For months now, angry strangers have been showing up at Christina Lee and Michael Saba’s front door with a curious demand: “Give me back my stolen phone!”
Sometimes, families will show up; other times, it’s groups of friends or a random person with a police officer in tow, according to Fusion.
Despite using different service providers, everyone who bangs on their door has been led to the suburban Atlanta home by a phone-tracking app.
The problem — as the couple desperately tries to explain visitors — is that the missing phones aren’t at the house and never have been.
They are not, in fact, thieves. Saba is an engineer; Lee is a journalist.
The pair doesn’t understand why exactly, but both Android and iPhone users on various networks are being directed to their house by phone-tracking apps.
Once the awkward situation is explained, most lost-phone-seekers are understanding. But the couple told Fusion that a smaller number of people who place absolute faith in their tracking technology are convinced that the couple is lying, provoking potentially volatile conflicts.
Saba told Fusion by email:
“My biggest fear is that someone dangerous or violent is going to visit our house because of this. If or when that happens, I doubt our polite explanations are gonna go very far.”
“The majority of incidents happen later at night, after dinner,” Lee told the BBC, noting that neither she nor Saba have an idea why the problem persists.
On several occasions, Fusion reports, the problem has led to serious misunderstandings, such as an incident in which the couple briefly became suspects in a missing persons case:
In June, the police came looking for a teenage girl whose parents reported her missing. The police made Lee and Saba sit outside for more than an hour while the police decided whether they should get a warrant to search the house for the girl’s phone, and presumably, the girl. When Saba asked if he could go back inside to use the bathroom, the police wouldn’t let him.
“Your house is a crime scene and you two are persons of interest,” the officer said, according to Saba.
Read more of this story and see the video on Washington Post
The Pen Hustle With Brandy Cavalli 
You must be logged in to post a comment.