Apple AirTag reveals Florida airline worker stole thousands of dollars of luggage

Apple’s AirTag is a great Bluetooth tracking device, but it can also be used for nefarious purposes, including car theft.

However, in a welcome change of pace, this story is far more positive.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in Florida has announced that it used AirTag location data to uncover an airline worker that stole thousands of dollars worth of passenger luggage.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, a traveller reported that their AirTag-tracked suitcase with contents worth more than $1,600 USD (roughly $2,054 CAD) didn’t make it to its destination. Another traveller from the same airport reported that their checked bag was missing more than $15,000 USD (about $19,265 CAD) worth of jewelry when they picked it up at their destination.

The Sheriff’s Office then used the airport’s database of employees to locate who lived near where the first victim’s suitcase was located, thanks to the AirTag inside it. This led to the arrest of 19-year-old Giovanni De Luca, an airline subcontractor at Flordia’s Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport.

De Luca later admitted to removing the AirTag from the first victim’ suitcase, though the Bluetooth tracking device still pinged its location before he was able to disable it. While the $15,000 of jewelry has been recovered, the $1,600 worth of items have not been found.

De Luca has been charged with two counts of grand theft.

Since the AirTag’s release, Apple has added several new features to the Bluetooth tracker, including unwanted tracking alerts, an Android detector app and a louder alert sound.

For more on Apple’s AirTag, check out this story.

Source: Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Via: 9to5Mac