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Caught on film, car thieves who cloned electronic key
Felix Allen3 Jul 2009
A GANG of thieves who use an electronic bug to "capture" the remote locking codes of cars has been filmed in the act.
Motorist Susan Franks said she was shocked when police told her the crooks who broke into her BMW saloon had used a sophisticated "grabbing" device to exploit its keyless entry system.
The bug is believed to have been hidden in bushes near her Finchley home so it could "listen" to signals sent from her key fob to the car and record the unique code.
When the thieves returned, it is thought all they had to do to open the doors was replay the cloned signal. Mrs Franks, 50, who had installed a security camera at her house a week earlier after attempted thefts, said: "When I replayed the CCTV I saw these young men in baseball caps just walk up and open the doors without any effort and start rifling through my things. Apparently it's happening all the time. My neighbours had the same thing happen twice.
"These people can come and get in my car and even drive it away any time they like."
The actress said a BMW garage told her there was nothing they could do to stop such cloning - and quoted her £81 plus VAT to change the key codes. "What's the point? They will just come back and clone it again. The manufacturers need to say what they will do to stop it." Police are investigating.
“Effortless”: the thieves are filmed opening the car doors
Reader views (6)
Good job they never found your smalls
- Little Davie, Finchley Central N3, 06/07/2009 13:40
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Bless the little chavs they have nothing better to do. shame on the car manufacturers for not widely publicising this new technology for theives.
- Alan Uk, London, 03/07/2009 15:52
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Ethan, all cars are going to this sort of system.
This is simply one of those technologies that are supposed to "help" us, but in fact we become more dependent on electronic devices - and their batteries and wireless connections - to do simple things like unlock a door.
Electronic technology can be wonderful, but it is not always preferred.
- Trunk, US, 03/07/2009 15:28
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Any decent car system would automatically scramble the code each time it was used, so recordings would be useless.
Buy a different brand of car.
- Jay, London, 03/07/2009 14:32
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Ethan, I have taken the old car option, and then the little capped chavs ramm a screwdriver in the lock & try to force it. They failed, but now I cannot use the lock & have to get in the car via the passenger side. And I live in a very low crime area too. I think the hiring of hefty chaps is the only option, if you can afford it.
- Dom, London, 03/07/2009 14:24
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Buy a cheaper car without your fancy keyless entry then.
They wouldn't bother if you had a old Kia.
Or move house to a less crime ridden area..
Or hire some hefty chaps with baseball caps to ask the perps nicely if they would please leave your vehicle alone.
You can't rely on the Police and Criminal Justice system these days.
- Ethan, UK, 03/07/2009 10:11
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