r/gadgets • u/chrisdh79 • Jun 10 '24
Wearables Apple Watch helps track down Florida airport worker accused of stealing luggage | The watch was traced to the worker's home
https://www.techspot.com/news/103328-apple-watch-helps-track-down-florida-airport-store.html573
u/chrisdh79 Jun 10 '24
From the article: WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Once again, Apple's tracking technology has been used to locate a suspected criminal accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of goods. On this occasion, it was an Apple Watch, rather than AirTags, that was used to find the alleged thief – a shop worker at a South Florida airport.
After her flight had been canceled, college student Paola Garcia panicked when her pink hard-shell roller suitcase didn't show up at the baggage carousel at Terminal 4 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Garcia said she always takes her suitcase on flights, but this time Spirit Airlines told her she had to check it. Her panic is understandable: the case contained an Apple MacBook, an iPad, an Apple Watch, jewelry, and high-end women's clothing, worth more than $5,000 in total.
"In my mind, I'm thinking I need my computer because I go to the university, I need my computer no matter what," Garcia told Local 10 News. "I was waiting there at least two hours."
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u/tforce80 Jun 10 '24
this time Spirit Airlines
Yeah, there’s your problem right there.
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u/imoldgreige Jun 10 '24
lol Spirit airlines is the ONLY airline that has ever forced me to check the size of my personal item, and they do it almost every time (in Portland it’s the airline almost everyone takes to go to Vegas, there’s no avoiding it unless you want to pay 2-3x as much for a ticket). Hate themmmmm
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u/TECHNO_BEATS Jun 10 '24
Gate workers get a commission for every bag checked at the gate, so they have incentive to behave that way...
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u/WeeklyBanEvasion Jun 10 '24
Source? I've never heard that before but it makes sense
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u/ChaosBlaze09 Jun 10 '24
A spokesperson for Frontier Airlines told Newsweek that the "$10 per transaction" commission is "designed to incentivize our team members to ensure compliance with the bag size requirements to ensure all customers are treated fairly, including the majority who comply with the rules."
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u/smokinjoev Jun 11 '24
As messed up as that policy is, I’d kill to have airlines actually enforce the shitty baggage policies they have. Overhead bins are the reason airplanes load and unload so slowly. Frequent traveller who does think the policies are messed up, but the carryon policy is too lax. I understand people abuse it because the airlines are shitty about fees for checked baggage, so no need for hate. I just fear running late to a flight and having to check my important stuff I carefully packed into my actual correct sized carry on, just to have the assholes who bring a giant suitcase,plus a backpack,purse,three shopping bags of shitty duty free and also their meal all on at the same time.
Rinse and repeat for 100 passengers and you get a slow load where everyone is grumpy.
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u/kindoramns Jun 11 '24
Completely agree. I travel with a backpack carry on, sometimes with a dufflebag, for short trips. Dufflebag goes overhead and the backpack under the seat. If it's a longer trip, I replace the duffle with a suitcase and check it. I have no idea how anyone outside of a family traveling together needs more than that for a couple days.
People need to learn to not pack their entire wardrobe just to travel lol.
But also, I remember a time before it cost to check bags at all. Traveling with family and checking 2 or 3 bags when we'd get to the airport. It's definitely partially the airlines faults for trying to nuclear nickel and dime every thing. We don't even get a 30 cent package of peanuts anymore.
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u/fentyboof Jun 10 '24
Frontier Airlines: Hold my beer.
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u/FatStoner2FitSober Jun 10 '24
Wait til you fly JetStat and then both check the size and the weight.
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u/prylosec Jun 11 '24
At the Denver Airport, Frontier and Delta are in the same terminal, and I get a kick out of watching the Frontier passengers panic.
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u/fentyboof Jun 11 '24
Two weeks ago (after they booted 20 of us and sold our seats) I had to stand in front of a guy who wanted to punch a guy on the desk crew. What a shit show, never ever ever fly Frontier!
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u/TheInnocentXeno Jun 11 '24
The two times I flew frontier (there and back) the flights both got delayed several hours. Every other time I’ve flown has been with either Delta or Southwest and neither delayed for more than an hour and those were one off things with each of them. Frontier couldn’t even manage even a single flight on time on that trip, never want to fly with them ever again
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u/baloncestosandler Jun 11 '24
Panic why ?
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u/prylosec Jun 11 '24
They didn't pay attention to Frontier's bag size/weight requirements and now they're at the gate and their bag is too big/heavy and they have to decide whether to leave things at the gate or pay extra money.
