$4 tracking devices flood online market

Tran Tien in Ho Chi Minh City recently bought five tracking devices for VND100,000 each and put them on his key chain, dog’s collar, motorbike, and bags to prevent theft.

“I bought them on Facebook, and they worked just fine at first.”

But after a week he found some of them were not showing locations correctly.

In recent months many vendors have been selling similar devices on Facebook and e-commerce platforms for VND70,000-150,000, a 10th of that of Apple’s AirTag (VND800,000) and Samsung’s SmartTag (VND600,000-800,000).

All from unknown brands such as MMLuck, Momax, Smatrul, and Sualio, they are small and light enough to be attached to or put in most household items. They can be connected to the iPhone to show up on Apple’s tracking app Find My.

“Their prices are so low and they work just the same as Apple’s products,” Hoang Hai, a vendor, said.

He sells around 30 of them a day, even 50 on occasions, mostly through e-commerce platforms and Facebook.

Vendors usually import them from China, either via e-commerce platforms Taobao and 1688 or from Chinese suppliers.

The inside components of a tracking device. Photo by VnExpress/Bao Lam

One of the devices, called Sualio Tag, connects with a nearby iPhone immediately when a user presses the button.

Once the setup is completed its location is shown on Apple’s Find My app just like any other Apple device.

It also uses the same battery that Apple does in its Airtag.

Quang Dinh, a technician in HCMC, said the trackers use the same chip as in the Airtag and other similar devices, but it is connected to a new circuit board of lower quality than big brands’.

“This is why the cheap device can connect with Apple devices.”

Dinh suspected that manufacturers take the chips from discarded Apple devices and put them into these new trackers.

Vo Do Thang, CEO of Athena Center for Network Administration and Security Training, said ordinary criminals could use these devices to track people since they are very affordable.

“Bad people are not afraid of losing them. They can be put into bags, motorbikes, cars, and other items to track a target’s location.”

There is also a possibility that the devices include malware that could be activated to steal personal data, and so people should refrain from using them, he warned.