A Texas father says a bug in the Find My iPhone app has led to a dozen angry people showing up at his home to falsely accuse him of stealing their devices — and one even threatened to call the police.
- Scott Schuster moved home to Richmond, Texas in 2018, and since then a slew of people have come to his door thanks to the Find My iPhone app.
- The father-of-two says people turn up at all hours of the day and night, demanding that they return their devices
- Schuster reported the problem multiple times and in multiple ways to Apple, but unwanted visitors keep coming: He fears for his family’s safety
A Texas father is begging Apple to reconfigure the “Find My iPhone” app, where a glitch in the system is sending people to his home demanding they hand over their lost devices.
Scott Schuster moved into Richmond, a suburb southwest of Houston, in 2018.
He said people immediately began arriving at his doorstep, day and night, demanding the return of their lost phones and airbags.
He said, “I have to get up and go answer the door and tell people I don’t have their devices.” ABC 13.
“And people don’t tend to believe you.”
Scott Schuster moved to the Richmond, Texas neighborhood in 2018 and soon realized that the Find My iPhone app was sending people to his door.
People show up at all hours of the day and night, Schuster said, and he worries about his family’s safety
Schuster, who works as a software engineer, said he reported the problem to Apple multiple times, in multiple ways, but people keep coming.
He says at least 12 people have shown up at his door, and he fears for the safety of his children, ages seven and nine.
There are many irrational people in the world. “If they’re angry, if they’re drunk, or they’re having a rough night — that’s my biggest concern,” Schuster said.
“Someone will probably come home with a gun.”
Schuster shared footage from his doorbell to Ring showing angry people arriving at his door.
One person was heard to say, “I lost my cell phone, clicked Find My iPhone, and it says it was at that address.”
A woman (pictured) can be heard threatening to call the police, in the Ring camera footage he shared
Several people showed up to demand the return of their phones or air pods
Schuster says he told Apple several times about the error, but nothing was done
It is clear that many of them are upset and angry.
A woman threatened to call the police.
“Well, the cops are on the way,” she said, “so you might want to talk to me before they come here.”
Schuster said his neighbors jokingly call him the local phone thief, but he simply wants to address the problem.
He said, “I would just like it to be fixed.”
“I think my children sleep more peacefully at night.”
Apple has yet to comment on the saga, and it’s not clear what exactly might be causing it.
Find My iPhone was developed to help people track down lost or stolen phones, and allow them to trace their device to another piece of Apple hardware.
While potentially very useful, policemen warned people not to put themselves in danger by trying to confiscate goods that might have been stolen from potentially dangerous thieves.