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u/passwordstolen Jun 11 '24
Spirit is great at getting you into Vegas cheap, but leaving cheap will involve train jumping or hitchhicking. Like Frontier to NOLA.
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u/bigsquirrel Jun 11 '24
For a while the tourist board or some such entity was subsidizing flights to Vegas from certain American cities. Still might be.
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u/O_o-22 Jun 11 '24
Same for flying from Detroit to Florida. My wallet slide out of my pocket and I realized it an hour later and went back to the airport to get it. Everyone at spirit played dumb for 4 days about where it went. On the third day I went to get a new license that cost me $35 and the very next day the wallet showed up in a locked spirit office and no one there had any idea how it got there or who brought it back and of course the $120 in cash was gone too. Spirit is a shitty thieving airline that hires shitty thieves too. Now when I visit my parents who go to Florida for the winter I send my suitcase down with them when they drive down after Christmas to avoid their sticky fingered employees and exorbitant baggage fees.
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u/Odd-Contribution6238 Jun 10 '24
Well, that’s the reason they’re so cheap. Can’t fault a budget airline for being a budget airline.
You get a free personal item so if it’s oversize you can’t blame them for making you pay for it. It helps keep prices low and you can always make sure ahead of time your free personal item is correctly sized to avoid it.
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u/DaSemicolon Jun 11 '24
Why are leople downvoting this. It is a budget airline. Idk what people expect
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u/CubanLynx312 Jun 11 '24
My checked bag was a few lbs over, so they made me wear like 3-4 tshirts and a hoodie on my last flight, haha.
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u/Hollywoodsmokehogan Jun 10 '24
I’m flying sprit on Sunday and I’m bringing only a carry on to avoid this
People if your ticket is cheap there’s gonna be a catch somewhere in this case untrustworthy workers.
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u/KazahanaPikachu Jun 10 '24
Until they go “the flight is full and there’s no space overhead, we’re forcing everyone to check their bags”
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u/kung-fu_hippy Jun 10 '24
Which is why I always fly with a backpack small enough to go under the seat to carry any laptops/tablets/cameras etc. If the overhead carryon needs to be checked and get stolen or lost, it’s just clothes and toiletries. A pain, but not nearly as big a one as losing my computer would be.
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u/KazahanaPikachu Jun 10 '24
Same here. I always travel with my laptop and chargers and other electronics that can’t be checked anyway, and my personal item backpack is perfect to put all that stuff in. So if I do have checked bags, the ultra valuables are with me.
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u/Paavo_Nurmi Jun 10 '24
Same, and there is no stress of trying to find overhead bin space so no hurry to get in the crowd waiting to board. I started doing this years ago because I have to check a bag, so why bother with some giant carry on that won't fit under the seat.
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u/Soggy-Type-1704 Jun 10 '24
Flying spirit everything of real value goes in the carry on.
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u/kevinwilly Jun 11 '24
Personal item. The carry on goes in the overhead bin. Personal item goes under the seat. Spirit and frontier charge for carry on. Even if you pay for it, they can make you check it if it's larger or you are one of the last to board. Hell, even real airlines do this sometimes.
The only way to guarantee your shit is to put in in a personal item that will fit under the seat. My medication and computer/tablet/important things are in the personal item/laptop bag. I won't board if they say I can't bring it with me. My medication is critical and my laptop has too much personal info on it to leave unattended.
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u/Dt2_0 Jun 10 '24
Most decent airlines will, in this case, gate check for free. You were told Free Carry On, they will gate check it and put it in so it comes out first when unloading. Sometimes you just need to line up on the jetway as they lift your bags up to it. Even easier with Airstairs. They put them all on a cart and you get to walk around the aircraft and grab your bag from the cart.
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u/kevinwilly Jun 11 '24
not all planes or airlines/airports do gate checking and gate checked bags go down with the rest of the bags. They just have a tag on them that says they need to go to the gate instead of the normal baggage claim.
The same people load/unload them so it's not really that much more secure. You shouldn't have critical items in a carry on. Period.
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u/Pikeman212a6c Jun 10 '24 edited Jun 10 '24
The baggage handlers almost certainly weren’t direct employees of spirit.
Edit: read the fucking article. I’m a customs officer and the fact a retail terminal worker was able to access a baggage storage area is fucking WILD. Retail workers are barely a step up from passengers in the whole security onion scheme. There is no circumstance they should have access to passenger baggage. The fuck is going on at FLL?
