Americans love their vehicles, which is partially why 41,000 all-terrain vehicles get sold to consumers ever quarter. Although people are understandably proud of their vehicles, car ownership comes with peril. A silly mistake can have serious repercussions. If you don’t rotate your tires every 3,000 to 6,000 miles, you could cause undue wear and tear on your vehicle that could lead to bigger repairs. Choosing the cheapest repair shop you can find can lead to shoddy work, which may result in a failure that leads to an accident. Also, leaving your keys inside your vehicle could result in its theft. (The NICB actually reports that there were more than 126,000 vehicles reported stolen as a consequence of the keys being left inside the vehicles.)
However, in 2019, you don’t need to leave your keys in the car or face an assailant to have your vehicle stolen. You need only have a key fob.
WRIC reports that Virginians in Chesterfield are concerned about a car thief who’s been caught on camera skulking around neighborhoods. Using a device that activates a driver’s key fob signal, the thief stole items from 12 different victims.
“It’s a weird feeling when you think about someone creeping around your neighborhood,” said Kevin McGarth, a Grove Community resident and one of the theft victims. “It’s [eerie].”
Thieves can also steal keyless start cars with similar technology. Keyless start cars use a code that’s transmitted by the key/fob to start up. Scanning devices can also easily pick up the code, replicate it, and direct it back at the car.
In other words, thieves can hack cars and steal them.
Fortunately, there are steps we can take to guard our vehicles against high tech villains:
- Deactivate your key fob
- Put aluminum foil around your fob
- Purchase and install a wheel lock
- Keep keys away from windows and doors
- Put your key fob where signals are blocked, such as a microwave