Woman allegedly made disturbing discovery on car after receiving unusual message: 'New fear unlocked'

A woman said she made a disturbing discovery on the car she’d been driving after receiving an unexpected alert.

TikTok user @murasakisweetpotatoes took to the app to share her experience and seek advice from the audience.

“Happy birthday to me … big emergency,” she said. “I’m relying on TikTok, as always, to tell me what the f*** is going on. I was notified like 30 minutes ago that an AirTag was following me.”

An AirTag is a device similar to the Tile that tracks easily misplaced objects like a purse or a set of keys. The gadget uses Bluetooth to ping its location to nearby Apple products.

“I found a tracking device behind the license plate of my brother’s car that I’ve been driving,” @murasakisweetpotatoes said, trying to smile through what appeared to be a horrifying situation. “While as a Gemini I feel flattered, as a citizen, I feel concerned … we called local law enforcement …. and police took the serial number, so we’ll see what happens.”

In a follow-up post, the TikToker alleged that she received a notification from the “Find My” app on her phone that a device nearby. Her brother confirmed that he had no idea where it came from and didn’t even know what an AirTag was.

According to Apple’s official website, that featured is “designed to discourage unwanted tracking.” If someone else’s AirTag becomes attached to your or your items in any way, it will send you an alert. If you still haven’t found it after some time, it will start playing a sound, so you know it’s there.

These alerts are only triggered when an AirTag is separated from its owner, so you would not receive an alert if you were traveling with one, say, on a train with other Apple device users.

User @murasakisweetpotatoes clarified that if there was a notification, she didn’t hear one. This was most likely because the AirTag was attached to the outside of the car.

She claimed Apple required her to give law enforcement the serial number of the stray device and required a court order before giving law enforcement any information regarding the device’s owner.

“This could have been completely random or someone stalking my little brother,” @murasakisweetpotatoes said. She claimed that police told her they were too busy when she followed up with them about the incident and said she should call back in a week.

She did not have any more answers about who could have placed the device behind the car’s license plate.

The incident left commenters spooked.

“New fear unlocked,” one user said.

“This is so scary,” another wrote.

“When I heard about this device, it REALLY creeped me out. I don’t really see any other purpose other than stalking,” a third remarked.

These delicious keto recipes will get you through the summer:

In The Know is now available on Apple News — follow us here!

If you found this story interesting, read more about a woman who found a Tile in her purse after eating at a restaurant.

More from In The Know:

Woman claims neighbor called police over her “dressing inappropriately”

Barack Obama’s first presidential memoir is out now — and it’s cheaper to read with Kindle

These inexpensive silky-soft pillowcases on Amazon are good for your hair and your skin

The 3 most affordable meal delivery kits for cooking at home

The post Woman allegedly made disturbing discovery under license plate after receiving an unusual message appeared first on In The Know.