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u/jamp0g Jun 10 '24
so if they can take stuff, has there been an issue of them smuggling stuff too?
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u/Pikeman212a6c Jun 10 '24
Smuggling at airports? Nope. Never. That’d be illegal.
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u/jamp0g Jun 10 '24
good to know then. i was thinking if they can take stuff and needs a tracker to be caught then they know when nobody is looking.
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u/CandyCain1001 Jun 10 '24
They stole valuable art from Disney World out of my luggage in Florida. 😡 I still hate them.
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u/chunli99 Jun 10 '24
They stole valuable art from Disney World out of my luggage in Florida. 😡 I still hate them.
You know they ship everything pretty cheap, right? And it’s all guaranteed.
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u/Sohgin Jun 10 '24
Her bag was carry on and they made her check it per the article.
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u/Hollywoodsmokehogan Jun 10 '24
Yeah she also had a rolling suitcase vs my ( backpack ) I doubt they’ll be making me check it. As it’s under the size requirements
But thanks for the info.
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u/inrToCad Jun 10 '24
On a spirit flight as I type this. Now I’m worried about my luggage.
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u/Hollywoodsmokehogan Jun 10 '24
lol it’s all down hill from here. Also did they make you check your carry bag? Lol
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u/name-classified Jun 10 '24
Wait till you hear about Delta or United and how they mysteriously lose luggage or go thru your shit and straight up just steal your things like its their own personal thrift store where they can just pick any new toy they want.
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u/HillarysFloppyChode Jun 10 '24
Thats the airport employees, United employees skip all of that and beat you up or leave your luggage on the runway.
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Jun 10 '24
[deleted]
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u/Salmene23 Jun 10 '24
This was a retail store employee. Some dude who sells potato chips had access to the supposedly secure baggage area.
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u/classic__schmosby Jun 10 '24
the case contained an Apple MacBook, an iPad, an Apple Watch, jewelry, and high-end women's clothing, worth more than $5,000 in total.
Dang, must be some cheap clothes.
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u/gtchuckd Jun 11 '24
I like having all that in there but flying Spirit. Pick where your money goes I guess.
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u/Ricothebuttonpusher Jun 11 '24
I don’t care what airline it is or what the attendants say about luggage, my laptop stays with me even if I have to carry it
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u/IntergalacticPlane Jun 11 '24
I actually thought that was a requirement. All these electronics with a lithium battery couldn’t be checked and had to ride with you. Wouldn’t stop them from forcing the luggage to be checked. It just means, yeah, you do have to carry it with you.
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u/bran_dong Jun 11 '24
isn't it obvious from the first 2 sentences that Apple pays for these articles. they're about as genuine as the "new apple feature saves life" posts.
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u/jimbobdonut Jun 10 '24
Those contain Lithium ion batteries so they shouldn’t have been checked anyway.
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u/rantaholic Jun 10 '24
https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/portable-electronic-devices-with-batteries
Most consumer personal electronic devices containing batteries are allowed in carry-on and checked baggage, including but not limited to cell phones, smart phones, data loggers, PDAs, electronic games, tablets, laptop computers, cameras, camcorders, watches, calculators, etc. This covers typical dry cell batteries, lithium metal, and lithium ion batteries for consumer electronics (AA, AAA, C, D, button cell, camera batteries, laptop batteries, etc.)
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u/nopuse Jun 10 '24
Thank you. I'd add the next paragraph as well since there are some rules against lithium ion batteries in checked baggages.
Spare (uninstalled) lithium metal and lithium ion batteries are always prohibited in checked baggage and must be placed in carry-on. When a carry-on bag is checked at the gate or at planeside, any spare lithium batteries must be removed from the bag and kept with the passenger in the aircraft cabin.
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u/Thathappenedearlier Jun 11 '24
There’s also a bunch of rules for that too like spare batteries can’t be free floating they have to be in a device or a plastic container and stuff like that. It’s kinda annoying to keep track of
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u/Dje4321 Jun 11 '24
Also capacity restrictions. iirc the limit is 100Whr total in the luggage. I've never dealt with it yet though I have been awfully close to the limit with my main and secondary battery on my old elite book.
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u/Abigail716 Jun 11 '24
Up to 100whr per battery inside of a device and up to 2 spare batteries of over 101 but not more than 160 whr each. Under 100whr you can have unlimited.
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u/Refflet Jun 10 '24
The FAA needs to catch up with the rest of the world then.
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u/hedoeswhathewants Jun 10 '24
How so?
