Tiktokker warns women after tracking device was placed into her bag at nightclub…

[Ammi]

…this story has been on my newsfeed for a few days so I thought that I’d post it…it’s an extremely scary thing….an ‘advanced technology way of stalking …’…

5xpAjkdABBo


A woman on TikTok has gone viral after sharing that someone planted a tracking device on her while she was out partying with friends.

Sheridan Ellis, a TikToker from Texas, posted a video explaining a scary experience she had while out for a birthday get-together in a restaurant, and how it could have turned sinister.

“Quick story time/PSA, for what it’s worth category,” she says to the camera. “This weekend, on Saturday, I went to dinner with a group of friends for this girl’s birthday. If you don’t know me, I don’t normally carry a purse but I did because we had decorations and stuff.”

She goes on to explain what happened to her later on the evening, “At the end of the night, I was cleaning my purse out and find this tile, basically a tracker people put on their keys.”

The device is designed for locating your keys via an app on your smartphone.


…full article…


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/viral-tiktok-warning-tracker-device-b1860972.html

[bots]

its not advanced tech really at all, i have tiles on my keys and stuff, i can see the location of them at any time on my phone. Apple have just brought out their version which is accurate to cm's

If people were to misuse them like that video above, i can certainly see them being a real problem

You can use a bluetooth scanner to determine if there is anything in your belongings that shouldnt be there

[Niamh.]

That's pretty creepy

[Crimson Dynamo]

is it not possible it ended up there by accident?

[bots]

is it not possible it ended up there by accident?

unlikely, they cant just jump into someone elses bag :laugh:

[Niamh.]

unlikely, they cant just jump into someone elses bag :laugh:

I've never come home with anything that wasn't mine in my bag after a night out anyway :shrug:

[Ammi]

…wouldn’t it work the other way and the owner of it would be trackable by the police as well…?…

[arista]

That's pretty creepy


Get a Hammer
and Smash it into bits

[bots]

just select bluetooth on your phone and let it scan for a couple of mins. Those type of devices wake up for about 10 secs every minute or 2, so if one were planted on you it would appear for a brief time. Obviously, you cant do that in a pub or something when there are loads of people with bluetooth devices around, you need to do it on your own

[Crimson Dynamo]

unlikely, they cant just jump into someone elses bag :laugh:

it could easily fall in if the bag was open

[bots]

it could easily fall in if the bag was open

people don't tend to leave their bags open in a pub/night club setting, then someone would have to have one of those devices, not attached to keys or whatever in their hand and somehow drop it in an unattended bag ... and also not tell the person that they accidentally dropped it in. No, i suggest the chances of one accidentally appearing in someone elses bag are tiny

[Crimson Dynamo]

people don't tend to leave their bags open in a pub/night club setting, then someone would have to have one of those devices, not attached to keys or whatever in their hand and somehow drop it in an unattended bag ... and also not tell the person that they accidentally dropped it in. No, i suggest the chances of one accidentally appearing in someone elses bag are tiny

but as it states in the article once its out of bluetooth reach of the host phone it stops working, just like your smartwatch?

so as a stalking device its no use

[Zizu]

but as it states in the article once its out of bluetooth reach of the host phone it stops working, just like your smartwatch?

so as a stalking device its no use


That’s an interesting point which needs some clarification.

We were thinking of getting one a while back to put on our dawg’s collar but they seemed too cheap on eBay and didn’t bother


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[user104658]

but as it states in the article once its out of bluetooth reach of the host phone it stops working, just like your smartwatch?

so as a stalking device its no use

An odd one really - bluetooth range isn't huge so someone putting a bluetooth tracker on you isn't all that concerning, you could literally track someone from further away using your eyeballs.

If it was a GPS tracker however, that would obviously be far more concerning, as they could track you... well... pretty much anywhere.

[user104658]

We were thinking of getting one a while back to put on our dawg’s collar but they seemed too cheap on eBay and didn’t bother


That will have been a GPS tracker probably, the issue is that you need to charge them every so often and most people just forget eventually :laugh:. They are relatively cheap. Only much use for larger dogs though as they're still usually not all that small, a bit on the large side for a little terrier to be lugging around on its collar.

[Crimson Dynamo]

it seems she could not wait to run to social media and "warn" people before really establishing too many actual facts?

[user104658]

it seems she could not wait to run to social media and "warn" people before really establishing too many actual facts?

To be fair I don't see how it could have accidentally gotten there so it MAY have been put there by someone with bad intentions, who luckily didn't realise it would quickly go out of range.

[Niamh.]

it seems she could not wait to run to social media and "warn" people before really establishing too many actual facts?

What's the actual harm of warning people though?

[bots]

An odd one really - bluetooth range isn't huge so someone putting a bluetooth tracker on you isn't all that concerning, you could literally track someone from further away using your eyeballs.

If it was a GPS tracker however, that would obviously be far more concerning, as they could track you... well... pretty much anywhere.

these devices use bluetooth to connect to a phone but their effective range is limitless when identifying where they are. The latest apple ones for example, use other peoples phones to track the device, the gps of that phone gives an accurate location, then they use near field comms to place it down to the cm.


I do think it's right that people ask these questions now and protect themselves from people with ill intentions

[Marsh.]

What's the actual harm of warning people though?

This really. Imagine getting mad at the woman for sharing it.

[bots]

This really. Imagine getting mad at the woman for sharing it.

LT can no longer track his ex wife this way so he is a bit pissed off

[Crimson Dynamo]

What's the actual harm of warning people though?


I think it creates unnecessary fear - I dont think you should be making dire warnings online with very little factual evidence.

a quick google would have told her that the range on these is 50-100 feet

if she had added that to her post then do you think this would have "gone viral" or would she have been ridiculed?

