying home to Los Angeles from Salt Lake City in August when his nightmare began.
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According to NBC Los Angeles, Scott searched multiple baggage carousels at LAX with no luck.
When he checked his phone for the Apple AirTag he'd cleverly hidden inside his suitcase, Scott noticed his luggage was leaving the rideshare area and moving away from the airport.
“I immediately started sprinting to the Uber lot. Once I got to the Uber lot, I saw that it was continuing to move, and it had reached across the street,” Scott described. “At that point, I’m like someone stole my bag for sure.”
Scott jumped into an Uber to follow the moving AirTag while his partner called LAX police to report the theft.
The AirTag's movement finally stopped about half a mile away at what Scott discovered was a boarded-up, abandoned building near Sepulveda Boulevard and 98th Street.
“I knew my luggage tag said that it was in the vicinity,” Scott said.
When officers used their flashlights to peer inside the abandoned building, they made a strange discovery.
“And then when the guys came to the window, (officers) lined them up in the window. I saw the guy with my clothes on – my shoes on, my shirt on, my pants on,” Scott described.
Police detained multiple people found inside the building.
Meanwhile, Scott's suitcase had been completely destroyed, sliced open and ransacked. His belongings were scattered throughout different rooms in the building, apparently being distributed among the thieves.
Despite the destruction, Scott managed to recover about 90% of his clothes, though his suitcase was a total loss. He's now urging other travellers to use AirTag technology to keep their stuff safe.
“It just gave me a fighting chance to find my luggage and retrieve it,” he said. “Craziest part of the tip – it was insane, absolutely.”
Apple launched AirTags in 2021 as coin-sized GPS devices designed to help people locate misplaced items, such as keys, wallets, and bags.
However, there's also a dark side to the convenient GPS tracker.
Given their small size, there have been reports of people slipping them into pockets or bags to track someone without them knowing.
In response, Apple teamed up with Google and other makers of Bluetooth trackers to send a push notification to users if an AirTag is moving with them, as well as a full step-by-step process guiding you through what you need to do..