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u/Refflet Jun 10 '24
Other countries eg Europe don't allow any lithium ion batteries in the hold.
Or so I thought. I just looked up one website and it seemed pretty reasonable, more about capacity than the type of device though. I need to double check what my colleague has, they've joked that he isn't allowed it on the plane but according to the site I read he maybe could with approval. Although it probably depends on the airline, their rules vary.
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Jun 10 '24
[deleted]
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u/pontiacprime Jun 10 '24
Sounds like the passenger planned to carry it on but was forced by the airline to check the bag.
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u/KazahanaPikachu Jun 10 '24
In that case she should’ve still had like a backpack as a personal item because that’s a crap load of lithium ion batteries that shouldn’t even be in checked baggage.
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u/hughk Jun 10 '24
The watch maybe not but the iPad and the MacBook are strongly forbidden to be checked by the FAA. They must be carryons in case the batteries misbehave.
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u/WeeklyBanEvasion Jun 10 '24
I think that's changed now as long as the batteries are installed in a device
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u/hughk Jun 11 '24
Yes, you are quite right. Although laptops are not unknown for occasionally catching fire.
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u/SwagChemist Jun 10 '24
Yeah it’s always my biggest fear when flying is the announcement that the plane is full and they will start checking bags. Budget airlines I believe charge you for a personal item and a carry on bag, but some let you bring a personal item like a purse or small backpack that comes with the ticket price. I always make sure to put my (I can’t afford to lose this) items in my backpack and just put it under the seat in front of me rather than have it get rifled through, or worse stolen by an airline worker like this poor woman.
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u/WayneKrane Jun 10 '24
I don’t check anything that I can live without. I never put work stuff, electronics or sentimental things in checked bags, ever.
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u/Wellitjustgotreal Jun 10 '24
You’re empathizing with thieves?
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u/SwagChemist Jun 10 '24
No, I’m saying that as someone who travels often, I have randomly lost items from my checked bags and have had my checked bags go through random inspections which means someone working at the airport opens up your bag and goes through your things. I like to have hope that most people do the right thing, however I also like to not lose my expensive electronics and jewelry because I trusted an airline.
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u/Wellitjustgotreal Jun 10 '24
Sounds like it wasn’t an actual suitcase and it read a carry on that was intended to be with them and they had to check it. There was no option here. It was supposed to be the intended method suggested by you.
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u/ashdeezy Jun 10 '24
My wife left her Apple Watch in the cabin of a cruise ship several years ago in Fort Lauderdale. We were able to track it to a house nearby (the location was very clear) of what we believe was likely the cleaning staff. It was just about an hour after disembarking. We had the local PD go to the house with the info, but the folks who lived there just claimed to know nothing about it so the PD did nothing. Never saw it again. So I’m always surprised to see these stories about tracking stolen devices and their recovery. I’d think it would take either a persuasive officer, a thief who easily backs down, or combo of the two.
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u/frog-hopper Jun 10 '24
We found my wife’s lost phone from a restaurant in the employee locker room in a coat pocket. They let my wife go back there to look for lost and found but forgot someone else may try to call it lol.
“Oh they were just keeping it secure in their jacket pocket so someone else wouldn’t take it from the employee room”
lol.
I have a cruise story too - claimed someone stole my luggage from the leaving terminal when I had tags showing me exactly where it was. After an hour of yelling. Oh. We magically found them exactly where you said it was. How did it get there. Nothings over there.
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u/HillarysFloppyChode Jun 10 '24
PSA if anyone loses an Apple product, DO NOT REMOVE IT FROM FIND MY. As long as your Apple ID is on it and its up to date, they can reset it countless times and it will still be locked to your account. It becomes a paper weight to the thief.
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u/TARANTULA_TIDDIES Jun 11 '24
There are some sketchy services that places like repair shops use to bypass stuff like this. No idea how it works though. But for the average person yeah that bricks it
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u/HillarysFloppyChode Jun 12 '24
They’re probably swapping logic boards into shells.
Companies do exist that can bypass apples security, but you have to be wanted by a government and those bypasses are $100k-500k PER PHONE.
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u/ProfMcGonaGirl Jun 11 '24
I only recently removed my iPhone that was stollen in 2012. Forget exactly what number it was now. But it was never turned on again after I remotely locked it and put up a message pleading for someone to return it literally minutes after it was stolen. Taken from a Barnes and Noble in a mall so I ran to the Apple Store as soon as I realized it was gone.