[Zizu]

An odd one really - bluetooth range isn't huge so someone putting a bluetooth tracker on you isn't all that concerning, you could literally track someone from further away using your eyeballs.

If it was a GPS tracker however, that would obviously be far more concerning, as they could track you... well... pretty much anywhere.


Yeah I think the ones on eBay to track your kids or dawgs are GPS ones


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[Zizu]

What's the actual harm of warning people though?


It’s one of those odd instances really as it may serve as a useful warning but then again it could actually give the idea to some of the weirder types


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[Zizu]

LT can no longer track his ex wife this way so he is a bit pissed off


Guess you can fit one in your car as well ?!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Tom4784]

Whoever did it almost definitely had sinister intent, but luckily they aren't competent enough to use the 'right' tech. If they had a GPS tracker, it could have easily led to tragedy.

[user104658]

these devices use bluetooth to connect to a phone but their effective range is limitless when identifying where they are. The latest apple ones for example, use other peoples phones to track the device, the gps of that phone gives an accurate location, then they use near field comms to place it down to the cm.


I do think it's right that people ask these questions now and protect themselves from people with ill intentions

Hmmm I have read about this but I thought the latest was that it's ethically (and legally) dubious and there's a question mark over them actually being allowed to do it? I wasn't aware they were already doing it, rather that it was a developed tech/planned implementation but is facing roadblocks. The legal part is to do with phone carrier T&C's and what data can and can't legally be transmitted/not having authorisation to use connections in "covert" ways.

Maybe I've misunderstood and they are already doing it but are under pressure to stop.

[Niamh.]

I think it creates unnecessary fear - I dont think you should be making dire warnings online with very little factual evidence.

a quick google would have told her that the range on these is 50-100 feet

if she had added that to her post then do you think this would have "gone viral" or would she have been ridiculed?

Women already fear stuff like this happening so it's not going cause any extra "hysteria" no harm in checking your bag after a night out at all

[bots]

Hmmm I have read about this but I thought the latest was that it's ethically (and legally) dubious and there's a question mark over them actually being allowed to do it? I wasn't aware they were already doing it, rather that it was a developed tech/planned implementation but is facing roadblocks. The legal part is to do with phone carrier T&C's and what data can and can't legally be transmitted/not having authorisation to use connections in "covert" ways.

Maybe I've misunderstood and they are already doing it but are under pressure to stop.

it was part of their advertising blurb. I think the point is there is lots of innocent tech around that can be used for dodgy practices, and a lot of it just hasn't been thought through properly. I think the more people speak out about stuff like this, the better

[user104658]

To be fair part of the warning should be to keep a close eye on your phone/make sure it's well locked up because it would take someone who knows what they're doing 5 seconds to slip an undetectable GPS locator app on there and disguise it as something innocent... and then you'll most likely never even see it or know you're being tracked.

Even the "proper/official" ones are suspiciously low profile sometimes. We have one on my daughter's phone, she does know it's there and actually finds it quite convenient (e.g. don't need to ask where to pick her up if she's out with friends, just go to her on the map :joker: ) BUT you can turn off all notifications etc. for it and it runs in the background at all times... if you got that onto someone's phone and changed the icon to "Google Calculator" or something like that, most people would never know :think:.

[bots]

to be fair, my phone says things like Dark Sky has pinged for info n times in the last hour, do you want to let it continue, disable it etc, so there are some safeguards now

[Nicky91]

LT can no longer track his ex wife this way so he is a bit pissed off

:joker::joker::joker:

[Livia]

I once came home with a gin and tonic in my handbag that wasn't mine. I mean the gin and the tonic has soaked into everything and everything stunk, but I had the glass and the slice of lemon.

[user104658]

My wife as a student once came home with two phones in her bag. To be fair to her, they both LOOKED a lot like her phone ... ...

Had been to multiple places so no idea where it even came from, intended to hand it in somewhere but I believe it was found kicking about in a drawer at the end of the year :joker:.

No chance of there being a tracker on it as this was in ye olde times of flip-phones and Snake... no Bluetooth or GPS.

[Nicky91]

I once came home with a gin and tonic in my handbag that wasn't mine. I mean the gin and the tonic has soaked into everything and everything stunk, but I had the glass and the slice of lemon.

oh, that really isn't nice :(

[GoldHeart]

Definitely wasn't an accident, sounds like they tried to stalk her .

[Zizu]

…this story has been on my newsfeed for a few days so I thought that I’d post it…it’s an extremely scary thing….an ‘advanced technology way of stalking …’…

5xpAjkdABBo


A woman on TikTok has gone viral after sharing that someone planted a tracking device on her while she was out partying with friends.

Sheridan Ellis, a TikToker from Texas, posted a video explaining a scary experience she had while out for a birthday get-together in a restaurant, and how it could have turned sinister.

“Quick story time/PSA, for what it’s worth category,” she says to the camera. “This weekend, on Saturday, I went to dinner with a group of friends for this girl’s birthday. If you don’t know me, I don’t normally carry a purse but I did because we had decorations and stuff.”

She goes on to explain what happened to her later on the evening, “At the end of the night, I was cleaning my purse out and find this tile, basically a tracker people put on their keys.”

The device is designed for locating your keys via an app on your smartphone.


…full article…


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/viral-tiktok-warning-tracker-device-b1860972.html


There’s an awful lot of staged / faked scenarios on TikTok of course ...

A quick look at the comments section of the actual clip is always advised


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Crimson Dynamo]

Definitely wasn't an accident, sounds like they tried to stalk her .

stalk her in the restaurant?

because that is all "they" could have achieved

[Tom4784]

I don't know why 'check your bags just in case, ladies' has got LT so riled up against it.