Sometimes, a gut feeling is enough to raise alarm—but asking others to confirm suspicions can provide clarity. That is exactly what one driver did after finding a suspicious device attached to their car.
Turning to Reddit for advice, user u/BIGDILFWORLDWIDE shared a photo of a small black electronic device that appeared slightly smaller than a smartphone. The post, shared on March 22, was titled, “Please tell me it’s not what I think it is,” quickly went viral earning over 20,000 upvotes, at the time of writing.
The image quickly sparked concern among fellow users, with more than 2,400 comments flooding in—many of them echoing the same conclusion.
“Definitely a GPS tracker. Fortunately this tracker is more for commercial off the shelf use especially in the car industry so it’s not like you have any secret spies tracking your whereabouts. If you bought the car recently off the lot the company could have forgotten to remove it,” one user commented.
It remains unclear why the GPS tracker was on the user’s car, but the original poster later shared a photo showing the device smashed beside a hammer—suggesting the matter had been firmly resolved.
Another commenter offered insight from experience in the auto industry, writing: “As a former car salesman, if you’re making payments on this car still. That tracker is 100 percent in the agreement you signed. If it’s paid off, they most likely forgot to take it out.”
A third user added further context, claiming firsthand knowledge of the device’s purpose. “I actually used to work for them, as a Software Engineer. It’s a tracker used often by Buy Here Pay Here dealerships (think dealerships for high risk buyers). It’s a tracker for the repo man and/or financed to track you (some can even disable car or make it honk). At any time the consumer can also pay for the service if they too want to track the vehicle.”
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) says that tracking devices once mainly used by police or private investigators are now widely available and can be hidden on vehicles or belongings, with their location monitored remotely via phone or computer.
While many people use them for practical purposes—such as parents keeping tabs on children, caregivers monitoring individuals with dementia, or locating lost items—the technology has also raised serious privacy concerns.
At least 26 states and Washington, D.C., have passed laws regulating tracking devices, with some treating secret tracking as stalking, others banning vehicle trackers without consent, and a smaller number prohibiting electronic tracking altogether without permission.
Most of these laws include exceptions, including lawful use by law enforcement, employers monitoring work-related vehicles, parents or guardians tracking a minor’s vehicle, caregivers responsible for incapacitated adults, private investigators, and companies managing commercial or fleet vehicles.
Newsweek reached out to u/BIGDILFWORLDWIDE for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
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