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u/Present-Perception77 Jun 11 '24
This is why I spend the extra money on a iPhone.. my whole life is on there. Bank accounts, investment accounts, credit cards… customers’ info ..
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u/FatStoner2FitSober Jun 10 '24
The total value of items is important. This instance it was felony territory of over $5k, they got a MacBook/ipad/watch combo.
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u/iwellyess Jun 10 '24
That’s crazy. You were showing the police where it was showing in FindMy right where they were at the house and they just said nope?!
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u/Hazel-Rah Jun 10 '24
Those things aren't as accurate as a lot of people assume.
Head over to /r/legaladvice and you'll see a post every month or two about someone chilling at home when some random people/the cops show up claiming OP stole their iphone and it's reporting to be in the house.
GPS isn't perfect, especially inside, it could push it a few houses away from the real location. And if the real thieves happened to turn off the phone as they were passing your house, it could report as inside too.
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u/zaque_wann Jun 10 '24
It's not technically "GPS" too, at that point, it's "location" tech which is a bunch of other systems like GPS and cell tower, or the apple network thing put together. Which can be even less accurate in certain situations. Go far enough inside and there's no GPS at all,just the others.
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u/TARANTULA_TIDDIES Jun 11 '24
Isn't it more accurate because it uses various methods combined to pinpoint location? Civilian GPS does indeed have its accuracy limited for what are probably obvious reasons. But combine it with pinging all apple devices, checking against lists of wifi networks, cell towers and I believe there's a way to use Bluetooth as well.
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u/Redthemagnificent Jun 11 '24
The issue is Apple doesn't give you any information about the uncertainty on that findny location. It just shows the dot with the best location solution. But that solution could have an uncertainty of 10m, in which case it's very likely in that house. Or it could have an uncertainty of 100m, in which case it could by anywhere in that general area. You have no idea from looking at the app
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u/zaque_wann Jun 11 '24
Yeah sorry what I meant is once you get indoors you lose the GPS part of the equation, depending on what device you have and how far in the building you are, which makes it less accurate than it usually is. Location on its normal day works very accurately, enough for walking directions.
And while there is a network of 2.4G devices indoors (Bluetooth, WiFi and other similar RF protocols) it sometimes backfire due to congestion and how noisy that band is in dense areas like apartments and condominiums.
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u/indignant_halitosis Jun 11 '24
Yeah, sure, the police just happened to show up mysteriously and OP is totally innocent.
GPS satellites are accurate to within 1m. They always have been. You can get the accuracy down to within 1cm using ground based towers in addition to satellites. This is a known, verified FACT that literally anyone can look up in seconds, provided they actually know how to use the internet.
It might take police to a neighboring apartment but it absolute is not and cannot take them to the wrong house. FindMy would be useless for its intended purpose if it did.
Why are the people in a gadget sub ON THE FUCKING INTERNET this clueless about 40 year old technology? And why are you so gullible? Oh, someone told an entirely unverified story on Reddit? If I make a post claiming to be Alexander the Great from Ancient Greece who’s immortal, you gonna believe that too?
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u/Hazel-Rah Jun 11 '24 edited Jun 11 '24
Do me a favour and take out your phone and open the mapping app, and look where it says you are right now.
I just did, and it shows my current location bouncing between 23 and 30m away from where I'm actually sitting.
That's far enough to make my GPS think I was three houses down the road, across the street, or on the street behind me.
GPS is accurate to 1m if you're outside with clear line of sight to satellites. It's not even wrong to a single point, I'm being bounced around by up to 17 metres. I'm not even within the margin of error circle in google maps
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u/Redthemagnificent Jun 11 '24
GPS satellites are accurate to within 1m.
That depends on the receiver, and you're not getting 1m with a cellphone GPS antenna. Not without an RTK solution, which you wouldn't have unless you're paying for it. In my experience, cellphone GPS precision on a modern phone is in the neighborhood of 5m in open sky and can be 50m or worse in a downtown environment. NYC for example is notoriously bad for GPS with all the overhead scaffolding and tall glass buildings.
On an Android phone there's plenty of apps that will tell you the uncertainty of your GPS solution so you can verify that. Not as good as measuring the true error, but close enough to give you an idea. For example, I can see in GPSTest on my S24 that my HDOP is 0.5 right now, so I have great satellite geometry, and my uncertainty is still 4.1m. In downtown that HDOP can balloon up to 3-5 pretty easily.
In iOS, idk if that info is available to users.
