Robbers Cloning the Security Code of Car Remote Keys


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Robbers are using hi tech ways to steal the the security code of our car remote keys (and they do this within that short time when we lock our car with remote.)

Got this mail from a friend.

"I locked my car. As I walked away I heard my car door
unlock''.
I went back and locked my car again three times.
Each time, as soon as I started to walk away, I could hear it unlock again!! Naturally alarmed, I looked around and there
were two men sitting in a car next to the Store.
They were obviously watching me intently, and there seemed no doubt they were somehow involved in this very weird situation.

I quickly abandoned my errand, jumped into my car and sped away.

I went straight to the police station, told them what had happened, and found out I was part of a new, and very successful, scheme being used to gain entry into parked cars.

Two weeks later, my friend's son had a similar experience....While travelling, he stopped at a motorway service area to use the toilet.
When he came out to his car less than 5 minutes later, someone had managed to get into his car and had stolen his mobile phone, laptop computer, sat-nav, briefcase and other belongings.

He called the police and since there were no signs of his car having been broken into, the police told him he had probably been a victim of the latest robbery tactic – there is a device that robbers are using now to clone your security code when you lock your doors on your car using your remote locking device
They sit a distance away and watch for their next victim.
They know you are going inside the Store, restaurant, or whatever and that they now have a few minutes to steal and run.

The police officer said always to lock your car manually with the key when parking in a public area.
That way if there is someone sitting in a car nearby watching for their next victim, it will not be you.

When you lock up with the key upon exiting, it does not send the security code, but if you walk away and use the remote button, it sends the code through the air waves where it can be easily intercepted by the device.

Look how many times we all lock our doors with our remote just to be sure we remembered to lock them -- and bingo, someone has our code...and potentially whatever is in our car."
 
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OMG there are hell lots of ways to steal the car / things kept inside the car, soon there will be a day when we will have to lock our cars at home only. But thanks a lot for sharing the information.
 
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So we gotta always use manual lock then, isn't their anything that we can do about it now that we know how they are robbing us?
 
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Thanks for the useful tip/information. Will try to practise at least while locking. Actually speaking, can use only when unlocking as we will be always near the car while locking it
 
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This is scary, not sure what will companies like Autocop/Nippon do to tackle this. If this kind of robbery continues, then remote central locking sales too will drop. So till this issue is solved, it would be better to lock the car with key instead of the remote, atleast in malls or similar places. Thanks a lot for the info.
 
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Bloody. Life is getting difficult day by day. Robbers are getting new techniques to eanr money easier way. I think it would safer to use the locks and key that we used on our home doors. Much safer think so.
 
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@Autosafari: No offences meant buddy.
The said mail is doing rounds since past couple of years. However, most of the experts who track such technological loop holes have denied the fact that the thieves can break/copy the code in such a short time.
Do have a look at this article: snopes.com: Code Grabbers and Remote Keyless Entry.

Further more, such rumors are often circulated by the thieves themselves. If you look at the other side of the story, if you are not locking the car using the remote (and manually locking the car), then definitely you wont be able to engage the security system (circuit doesnt get completed). Hence, when the car is manually unlocked by the robber, there would be no alarm which would make the theft a cake walk for him. So dont just blindly believe suh thing.
 
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^^ that was i wanted to mention.

if the immobiliser is not triggered, then they can easily unlock the car with a small steel sheet of the windshield.

when that happens , the immobilser wont trigger and then the thief can steal the belongings effortlessly.
 
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^^ that was i wanted to mention.

if the immobiliser is not triggered, then they can easily unlock the car with a small steel sheet of the windshield.

when that happens , the immobilser wont trigger and then the thief can steal the belongings effortlessly.

[confused] just wondering... What is the connection between the immobiliser and the thief stealing the belongings effortlessly?
 
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[confused] just wondering... What is the connection between the immobiliser and the thief stealing the belongings effortlessly?
When you lock the car using key instead of remote, car immobilizer will not engage and theft alarm will not activate. So if some one open the door using some trick, theft alarm will not come up.
As far as theft of security code is concerned this is not that easy as remote send security code in pseudo format like encryption. So very less likely that some one will capture it. Always lock the car using remote.
 
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that kind of scanner cost usd45 on Internet. better use RFID tag based lock, it works in close proximity only, cannot be scanned.

Also common practice in other countries to go to service station and offer some money to mechanic, when you will visit service station mechanic will duplicate everything. best thing would be to have some extra security system in car about which only you know. plus of course GPS tracker.

From one friend his Innova was stolen by former driver, he was able to recover it, thanks to hidden GPS tracker.
 
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Oh boy, Im not going to use remote locking now onwards, Its going to be the old fashioned way, manually by keys.
Btw what about cars which dont have keyhole nowadays?

^^ that was i wanted to mention.

if the immobiliser is not triggered, then they can easily unlock the car with a small steel sheet of the windshield.

when that happens , the immobilser wont trigger and then the thief can steal the belongings effortlessly.
Immobilizer DOES get triggered, atleast in my car when the engine is turned off.
BTW Immobilizer is used to immobilze the engine in case of forced crank. Your valuables are unsafe even with the immobilizer working.
Thats why its advised not to leave valuables in the car.
 
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Oh boy, Im not going to use remote locking now onwards, Its going to be the old fashioned way, manually by keys.
Btw what about cars which dont have keyhole nowadays?



Immobilizer DOES get triggered, atleast in my car when the engine is turned off.
BTW Immobilizer is used to immobilze the engine in case of forced crank. Your valuables are unsafe even with the immobilizer working.
Thats why its advised not to leave valuables in the car.
if remote locking is not done, then if a thief opens the manual lock then theft alarm would not trigger.
 

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