It seems that big-city criminals have a new technique that's causing problems to police and residents.
Los Angeles police are ... warning residents of the continuing trend of follow-home robberies.
Suspects in follow-home robberies target victims in affluent areas of Los Angeles, follow them until they are in a remote area and rob them. The Los Angeles Police Department announced a "Follow Home Task Force" on Nov. 23 in response to the crimes.
Police are investigating a video of one such alleged incident, where a group of reported thieves wearing "police-type" gear attacked a group of victims outside a home before forcing their way inside.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson told Fox News earlier this month that follow-home robberies seem to be "popping up everywhere" in the city.
There's more at the link.
In some cases, the thieves are using high-tech methods to identify potential targets and zero in on their homes.
The $29 AirTag devices that Apple released in April to help users keep track of belongings are being repurposed by crooks to steal cars, according to a police report out of Ontario, Canada.
Investigators with the York Regional Police Auto and Cargo Theft Unit in Aurora are warning area residents that they’ve “identified a new method being used by thieves to track and steal high-end vehicles” across the region, the department warned in a Thursday blog post.
Officers reported they’ve looked into five incidents since September in which suspects used the unassuming tracking technology to commit grand theft auto.
The suspects go about the crime by placing the easily missed tracking devices on the luxury rides in “out-of-sight areas” while they’re parked in “public places like malls or parking lots.” Then, once the unsuspecting owner has driven the car home, the thieves track the vehicle to the victim’s residence.
Criminals are able to hack the vehicle’s ignition with an electronic device “typically used by mechanics to reprogram the factory setting” before driving off from the victim’s driveway in their own car.
Again, more at the link.
I'll be very surprised if this new technique is limited only to Canada. It also appears to be in use to target individuals, not just their vehicles. There have been several reports of Apple iPhone users who've been notified by their software that an AirTag is moving with them. Some have been able to find the device; others have not. Apple says any such devices can be disabled, but doesn't provide details on its Web site. In particular, such warnings are only provided through Apple devices. If you're using an Android smartphone or other non-Apple device, you won't receive any warning. In an age of "follow-home robberies" and higher crime rates, this is enough to worry me.
As always, we're our own primary safety and security - not the police or any other external agency. We'll do well to keep such risks in mind, particularly if we're living in or near a major city.
Peter
Sounds like the Airtag can be used as a poor man's lojack device. Besides being much cheaper, it is also much more easily installed. Of course, being cheap and easy to use, it appears to appeal to enterprising thieves as well.
ReplyDeleteAs long they are attacking and robbing poop libs, I really don't care. These fools voted for more crime and other civil discord. I guess it will never occur to them that the police can't be every where and maybe they should have never voted for all those asinine gun laws.
ReplyDeleteI presume wrapping a "smart" phone in aluminum foil might help. FULLY wrapped, that is...
ReplyDeleteI note that these robberies seem to happen more often in places that don't allowed the legal carry of a concealed weapon. Odd, that.
ReplyDeleteIts a bit of a problem everywhere . Had two near incidences here and I live in a Red part of California.
ReplyDeleteStay alert, learn to evade when driving and vary your route and time when possible. Things are dicey out there.
There's a NorCal mall, The Galleria, that service a bunch of surrounding Red, very CCW Counties. That mall is owned by Westfield Management Group. One of the few Mall Groups that allow guns inside their malls. They've recently had 2 smash and grabs. It's only a matter of time. There is little doubt the perpetrators are armed.
ReplyDeleteAbout four years ago we had a rash of home invasion robberies in our affluent little community. Enter thru the back of the house, taze the dog, stick a gun in the residents faces and they would take their time going through their belongings. I've made a habit of staying strapped even at home.
We had a couple of follow people after they went to the bank.
ReplyDeleteWe are in a suburb of LA in Eastern LA County, about 20 miles from LA. Heavy Asian area, who are seen as easy pickings. We have a LOT of home robberies. Everyone has an alarm system and lots of cameras. We are also having a lot of stolen catalytic converters. Plus massive homeless issues. Huge increase in general crimes, including assaults.
It appears that Apple has released an android app that can spot Air Tags. Just not available in Canada yet.
ReplyDeletehttps://mobilesyrup.com/2021/12/13/you-can-now-scan-for-nearby-airtags-using-tracker-detect-apple/
TLM is right. You get what you vote for.
ReplyDeleteExcept we know that the vote is rigged and hijacked so in what sense do any of us get what we vote for? Let's make up our minds people. If our republic has really been hikacked, then we need to reconfigure our thinking and reconsider old chestnuts like, for example, "blue states" etc...
DeleteNot new at all. I remember 15ish years ago here in Florida some groups would follow people home from the shooting ranges when they saw range bags being put in peoples trunks; thereby making the guns presumed to be in them unaccessible. People pull in to driveway at home and bad guys pull up and stick up the people and demand the bags out of the trunk.
ReplyDeleteEvery range in the area had rules about not carrying loaded guns into the store so bad guys knew all the guns would be in the trunk.
After a hand full of arrests thankfully this model of robbery died out, at least around Orlando area.
How cool! Lure thieves to their final resting place. Have the holes already dug, of course!
ReplyDeleteHaving lived in many different foreign countries for decades, I can tell you this: Opportunistic crimes like this happen when relatively affluent residential areas and under-policed. And if the police are corrupt, the under-policing can get notably worse, sometimes on what looks very much like a pre-arranged timetable. If you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteNext up will be the kidnappings for profit. Some enterprising criminal will figure out how to get it done to payout, with a quick ATM turnaround or something similar, and be long gone before the FBI is even notified. We already have mass shootouts going on, wild-west style, with the known combatants being simply released without charges. No harm, no foul.