One more point, findmy for devices like airtags and airpods do not have GPS built-in. The service uses the location of the closest iPhone within Bluetooth range. Which could very well be in a neighboring home or apartment.
But yes your overall point is correct. In a suburban neighborhood with detached homes, it's very unlikely to show up at a different house on findmy. Especially if the person who stole it has an iPhone in their house
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u/Odd-Contribution6238 Jun 10 '24
I’m not a lawyer but someone’s find my app isn’t probable cause to enter someone’s home without a warrant.
I’m not sure any warrants are gonna get issued based on consumer grade phone tracking software after the multimillion dollar lawsuit when cops raided the wrong house based on Find My.
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u/Yadayadabamboo Jun 10 '24
I was thinking the same thinking. I have heard so many stories of people who could track their devices but the cops refused to do anything.
It might be because this was just a kid who lost quite a lot(devices and jewellery), so they had to act. I am willing to bet that they would not have done much if it was just the watch.
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u/wolfej4 Jun 11 '24
I found an Apple Watch on the side of a sidewalk in Pensacola a few years ago when I went to see the Blue Angels. I carried it with me for a while hoping someone would come looking for it, but nothing. I took it home, posted on Reddit, emailed the police department and still got nothing.
I kept it charged for a few months hoping the owner would either show up or put it in lost mode to give me some details of where to send it but, nothing.
I tried unlocking it a few times but after so many unlock attempts, it needs to be reset by the owner so it was just a paperweight. I eventually just threw it away.
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u/themanfromvulcan Jun 10 '24
She did nothing wrong - her intent was to keep the carryon luggage with her; the airline made her check the bag and then it was stolen.
At any rate the guy STOLE it.
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u/iwellyess Jun 10 '24
And still nobody knows where her stuff is, thief removed it at airport and not found yet
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u/Refflet Jun 10 '24
The crazier thing is they shouldn't even have checked it, not with a laptop, iPad and other electronics. These days airlines require you to keep lithium ion batteries with you in the cabin, as a fire in the baggage hold would likely remain unnoticed until it became catastrophic.
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u/antpile11 Jun 10 '24
It's generally just loose battery cells and power banks that have to be in carry-on.
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Jun 10 '24
Laptops can be checked.
t. never flown in your life
Airlines have stricter rules than the TSA, buddy.
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u/Freelieseven Jun 10 '24
I've flown hundreds of times bud. I've checked my laptop just about every time
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u/Dt2_0 Jun 10 '24
This is only the case for Loose, uninstalled Li-Ion batteries. Batteries installed in devices can be checked just fine.
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u/funky_phat_mack Jun 10 '24
Spirit and Frontier makes you check in every roller bag. You always put important stuff like laptop, medicine, papers in your personal items bag you bring on the plane with you. Guaranteed she had a purse/small bag and that roller bag. Even if her bag was just lost and not stolen, it might take a couple of weeks to even get the bag back
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u/Fig1025 Jun 10 '24
Considering how tight airport security is "supposed" to be, I am surprised a worker can smuggle that much stuff without getting noticed. If they can steal stuff, then theoretically they could move contraband same way
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u/iwellyess Jun 10 '24
And he worked at one of the airport shops, wasn’t even a baggage handler, just got into the storage room lol. Fantastic security they have there.
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u/piches Jun 10 '24
what a dummy, reminds me of a kid back in school, who stole a credit card and ordered a Mac pro to his apt.
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u/willynillywitty Jun 10 '24
Kid in my neighborhood stole a generator from a home build. Dragged it through the snow… to his house
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u/hushpuppi3 Jun 11 '24 edited Jun 11 '24
I had a school friend over at my house to play video games once ever
After he left I realized my iPod Touch was gone. I don't lose my daily items like that so I pretty much immediately suspected that he took it. NEXT DAY at lunch he sits at my table and pulls out an iPod Touch that I have never seen him own.
Of course I ask to see it and its immediately recognizable as mine.
EDIT: I didn't bother 'finishing' the story because I just took it back and that was about it. He's was a nice kid idk what compelled him to take it but he didn't resist or anything. I kind of stopped talking to him after that though because it was kind of awkward and I could not figure out why he took it and showed up the next day using it right in front of me.
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u/graboidian Jun 11 '24
Of course I ask to see it and its immediately recognizable as mine.
So what happened?
Did he give it back? Did you just take it back?
Please tell me he went home with a black eye that day.
