Yasir Afifi said he’s pretty sure he meets the profile of a Muslim on the FBI watch list: He found a GPS tracking device attached to his car last Sunday.

Two days later, on Tuesday, he said the FBI came calling and asked for the device back.

“I’m half-Arab, a young Muslim, my dad was a religious role model in the community,” the 20-year-old Santa Clara resident said Friday. “I travel overseas for work and to visit my brothers in Egypt. It’s their ticket to bother me forever.”

Afifi says the FBI has no reason to watch him. He said he’s done nothing wrong.

The FBI did not return numerous phone calls from the Mercury News.

However, according to Afifi and his attorney, Zahra Billoo, what happened is an example of federal authorities going on what Billoo called “fishing expeditions. It’s very common in this community,” she said.

Afifi said the strange series of events began Sunday, when he took his car in for an oil change to a garage not far from his Santa Clara home. As the car was raised, Afifi said he noticed “a wire hanging out.” Then he noticed “a black, glimmering device.”

Mazher Khan, owner of Ali’s Auto Care, had no idea what it was but he agreed to yank it out. Afifi left with the device and drove home.

On Tuesday, Afifi said he had just gotten home from work when one of his roommates came in and said, “There are two suspicious people standing right by your car in the complex.”

Afifi said he walked down to his car and backed out onto the road, but two SUVs pull up. One of the officers said, “did you know your tags are expired?” Afifi said. “I said, ‘Yeah, I know, I’m going to buy them this week. Is that why you pulled me over?’ “

The man showed him his FBI badge, Afifi said, and asked if he knew why the officers were there. Two FBI agents and four Santa Clara police officers were in the SUVs.

Afifi said he told the agent he had a pretty good idea when he was asked more questions.

Were you at a mechanic’s shop last Sunday?

“Yes.”

“All right, where’s the device you found under your hood,” the agent said, according to Afifi. “He goes, ‘Yeah, we put it there.’ “

After pressure from the agent, Afifi said he felt intimidated, even though “I was answering all of their questions.” He became concerned when the agent said, “We’re going to arrest you for obstruction of justice if you don’t cooperate.”

Afifi said he told officers the device was in his living room and agreed to walk with them the short distance back to his house. He asked the two FBI agents, a man and a woman, to wait outside while he retrieved the device.

“I gave it back to them and said, ‘Is this what you needed?’ ” Afifi said. “He goes, ‘Yeah, this is it.’ “

According to Afifi, “that’s when the weird stuff starts happening. They asked ‘Have you ever been overseas, had any type of training in Yemen or Iran? Any kind of abnormal activity?’ “

“My answer was ‘no, no, I have no idea how I can help you.’ “

Except for contacting Billoo, director of the Bay Area chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim-American civil rights advocacy group, and giving a few interviews on Friday, Afifi said the rest of his week was pretty uneventful.

But Billoo said she worries about the ongoing focus on “regular people” who happen to be Muslim.

“I think this might have been a situation where they made a mistake,” she said. “It’s so egregious.”

Contact Linda Goldston at 408-920-5862.