Creepy people are everywhere. They’re just masters of not making themselves known. Nobody wants to have a spooky encounter with someone deranged, but if they unfortunately make contact, then you know something bad’s about to happen.

This is the unsettling situation a man found himself in after simply going for a workout. A person he regularly saw at the gym turned out to be a creep who figured out where the man lived by secretly dropping an AirTag into his bag. The shell-shocked poster didn’t know what to do.

It’s always important to be vigilant of your surroundings and belongings because folks with bad intentions might be on the lookout for the right opportunity

Image credits: senivpetro / Freepik (not the actual photo)

The poster who works out at a gym daily said that he always keeps his gym bag in a locker and only removes it when he’s in the pool or taking a shower

One day after a workout, when he was home, a friend of a guy who he’d seen at the gym came around asking for some “stuff” that the gym guy accidentally left in the poster’s bag

Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

The poster learned that the gym guy and his friend found his house because of an AirTag that was left in the bag

Image credits: say_uncle82

After getting to know about the tracker that was kept in his gym bag, the poster did not know what to do and asked netizens for advice

The author had been keeping his gym bag in a locker whenever he went to exercise. He’d only take it out while showering or swimming. After the incident with the creepy gym guy’s friend, the poster realized that the man might have placed the AirTag and other items in his bag while he was busy showering.

The kicker is that the poster hadn’t seen the stranger at the gym on the day the incident occurred. It almost seems like the guy and his friend had planned this between themselves and worked together to place the AirTag in the author’s bag so that they could find his location. What’s terrifying is that folks have a legitimate fear that AirTags could be used by stalkers in similar ways.

To understand more about the creepy behavior of the gym stranger, Bored Panda contacted Andrew T. Austin, a British therapist and the creator of Integral Eye Movement Therapy (IEMT). With over two decades of experience, he specializes in helping individuals overcome trauma, anxiety, and the psychological effects of stalking.

We asked Andrew what a stalker’s motivations could possibly be. He said that “the main thing about stalkers is that, like most people, they really don’t know their motivations. They are usually just acting emotively without conscious consideration as to why they are doing it.”

“Generally, I suspect that most are an inner mess and turmoil of negative emotions, and the activity of stalking calms them. They see the target as holding the key to their inner salvation. What will stand out about them is that their emotional range is restricted, but the emotions they feel are incredibly intense,” he added.

We also reached out to another expert, Gershon Ben Keren. He’s a criminologist who provides security training and consultancy services internationally for several government agencies, as well as companies and organizations operating in the private sector. He also has a 5th Degree Black Belt in Krav Maga.

Gershon Keren said that “this individual action, on its own, may not constitute ‘stalking’ or ‘harassment’ in and of itself. It may indicate the ‘start’ of a campaign. If this so far was/is the only event/incident, as unnerving and unwelcome as it is, on its own, doesn’t really constitute stalking.”

“The use of the AirTag is certainly intrusive, and an invasion of privacy, and could violate the ECPA (Electronic Communications Privacy Act). Though law-enforcement/the DA may be reluctant to prosecute such a case if there was no actual evidence of malice. There would need to be proof/evidence that this AirTag was the stranger’s and that it had been used, rather [than] some other method, to locate the man’s home,” Gershon added.

Image credits: Đức Trịnh / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

It seems like in this case, the gym stranger had planned to plant the AirTag in the poster’s bag as a way to find out where he lived. Some netizens suggested that it might be stalking for the purposes of surveillance so that he and his friend could later rob the house or maybe do something more devious.

Andrew also told us that “possibly, stalkers can be divided into two categories: those who want contact with the target and those who want to punish the target. For these people, love and hate have often gotten very messed up. Very few stalkers think of themselves as bad guys; most see themselves as victims.”

He also added that “in the air-tag scenario you reference, this would be a worst-case scenario, and it shows that the stalker respects no boundaries and has thought through their actions in advance. The stalker clearly respects no social or personal boundaries of the target and wishes to intrude into the target’s personal space.”

The poster definitely felt spooked after learning how the gym guy’s buddy found his house. He desperately wanted to teach the guy a lesson for disrespecting his privacy. We asked Andrew what could be done in a situation like this. He said: “I doubt there is much one can do to protect themselves against stalkers, and this is the troubling part.”

“More so, anyone can turn into a stalker. Most stalkers are already known to the target, they may share the same social scene/group and so on. Often, no one else will think of that person as being a stalker since they haven’t experienced this behavior directed towards them,” he explained.

We also asked Gershon for advice on what folks could do to protect themselves against stalkers. He said, “The best thing to do is adopt general security principles, such as protecting personal data and managing your online data, and sometimes choosing not to post something that could indicate a pattern in your behaviors.”

“One thing not to rely on for protection is a restraining order; if somebody is engaging in a stalking campaign, which is serious enough for you to take out a restraining order, it is unlikely that they are in a rational state of mind to respect it. This is not to say that restraining orders don’t have their place but that they must be used not so much as deterrence/protection but as a means of producing a particular consequence, i.e., criminal charges,” Gershon explained.

It is an incredibly scary situation to find yourself in, and commenters did share words of advice with the poster. Some said that it was important to inform the police and gym management about the incident. They also said that it would be a good idea to document the contents of the bag and any further interactions with the stranger.

How would you have handled a creepy situation like this?

Folks were extremely suspicious of the gym guy’s intentions and urged the poster to report the incident to authorities