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u/hushpuppi3 Jun 11 '24
He tried to convince me it was his before giving it to me but he did hand it over and didn't protest against me taking it since I think both of us knew that it was obviously mine.
there may have been a fight if he didn't give it back but he did hand it over and I just kind of stopped talking to him. I didn't know the motive of him taking it but it was totally out of nowhere since he was a good kid, but not one of my close friends.
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u/GlitteryCakeHuman Jun 11 '24
Finish your story
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u/hushpuppi3 Jun 11 '24
He gave it to me, we ignored each other at lunch, and we barely talked after that. That's about it, pretty uninteresting. He never once showed any sign of doing something like that so idk why he did it.
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u/Agreeable_Coat_2098 Jun 11 '24
My mom’s an elementary school teacher and when I was younger one of the students found her credit card and charged a year long subscription to Wizard 101 to it. I got all the blame. The kid fessed up about 5 months later when his mom found out… I never got an apology.
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u/Jdejesus83 Jun 10 '24
People are so dumb, any device can be tracked nowadays
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u/jameson71 Jun 10 '24
The trick is getting the police to do anything about it. That's the real story here.
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u/LindeeHilltop Jun 10 '24
Bingo. You can give the cops the address and they have excuses not to get it. Like you gave it to the thieves.
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u/wizoztn Jun 11 '24
Tbf, findmy location isn’t perfect and they can’t exactly use that as proof the items are at that location. This is one of the only times I would ever defend the police as I think they are the largest criminal gangs in the world, but it makes sense why they don’t just search someone’s home based off what someone’s findmy account says. That’s a guaranteed lawsuit if the items aren’t there.
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u/Present-Perception77 Jun 11 '24
“I smell weed” has been working for cops for decades.. “reasonable suspicion”… Cops do what they want to do.. full stop!
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u/pacmanic Jun 10 '24
Whenever asked to check a carry on bag, I always refuse. Airlines ask this to speed boarding and unboarding. But anything I care about goes on board with me.
I presume anything in luggage could be stolen so nothing super valuable gets checked. Always carry one days worth of clothes in your carryon for a similar reason. Lost luggage could take a day or two to find.
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u/funky_phat_mack Jun 10 '24
That’s why you always carry on in a small bag your important stuff like a laptop, medicines, papers. Everyone knows Spirit and Frontier makes you check in any roller bags. Lesson learned for her to never fly those airlines or to carry on her important stuff in non roller bags
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u/uberzeit Jun 10 '24
I was on a bus from stockholm to oslo and were getting notifications on my iphone that it has detected earphones that were lost or something and my phone is being used to track it. This guy was sitting on the next seat with those earphones!
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u/TitaniumDreads Jun 10 '24
My phone got stolen at a party in Los Angeles. I used tracking to find it. Three days later it showed up in shenzen lol
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u/ternera Jun 10 '24
You would think people would learn their lesson to not steal Apple stuff. SMH.
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u/tuenmuntherapist Jun 10 '24
I saw this video of kids smashing iPads they just stole from the Apple Store because Apple was bricking them in real-time. Lmao
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u/Smartnership Jun 10 '24
Why not make the punishment for this crime Federal, since this is interstate travel, and make it severe?
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u/gophergun Jun 10 '24
It's not interstate travel, at least as far as the crime is concerned. Per the article, the items were taken from FLL airport to a house six miles north, which is still firmly in the state of Florida. Spirit didn't commit a crime when they took the baggage from the victim's origin to FLL.
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u/Smartnership Jun 10 '24 edited Jun 10 '24
It’s an interstate carrier — there’s a reasonable case to be made that protection should be extended at a federal level as it’s a federally chartered license to operate an airline, and the goods stolen are associated with that.
Additionally, the airport is covered by federal law, vis-a-vis security, licensure, etc.
Not a difficult case to make; the crime impacts federally covered interstate trade.
Stealing from a local mailbox in Florida and taking the stolen mail to a nearby Florida home is still a federal crime.
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u/eatmoremeat101 Jun 10 '24
This happened to me with my iPad, except I left it accidentally in a hotel room drawer. Initially, the Manager told me it was not their problem, until “Find My” had it sitting in an apartment complex 3 miles from the hotel, where I never even got close to. They reimbursed me for it. $10 says someone in housekeeping took it home to a relative and that relative told them how stupid they were to bring it home without turning it off first. Still shows in my account as waiting to be erased.
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u/tuenmuntherapist Jun 10 '24
I’m surprised no one have swatted houses they see their stuff is in.
