Patent ID: 8217791

Claim:
A tracking system for assisting in theft recovery, the system comprising: a tracking unit, the unit comprising: a housing simulating a size and weight of a bundled package of currency; a global positioning system (GPS) receiver disposed within said housing and configured to receive GPS signals for determining location of the tracking unit; a wireless telephone transceiver disposed within said housing and configured to establish a communications link, transmit the location of and an identifier for the tracking unit via the communications link, and to receive a command signal via the communications link; a radio frequency (RF) beacon transmitter disposed within said housing configured to transmit an RF beacon; and a controller disposed within said housing and electrically coupled to said GPS receiver, said wireless telephone transceiver, and said radio frequency beacon transmitter, said controller configured to direct the wireless telephone transceiver to establish the communications link and transmit the location and identifier, said controller further configured to, in response to the command signal, select an active operating mode of the tracking unit, wherein a first active operating mode comprises the wireless telephone transceiver active and the RF transmitter inactive, and a second active operating mode comprises the wireless telephone transceiver inactive and the RF transmitter active; and a remote monitoring unit configured to receive the information transmitted by the tracking unit via the communications link and to transmit the command signal via the communications link when prompted by a system user.