Check your car for a hidden transponder . . .

[f1reverb]

A student found an FBI tracking device on his car . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming.gadgets/10/08/fbi.tracks.student.wired/index.html?hpt=T2

http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/dmh5s/does_this_mean_the_fbi_is_after_us/

Me and my friend went to the mechanic today and we found this on his car. http://imgur.com/OM6nE.jpg i am pretty confident it is a tracking device by the FBI but my friend's roommates think it is a bomb..any thoughts?

Edit 1:I should also clarify that the FBI had interest in my friend since his father passed away, as he was a religious leader and they've made attempts at contacting my friend to spew racist questions. Edit 2: i shouldve been more clear when clarifying but religious muslim leader...and i am an ent! : ) but it was my friend's car and he doesn't reddit. My plan was to just put the device on another car or in a lake, but when you come home to 2 stoned off their asses people who are hearing things in the device and convinced its a bomb you just gotta be sure. Edit 3: MORE PICTURES!! http://imgur.com/sspLU.jpg http://imgur.com/f4V2T.jpg http://imgur.com/srhrK.jpg*edit 4: people keep repeating some posts so i will address the more frequently asked questions here... The device was found near the exhaust but further in, my friend's father was a muslim religious leader, it is not an ex girlfriend that placed the device on his car nor some random other employer or such. he bought the car a little under a year ago and it wasnt there for sure then. * Last EDIT!! I am doing another post because the story has many new developments, hopefully within a few hours.

jeanmarcp 2118 points2119 points2120 points 4 days ago[-]

It's a Guardian ST820. It's a GPS tracking unit made by the company Cobham, the product line is called Orion. The redditor who said that the battery and magnetic unit is hand made is wrong, you've got the standard kit, it is sold like that by Cobham. Sales is restricted to army and law enforcement. TL;DR : yes, FBI or Police is after you.

[Hammer03]

So there was a followup on autoblog... The FBI and local LEOs showed up and sternly suggested that he give them their tracker back, or "We're going to make this much more difficult for you if you don't cooperate."

Although it does leave out the fact that his father was a religious leader... It shouldn't matter, but its still germane to the issue...

I wonder what they would do if you found one on your car, and threw it in a lake? Get you for destruction of gov't property? It's not like it was labeled "property of the FBI, please return if found."

[SteveJ]

If I knew I was being watched, I'd probably adopt some weird patterns, just to make them try to figure it out. Drive to Starbucks, then to Peets, then to JavaJoe's, then to Bob's coffee hut, then to Dutch Bros coffee...all in one hour. The next day do the same thing but with donut shops. Maybe do circles around the police station (not right next to it, but a couple of streets out.) Better yet, strap it to a migrating caribou.

A similar note: I love looking at the Nav displays on the new cars that come to the car control clinics. Nav system shows them driving in a 80 foot circle for a mile or more.

[Frenchee]

If I knew I was being watched, I'd probably adopt some weird patterns, just to make them try to figure it out. Drive to Starbucks, then to Peets, then to JavaJoe's, then to Bob's coffee hut, then to Dutch Bros coffee...all in one hour. The next day do the same thing but with donut shops. Maybe do circles around the police station (not right next to it, but a couple of streets out.) Better yet, strap it to a migrating caribou.

A similar note: I love looking at the Nav displays on the new cars that come to the car control clinics. Nav system shows them driving in a 80 foot circle for a mile or more.

You are one brilliant/hilarious guy

[RIMSPOKE]

WHY NOT PUT IT ON A U-HAUL TRAILER ?

THOSE THINGS MOVE ALL OVER THE PLACE IN ABSOLUTELY RANDOM PATTERNS .

[jim325]

My God what a sad state of affair we as a nation have come to. Sorry for you and yours. Take Care, Jim

[RIMSPOKE]

PERHAPS YOU SHOULD CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN .

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/10/afifi_wants_his_congressmans_h.html?hpid=news-col-blog

THAT IS , IF YOU DON'T THINK HE IS IN ON IT !

[f1reverb]

Henry WaxMan.

My local electorate ony knows WaxOn, not WaxOff, which is what he does all day long year in and year out.