Former Texas Beauty Queen Claims Stranger Targeted Her With Tracking Device
Alexandra Ahmadi said her alleged stalker sent her screenshots of her location.
— -- A former beauty queen said she's been forced to look over her shoulder constantly now, after a stranger at a bar allegedly hacked into her phone and subsequently stalked her.
Now she's issuing a warning to others, hoping to prevent another incident like this one.
Alexandra Ahmadi, who was crowned Miss San Antonio in 2013, told ABC News she met a man while celebrating her birthday at a restaurant with friends last week. Ahmadi said the stranger approached her and asked for her phone number. She says she declined, but later that night surprisingly received a telephone call from him.
“During the night he was calling me several times, Facetiming me, sending me extremely inappropriate photos," Ahmadi recalled.
The man continued to call Ahmadi several times, she alleges. That night, she said she switched her phone to silent mode and went to sleep. In the morning, Ahmadi says she woke up to 15 text messages and a screenshot of a map indicating the location of another establishment she visited after she left the party. She shared those screenshots with ABC News.
“That’s when my heart dropped and I woke up in a panic and I didn’t know what to do,” Ahmadi said.
Ahmadi says she soon found a Bluetooth tracking device, Tile, in her purse, which the man had allegedly showed her the night prior. She believes when the man placed the Tile on the bar next to her purse, he successfully hacked into the GPS system in her cell phone.
"I didn't really think anything of it so I set it on the side of my purse," she said of the device. "I think right when I turned around is when he slid it inside my handbag."
Tile, the makers of the Bluetooth tracking device that was allegedly put in Ahmadi's purse to track her, emphasized to ABC News that the device is not meant to be used in that way.
The company said the device, "Was designed to help locate personal items quickly, such as keys, wallets, backpacks, etc., within a close proximity..."
Ahmadi turned the Tile into police and had a diagnostic test done on her phone. She filed a report Wednesday with the City of San Antonio Police Department on the offenses of harassment and unlawfully installing tracking device.
The report also indicated that Ahmadi believes the assailant likely used Ahmadi’s Facebook page to find her phone number. Ahmadi says she has since adjusted the security settings on her Facebook account.
San Antonio Police Sgt. Jesse Salame told "Good Morning America" this is the first case the department has seen where the allegation involves a tracking device being placed inside a purse and being used to stalk that person.
“Anybody watching this should be cautious of the technological advances that are out there now,” Salame said in an interview that aired today on “GMA.” “While these things are really good if you're looking for your keys or your pets, some of these things can be used for bad purposes."
At this time, the police have not identified the suspect, Salame said.
Ahmadi said she hopes others can learn something from what she describes as a frightening experience.
“The feeling of being watched and having to look over your shoulder every five minutes -- your whole life is affected and this is not a way to live your life,” she said. “In a way, I'm glad I experienced this because now I know what technology can do.”
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