FALL RIVER: A Fall River-area couple is warning other travellers to be aware of their surroundings and their vehicles after discovering an unknown tracking device attached to their vehicle during a trip through Ottawa and the Montreal area this summer.
The couple, who have asked The Laker News not to reveal their identities, said the frightening discovery happened in August while they were making their way home from Quebec.
The incident began when one of them received a notification on their cellphone warning that an unknown tracking device was travelling with them.
Concerned, the couple used the phone’s sound feature in an attempt to locate the device.
They soon discovered that the sound appeared to be coming from underneath the vehicle’s windshield wipers.
The couple investigated further and found a tracking device under the hood of the vehicle.
They then reviewed the route associated with the device. According to the couple, the tracking information appeared to show that the device had originated in the underground parking garage of the Holiday Inn in Ottawa, where they had been staying.
That discovery left the couple with a disturbing question: Who had placed the tracker on their vehicle, and why?
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The couple said they were unable to deactivate the device themselves.
At the time, they were travelling toward Rivière-du-Loup, where they planned to spend the night before continuing the long drive home to the Fall River area.
Once they arrived at their hotel, they told the receptionist what had happened. The receptionist was sufficiently concerned that they contacted police on the couple’s behalf.
According to the couple, police told them that their particular vehicle was among those commonly targeted for theft in the Ottawa and Montreal areas.
The couple also became concerned that the tracker could potentially have been placed on their vehicle for purposes beyond theft. They said they had read about tracking devices being used in criminal activity, including cases involving abduction, and they could not rule out that possibility given the circumstances.
There is no indication that the couple was actually being targeted for an abduction, and they do not know who placed the device on their vehicle. However, the possibility was frightening enough that they wanted to share their experience with other travellers.
Unable to deactivate the device, the couple said they ultimately drove away and left the tracker somewhere else rather than allowing it to remain attached to their vehicle.
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The hotel staff in Rivière-du-Loup were also helpful, allowing the couple to park their vehicle directly outside the front entrance of the hotel for the night.
For the couple, the experience was deeply unsettling.
“It’s scary,” they said, noting that people often read stories about vehicles being tracked but rarely imagine that something like this could happen to them.
The couple decided to bring their experience to The Laker News because they want other people travelling to Ottawa, Montreal and elsewhere to be aware that unknown tracking-device alerts should not necessarily be ignored.
If a cellphone warns that an unknown tracker is travelling with you, take the notification seriously. Follow the instructions on the device to try to identify and locate the tracker.
If you believe someone may be deliberately tracking you or your vehicle, consider contacting police and moving to a safe, public location.
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The couple also recommends checking your vehicle after leaving hotels, underground parking garages and other public parking areas if you have reason to believe something may be wrong.
They stress that they do not know who placed the device on their vehicle or exactly why it was there.
But after finding a tracker hidden on their vehicle and seeing a travel history that appeared to lead back to an Ottawa hotel parking garage, they felt it was important to tell others.
Their message to fellow travellers is simple: Pay attention to those unexpected alerts. What you dismiss as a strange phone notification could be something worth investigating.
