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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Sophie Collins

Woman tells terrifying story of 'being tracked' during day trip to Dublin with tiny device

A woman from Leeds has claimed that someone put an AirTag on her at Dublin Airport after she arrived in for a quick trip around the city with friends.

She took to TikTok to document the terrifying experience on her profile @geegreenxo and said she only discovered she was being monitored after landing back home in the UK.

Gee explained that as she touched down home, she turned her phone off airplane mode only to be presented with a notification immediately warning her that an AirTag had been with her since 8:13 am that morning.

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In a panic, she looked into the details of where it followed her from and to, only to find it had obviously been placed on her within minutes of arriving in Dublin and had been tracking her movements across the entire day.

In the short video she explained: “Been to Dublin today with my friend. Flew out this morning, flew back tonight, landed back in Leeds and I get this notification when I turn Airplane Mode off.

The notification read: “Your current location can be seen by the owner of this Airtag”.

The first notification that popped up on the woman's phone to alert her to being tracked (TikTok)

She went on to say: “So I’m like, ‘what’s this about?’ like it was the first thing that popped up on my phone when I turned Airplane Mode off.

“So, I clicked ‘OK’ at the bottom, and it then comes up with this ‘airtag detected’ sign that said it was ‘first thing with you today at 08:13 am.’

“Bearing in mind that at this time I was at Dublin Airport, I landed at about 8:00 am so had to go through security and things like that but at that time, I was at Dublin Airport.

“I thought, ‘this can’t be right,’ I don’t have an Airtag, and I’ve seen some videos about the glitches with Airpods, but I don’t own AirPods, I can’t afford them.

“So I had a look, to see had it been tracking me,” and then shared an image of the map of Dublin showing that the AirTag had been following her every movement in Dublin.

A screengrab showing every location in Dublin she had been tracked to (TikTok)

She said: “Everywhere that I have been in Dublin today, it has been tracking me. So it started at the Airport, which again was at 8:13 am, followed me all the way into the city centre, everywhere that I’ve been in the city centre it has been following me.

“To the point where it has actually, wait for it.. Followed me all the way over the Irish Sea.”

The AirTag stayed with her as she flew home from Dublin to Leeds (TikTok)

She went on the say that as soon as she landed back in Leeds and received the notification she was terrified that someone was following her.

She tried to play the sound to locate the AirTag but heard nothing, then tried to locate it with the ‘Find My’ feature on the iPhone, but it said it was unavailable.

“So, I couldn’t find it,” she said. “As soon as I got off the plane, I stripped off. I searched every single pocket, I searched my hair, I searched my shoes, I searched my bra, I searched absolutely everywhere.

“Then I thought, it has got to be in my bag. So I took my phone out, I took my passport out and I literally emptied my bag into the bin and watch.”

She then shows that the tracking ended exactly where she dumped the contents of her bag into the bin at the airport.

Screengrab showing that the tracking had ceased exactly where she dumped the contents of her bag (TikTok)

It’s understandable why she found it so hard to locate the tiny device which is a mere 1.26 inches in diameter, and it has a height of 0.31 inches, or 8mm and weighs 0.39 ounces.

“So the AirTag must have been put in my bag, or on my bag strap or anywhere”.

She went on to say she has no idea what to do now, and asked her followers for advice.

One person said: “You should have kept the AirTag because police are able to see who owns it, and can get full details of who tracked you”.

Another explained: “The reason it didn’t make a noise is because the person whose tag it is has removed the alarm out of the tag”.

According to Apple, “If any AirTag, AirPods, or other Find My network accessory separated from its owner is seen moving with you over time, you'll be notified.

“These features were created specifically to discourage people from trying to track you without your knowledge. If you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, Find My will send a notification to your Apple device. “

This feature is available on iOS or iPadOS 14.5 or later. To receive alerts, make sure that you:

  • Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services, and turn Location Services on.
  • Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services. Turn Find My iPhone on.
  • Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services. Turn Significant Locations on to be notified when you arrive at a significant location, such as your home.
  • Go to Settings > Bluetooth, and turn Bluetooth on.
  • Go to the Find My app, tap the Me tab, and turn Tracking Notifications on.
  • Turn off airplane mode. If your device is in airplane mode, you won't receive tracking notifications.

“If you don't have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, an AirTag that isn't with its owner for a period of time will emit a sound when it's moved.

“If you detect an unknown AirTag, Find My network accessory, or AirPods, use the steps below to learn about it, find it, and disable it.

“If you're using an Android device, you can download the Tracker Detect app to find an AirTag or Find My network accessory that's separated from its owner and might be traveling with you.”

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