iPhone theft vigilante attacks wrong person

According to the Hunterdon Democrat newspaper, a 52-year-old youth baseball umpire "struck out Sunday at a man he thought had taken his cell phone and was arrested on charges of simple assault and disorderly conduct."

The man apparently thought his iPhone had been stolen from his car and tracked down the handset - using the GPS/software facility - and found a 27-year-old man talking on an iPhone.

After confronting the man, the umpire "grabbed his shirt, pulled the younger man to the ground and punched his head and body," resulting in the man's chin being cut.

Police said that the umpire later learned that he had left his smartphone at a snack bar at the baseball field, where he had been umpiring a youth baseball game.

Infosecurity notes that this unfortunate incident highlights the occasional inaccuracies that GPS/satnav systems exhibit.

These incidents, though rare, can occur due to local interference with the GPS signals or where the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data is `fuzzed' for security or testing reasons.

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