'Check your purses!' Texas woman reveals she found a Tile TRACKING device in her bag after a night out - as she warns others to beware of stalkers who could be using them

Sheridan Ellis shared the PSA on the social media platform on June 1, and has already racked up 1.2 million views
After a night out with friends, she came home to find a Tile tracker in her purse
Tiles are Bluetooth-enabled trackers, which most people attach to keys, wallets, or other easily-misplaced items
They only work within range of 200 to 400 ft. of the phone connected to it, depending on the size
Still, Sheridan warned others to be careful and check their purses
She also said she immediately removed the battery

Published: 22:08 BST, 15 June 2021 | Updated: 22:09 BST, 15 June 2021

e-mail

A TikToker is warning women to beware of location trackers slipped into their purses after she found one in her bag after a night out.

Sheridan Ellis shared the PSA on the social media platform on June 1, and has already racked up 1.2 million views.

Sheridan explained that after a night out with friends, she discovered a Tile tracker hidden inside her purse — and, knowing that she didn't put it there, immediately removed the battery.

Viral: Sheridan Ellis shared a PSA on the social media platform on June 1, warning women to beware of Tile trackers

'This weekend, on Saturday, I went to dinner with a group of friends for this girl's birthday,' she said.

'If you know me, you know I don't normally carry a purse, but on Saturday I did because we had decorations and stuff for the table.

'Anyways, at the end of the night I'm cleaning my purse out and I find this,' she said, holding up a small Tile brand tracker.

'If you don't know what this is, it's a Tile. It's basically a tracker. People put it on their keys and whatnot,' she said.

Tiles are Bluetooth-enabled trackers, which most people attach to keys, wallets, or other easily-misplaced items.

They sync up to an app and work in both directions: Pressing a button on the Tile will make an alarm go off on your phone, whole pressing a button in the app will make an alarm go off on the Tile.

Uh-oh! After a night out with friends, she came home to find a Tile tracker in her purse. She did not put it there

How it works: Tiles are Bluetooth-enabled trackers which only work within range of 200 to 400 ft. of the phone connected to it, depending on the size

The app can also show the last known location of the Tile.

This was alarming for Sheridan, who said that the Tile she found wasn't hers.

'I don't know how it got in my purse,' she said. 'I immediately took the battery out, don't worry.

'Check your purses and stay safe out there!' she warned.

While it's unclear how the Tile got in her purse — and whether the person who put it there had nefarious motives — it would be fairly difficult to track someone with a Tile.

Depending on the size, they only have a 200 to 400 ft. Bluetooth range — so once Sheridan left and began walking away, she soon would have been untrackable.

However, it is possible that someone following 200 to 400 ft. behind could use it to confirm someone else's location.

Caution: Sheridan warned others to be careful and check their purses. She also said she immediately removed the battery

Commenters have had mixed reactions to the video, with some saying 'that's scary!' and 'dangerous times we're living in.'

'The police can definitely find out who purchased that and who downloaded the app registered to it,' urged one commenter. 'Go to the police. That's very scary.'

But others have pointed to the unlikelihood that someone could be using it to stalk her with such a short Bluetooth range.

'Tiles track max 200ft. Absolutely no one was trying to track you,' said one.

'They can't track you,' said one more. 'I have one and if it's not in range with my phone I can't find them.'

'The Tiles do NOT use GPS, they must be within Bluetooth range of a device that is actively using the Tile app,' said another.