Email theft victim sent Apple AirTag as bait. It worked

Two suspected mail thieves had their plans foiled thanks to a tracking device and a Santa Barbara County woman who was upset about her mail being stolen.

On Monday, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies were called to the Los Alamos post office shortly after 7 a.m. on a report of mail theft. Thieves had stolen items from a woman’s mailbox, and it wasn’t the first time the mailbox had been hit, she told deputies.

This time, however, she decided to take matters into her own hands and sent herself a package that contained an Apple AirTag, a tracking device that can help people find their personal belongings using a Bluetooth signal.

Her mail was stolen Monday, according to the Sheriff’s Department, including a package with a tracking device. The woman showed officers she was able to track the package to the 600 block of E. Sunrise Drive in Santa Maria.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, officers found the woman’s mail, including a package with an AirTag, as well as items believed to have been stolen from more than a dozen other victims.

Authorities arrested Virginia Franchessca Lara, 27, of Santa Maria, and Donald Ashton Terry, 37, of Riverside, on theft charges. Lara was booked into the Northern Branch Jail on charges of possession of checks with intent to defraud, fictitious checks, identity theft, credit card theft and conspiracy, the Sheriff’s Department said. Her bond was set at $50,000.

Terry was arrested on charges of burglary, possession of checks with intent to defraud, credit card theft, identity theft and conspiracy. He was also arrested on several theft-related warrants issued by Riverside County. His bond was set at $460,000.

In a press release, the Sheriff’s Department thanked the owner of the mailbox for taking a proactive approach and not attempting to confront the suspects himself. The case is still under investigation to identify other victims.

A pack of four AirTags costs $80 and is about the size of a half-dollar coin. Apple is facing a class-action lawsuit in California that accuses the company of not taking enough steps to prevent stalkers from using AirTags, which the Silicon Valley company once called “stalker-proof.”