*The practice of tracking items intended to lure thieves is sometimes known as "jarking." Cops could probably jark a few wallets and purses in theft-heavy areas and mop up the local operators and their fences in a day.
Via RISKS Digest:
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:04:18 -0700
From: Gene Wirchenko
Subject: iPhone GPS leads police to stolen device in minutes
Source: *The Daily News*, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, 24 Jul 2010,
item from The Associated Press, 23 Jul 2010
A man accused of stealing an Apple iPhone out of a woman's hand in San
Francisco may have been shocked when police found him only nine minutes
later. It turns out the phone had been tracking his every move.
The iPhone was being used to test a new, real-time global positioning system
tracking application, and the woman holding it was an intern for the
software's maker, Mountain View-based Covia Labs.
Covia CEO David Kahn had sent the intern into the street to demonstrate the
software.
Police say Horatio Toure snatched it and sped away on a bicycle. Kahn was
watching a live map of the phone's location on a computer and says he was
immediately struck by how quickly the image began moving down the street.
Police arrested Toure nine minutes later.
[A Good Demo!]