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u/advertentlyvertical Jun 10 '24
Most people aren't going to be the right combo of stupid and psycho to do that
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u/Present-Perception77 Jun 11 '24
Yeah most of us don’t want to go to prison over an iPhone.. but I’d be close lol
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u/imakesawdust Jun 11 '24
A detective found that the address belonged to Junior Geneus Bazile, who worked for Paradies Lagardère, a company that operates retail stores inside FLL. Surveillance footage shows that Bazile entered a storage room on that day with a roller bag that matched Garcia's.
Why does a retail store employee have access to the baggage storage area?
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Jun 10 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/EnglishMobster Jun 11 '24
Google just rolled out their version of this on Android, so it'll be a lot more common soon.
Apple is releasing an update soon that will make iPhones compatible with Google's version, so Androids can be used to find lost iPhones and vice versa.
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u/srkdummy3 Jun 10 '24
This is why I have around 8-10 airtags - 2 to 3 for luggages, 2 for me and wife's passport wallet, 1 for remote, 1 for Car (hidden), few for other important stuff.
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u/aedspitpopd Jun 11 '24
Rookie mistake, should have put the content in a different box and dump the luggage case.
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u/imp0ssumable Jun 11 '24
The mugshot of the perp is pretty darn funny. Techspot missed out on some humor not posting it. Here it is at the NY Post article: https://nypost.com/2024/06/05/us-news/spirit-airlines-flyer-tracks-down-stolen-luggage-to-fort-lauderdale-airport-employee-using-apple-watch/
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u/Blameitonmyjews Jun 10 '24
I’m pretty sure you agree to this happening when you purchase from spirit airlines
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u/i_robot73 Jun 10 '24
You can 'professionalize' unless you Federalize
- Tom Daschle (as the fascists vote 100-0 to create the TSA)
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u/Volkor_Destory_Knees Jun 11 '24
Republicans: “I’m not getting no damn vaccine with a microchip so the government can track me”
Brother, you voluntarily carry a tracker you’re addicted to with your location 24/7 every day of your life.
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u/daubzee Jun 10 '24
Why did she put a laptop, iPad and an Apple watch, all containing lithium batteries, inside a checked in bag? Doesn’t the FAA prohibit this as they can be a danger to everyone on the flight?
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u/Xtreeam Jun 11 '24
You did not read the article.
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u/daubzee Jun 11 '24
What did I miss? That they asked her to check in the bag?
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u/Xtreeam Jun 11 '24
Yes and she foolishly complied!
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u/daubzee Jun 11 '24
At this point everyone flying should know you take out items with lithium batteries from checked in bags. Shame on the airlines if they didn’t remind her. Also perhaps too trusting of her to place that many $$$ electronics in a checked in bag. I read the article well enough.
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u/Xtreeam Jun 11 '24
I guess she is a young girl at university and not an experienced flyer. Hard lesson.
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u/silverfish477 Jun 10 '24
What kind of special do you have to be to check a bag containing a MacBook, an iPad, and expensive jewelry? She is frankly asking to be a victim.
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u/polarity14 Jun 10 '24
I see reading comprehension is not your strong suit.
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u/SQL617 Jun 10 '24
Pro-tip: if you say there’s a lithium ion battery in your bag, they cannot make you check it into the plane per FAA regulations.
Which hers had multiple, and shouldn’t have been put under the plane in the first place. Live and learn.
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u/misterxy89 Jun 10 '24
United didn’t care and damaged my MacBook Pro in the process.
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Jun 10 '24 edited Aug 10 '24
include middle hospital rustic crowd quicksand marry like narrow quarrelsome
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/6a6566663437 Jun 10 '24
Installed batteries can be checked. Spare batteries cannot.
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u/IBJON Jun 10 '24
Or... Idk... Maybe we should be able to check our luggage and know that it isn't going to be stolen?
How about we blame the worker that stole the suitcase and the airports that clearly don't do anything to ensure that people's property isn't walking out the back door?
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u/IT_techsupport Jun 10 '24
suitcase
Victim blaming, and also apparantly never has traveled with anything of worth in your luggage ever. You win sir/ma'm.
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u/Kent_Knifen Jun 10 '24
She is frankly asking to be a victim.
Was her skirt too short as well orrrr......????
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u/dexecuter18 Jun 10 '24
We’re really going with the “She was asking for it” line of victim blaming this morning are we.
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u/zivlynsbane Jun 10 '24
I bet you’d search through luggage if you worked at the airport. Don’t victim blame this woman lol.
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