Lower Providence Police Say An Apple AirTag Followed A Resident Home From The Movies

LOWER PROVIDENCE, PA — Township police announced that a suspicious incident occurred late last week in which a resident reported that they had just returned home from the movies when their iPhone alerted them that an electronic device had been following them.

The message that popped up on their phone declared: "Unknown Accessory Detected — This Item Has Been Moving With You For A While."

Lower Providence police say it was ultimately determined that the victim had been followed by an Apple AirTag, a small electronic device the size of a quarter that is becoming a popular and inexpensive way for people to track their belongings, but one that criminals are also taking advantage of for stalking purposes or to track vehicles they want to steal.

The victim in the Lower Providence case said they had returned to their home, in the 600 block of Barrington Road, around 8:44 p.m. Jan. 14 from the Movie Tavern in neighboring Upper Providence Township when they received the message on their cell phone about the device that had been tracking them.

A second message on the victim's phone stated: "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 was able to see on a map that the device had originated at the Movie Tavern and that it had traveled along their route until they returned to their residence, according to police.

Police said at this time, the victim looked out their front window and saw an unfamiliar vehicle parked down the road from their home and that when the victim 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," reads a police bulletin about the incident.

Police asked people to be aware of their surroundings and to contact the authorities if they get suspicious messages on their phones similar to the ones in the Lower Providence case.