You may have heard the rumors about how an enterprising woman from Santa Barbara County, California used AirTags in a unique trap to catch her package thieves. And it’s true — she really did hide an AirTag in a package and track it to the thieves’ home, which led to the arrest of a mail theft ring by the local sheriff’s department.
If you’ve been plagued by package theft yourself, this AirTag trick may sound tempting, especially since AirTags are down to around $25. But before you start making plans to catch local mail thieves of your own with a tracker there’s a lot you should first. A trap like this takes a lot of luck, investment and time — and there are other ways to keep your packages safe. Here’s what a tracker setup would need.
Buying an AirTag (that you probably won’t get back)
AirTags aren’t the most expensive tracker around, but they’re still an investment. You can find a pack of four for around $100. However, if you really want one to get stolen by a package thief, you’re not likely to get it back. Even if the package is successfully tracked, the AirTag is likely to be collected as evidence and from there, it can easily get lost in the legal system. So there are some upfront costs (in addition to shipping fees).
Document everything carefully if you want to win over police during your tracking scheme.
Contacting police, and having them listen
Here’s another tricky part: The Santa Barbara County case worked only because the woman contacted the local sheriff’s department, explained how she’d tracked the package and provided all the necessary information. Then the sheriff’s department took action. But that doesn’t always happen.
Not many law enforcement departments have a team dedicated to mail theft, or the resources to send people out to explore a tracked location. They may be unlikely to listen to a lone victim who engineered their own plot. Most police departments have only one trick to stop package theft: patrolling the neighborhood a few times. And you can find plenty of stories on Reddit about police who don’t take any action over stolen mail.
So, a lot depends on what your local law enforcement contacts decide to do, and that’s out of your hands. The best you can do is put together a clear record of evidence (including photos and screenshots) as you create, send and track the package, as well as evidence about the other mail you’ve had stolen. We don’t advise you visiting the thieves’ location yourself.
