How A S’porean, Who Got Robbed In Barcelona, Used His Wireless Earbuds To Track Thieves Down 

If you thought you could only use AirTags to track your items and luggage while on your travels, you thought wrong. A Singaporean man who got robbed while travelling in Barcelona managed to track the thieves down in the same day using — nope, not an Apple AirTag or Samsung SmartTag— but his Samsung Galaxy earbuds. Here’s how.

Singaporean Daniel Lim had picked up his rental car in Barcelona and had just driven off from the pick-up point when he was stopped by another car, which indicated to him that he had tyre issues, he shared on TikTok.

All this turned out to be the robbers’ ruse. Soon after he got out of the car to check, another car pulled up and stole Daniel’s bag, which contained his passport, wallet and keys, from the front seat. He gave chase but soon lost them. But it was thanks to Daniel’s quick-thinking girlfriend, Eve Gabriella, who told him to track his bag — and the robbers — with his Samsung Galaxy Buds, which were in the bag. Eve was not on the trip, but had been on the phone with Daniel soon after. On her TikTok video, Eve revealed that when she realised his earbuds were in the bag that was nicked, she suggested he track the earbuds via GPS. He managed to trace the thieves to a nearby café and subsequently confronted them.

How can earbuds like Samsung Galaxy Buds and Apple AirPods double up as item trackers?

Eve shared in the video “that was a miracle” because Samsung ear buds can only be tracked “only if someone happened to open it”. Samsung Galaxy earbuds can be tracked via GPS using the Samsung’s Wearable app or SmartThings Find website. Similarly, Apple AirPods can tracked via the Find My app. In both cases, the earbuds must be paired with your phone or other device before it can be tracked. 

What happened after Daniel tracked down and came face to face with the robbers?

“Too late to call the cops, so I played it cool and said I didn’t want any problems, I just want my passport back,” he captioned. He had a flight to catch the next day, and would not be able to get a replacement document in time because all this took place on a Sunday when the Singapore embassy was closed. 

Now, while it’s undoubtedly a risk to come face to face with anyone who’s robbed you, the robbers in this case strangely entertained Daniel for 40 minutes before running away. In that time, they revealed that they’d thrown his bag on the road near the airport and would bring it back to him. That never happened, and after 40 minutes, the robbers returned his earbuds and fled the scene. Daniel then went back to the vicinity of the airport to search for his bag, to no avail. He subsequently went to the airport police station to make a report. But there was a final twist to this story. “After I said my name, they brought my bag out, supposedly found by a taxi, with only my cash and wallet missing. My credit cards, passport and keys were there!” he said. All that was taken was 200 euros in cash, according to Eve’s video.

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission. Prices are correct at the time of publishing.