An Australian tourist traveling through Bali has been urged to dispose of her bag after finding an Apple Airtag inside.
Emily Sinclair from Newcastle, from the Hunter region of NSW, was just a few days into her first holiday to Bali when she alerted her fellow tourists to a ‘strange noise’ coming from her bag.
Ms Sinclair and her partner had been hearing the noise off and on for several days while staying at a villa in Amed, in the east of the Indonesian island, when they decided to empty their bags to try and find the source.
After she emptied the entire contents of her suitcase, an Apple Airtag fell out.
“Neither of us have any Apple products and don’t have Airtag and we both completely emptied our bags before packing for the trip,” she revealed on Facebook.
“The battery is also made in Indonesia.”
Emily Sinclair (pictured) was vacationing in Bali when she found an Apple AirTag in her bag
The coin-sized tracker ‘pinged’ from her bag, meaning whoever put it there was close to Mrs. Sinclair’s villa
The couple immediately deactivated and disassembled the tracker, which according to battery information was made in Indonesia.
AirTags are coin-sized tracking devices that pair with iPhones and are designed to help owners keep track of keys, bags, or other important items.
Ms Sinclair said the discovery terrified them and assumed someone was following them.
“We disassembled the AirTag and left it in Amed – just wanted to see if this happened to anyone else and warn others to check your bags,” she wrote.
Ms Sinclair posted the warning on the hugely popular Bali Bogans Facebook page, where fellow travelers warned her.
“Dump that bag,” one wrote.
‘Foreign. I think I’d buy new bags before going to an airport just in case there’s something hidden in them,” said another.
However, an Apple Airtag owner said the ping sound may not be as sinister as Ms. Sinclair thought.
“AirTags are specifically designed NOT to be used to track people. AirTags are designed to last over a year on a standard battery. If someone else’s AirTag gets into your stuff, your iPhone will sense it’s traveling with you and send you an alert,” the person explained.
“If you still haven’t found it after a while, the AirTag will start playing a sound to let you know it’s there.”
Despite this, since its launch in April 2021, AirTags have been known to be used by thieves, predators, and stalkers to hunt helpless people or track them home.
On March 8, former Love Island star Montana Brown, 27, revealed she found an AirTag in her bag after landing in Los Angeles.
Former Love Island star Montana Brown revealed that when she landed in Los Angeles she also discovered an AirTag in her bag
Pregnant Ms Brown received a “pretty creepy” notification from her iPhone that one of the devices was “on her person” and not registered to her phone.
“I got a notification on my phone, like, ‘There’s an AirTag on your person that doesn’t belong to you and it doesn’t belong to anyone in your contacts, so someone can see your location,’ Ms Brown said.
“After going through security, I found an AirTag in my bag that tracked my location.
“So be careful when you travel, if you travel alone, because apparently this is a thing.”
Ms. Brown, unlike Ms. Sinclair, got the notification due to her iPhone being able to detect the presence of unregistered AirTags – unlike other phone brands.
AirTags connect to nearby iPhones via Bluetooth, so Apple’s “Find My” app alerts you if an unknown AirTag is found with someone “traveling,” even if they don’t have the app installed.
The device is also a favorite of car thieves, with criminals skillfully hiding the tiny trackers in crevices and behind license plates.
The thieves usually return at night when the owners are asleep and have left the cars on the street.
Travelers with luggage are easy targets for thieves who want to hide AirTags in small bags
AirTags have been skillfully found hidden in or on cars