England captain Harry Kane’s Range Rover ‘stolen’

[Japhet]

Not bollocks. Happened to my 2014 Fiesta (!) 18 months ago. I don't know about tracking software, but they can crack the basic software and start the ignition. It disappeared overnight with no signs of forced entry. By the time we noticed it was gone, it was probably in a container on the way to Uganda (or wherever) with a new set of plates. It's organised crime, not the kids from the local estate. And Fiestas are among their favourite targets, probably because they're common/popular.

After a bit of a search, we replaced the Fiesta with an identical car and fitted a Ghost immobiliser, which hides in the wiring of the car and disables the ignition, unless you know the personalised sequence of random buttons and switches to press on the dashboard or window controls. The only way to steal the car is to lift it onto a lorry, because the immobiliser is impossible to detect. And it works.

Unfortunately, it doesn't prevent the would-be thieves from physically ripping out the ignition cylinder from the steering column casting to try to bypass the wiring, because they're too stupid to see that the car has a Ghost immobiliser. This has happened twice now. Both times, the immobiliser prevented the car from being nicked, but not from being vandalised, at great cost to my formerly-30-year no claims bonus.

So the car now also has a visibly flashing alarm and I also have CCTV, as well as the immobiliser. Belt, braces and elastic as well.

I recommend the Ghost immobiliser: it does work, in the sense that no one can steal the car without physically hauling it away.

There was a documentary on TV a few years back where they went to (I think) Nigeria and drove around with a device that detected car trackers which had been triggered due to theft. The device was continually showing that it had been triggered since at least 90% of the cars driving around had been stolen in Europe.

 

[Who’s our next manager?]

Anyone explain this 'electronic device'
and does this mean that no car is safe?
I have had a whole series of cars that no self respecting thief
would want to be seen escaping in.
Seems to be working- so far

How does anyone know about the electronic device,must have been witnesses

 

[mawspurs]

There are now RF blocking storage boxes on sale to keep car keys in so that the frequency’s can’t be scanned from outside your house. Might be the cheapest way to keep your car safe.

 

[spursgirls]

There are now RF blocking storage boxes on sale to keep car keys in so that the frequency’s can’t be scanned from outside your house. Might be the cheapest way to keep your car safe.

2 PACK Small Faraday Pouch For Car Keys, Car Key Signal: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Shop 2 PACK Small Faraday Pouch For Car Keys, Car Key Signal Blocking Bag For Car, RFID Key Pouch Faraday Bag for Keyless Car, . Free delivery and returns on eligible orders.

tinyurl.com

 

[davidmatzdorf]

There are now RF blocking storage boxes on sale to keep car keys in so that the frequency’s can’t be scanned from outside your house. Might be the cheapest way to keep your car safe.

You can get the same in bag form, called a Faraday bag. We have one for each key.

 

[Chedozie]

Anyone want a Range Rover? Top spec, nearly new, needs a new tracker.

 

[McFlash]

You can get the same in bag form, called a Faraday bag. We have one for each key.

Like when shoplifters line a shopping bag with tinfoil, to stop the door alarm things from being activated.

 

[Col_M]

Looks like it was an insurance scam. Apparently

 

[neilp]

Looks like it was an insurance scam. Apparently

How so?

 

[Locotoro]

Not bollocks. Happened to my 2014 Fiesta (!) 18 months ago. I don't know about tracking software, but they can crack the basic software and start the ignition. It disappeared overnight with no signs of forced entry. By the time we noticed it was gone, it was probably in a container on the way to Uganda (or wherever) with a new set of plates. It's organised crime, not the kids from the local estate. And Fiestas are among their favourite targets, probably because they're common/popular.

After a bit of a search, we replaced the Fiesta with an identical car and fitted a Ghost immobiliser, which hides in the wiring of the car and disables the ignition, unless you know the personalised sequence of random buttons and switches to press on the dashboard or window controls. The only way to steal the car is to lift it onto a lorry, because the immobiliser is impossible to detect. And it works.

Unfortunately, it doesn't prevent the would-be thieves from physically ripping out the ignition cylinder from the steering column casting to try to bypass the wiring, because they're too stupid to see that the car has a Ghost immobiliser. This has happened twice now. Both times, the immobiliser prevented the car from being nicked, but not from being vandalised, at great cost to my formerly-30-year no claims bonus.

So the car now also has a visibly flashing alarm and I also have CCTV, as well as the immobiliser. Belt, braces and elastic as well.

I recommend the Ghost immobiliser: it does work, in the sense that no one can steal the car without physically hauling it away.

This series of buttons sounds like secret unlock codes on Sega Mega Drive controllers. Up up down Right Right BBACBB

In other news, if the car was stolen why are they reporting it as "stolen"??

 

[Col_M]

How so?

well you say your car is stolen and then you claim on the insurance. The beauty of it is that really you’ve sold it to your mate Gary who lives on the Isle of Man and the Police will never find it. I’m sure H will have taken out the GAP insurance so he doesn’t even have to haggle with the insurance company.

 

[Shadydan]

well you say your car is stolen and then you claim on the insurance. The beauty of it is that really you’ve sold it to your mate Gary who lives on the Isle of Man and the Police will never find it. I’m sure H will have taken out the GAP insurance so he doesn’t even have to haggle with the insurance company.

Perfectly plausible but I'm not sure why Harry Kane would do that.

 

[sausage]

Anyone explain this 'electronic device'
and does this mean that no car is safe?

I would say it means that no 'desirable' car is safe.

Basically the newer 'keyless' type cars use a key that transmits a signal. You can 'read' and clone that signal often by just sticking a device through a letterbox, thus allowing you to make off with a car without much hassle. Never understood the advantage of such keys - causes more issues than it resolves.
As David Matzdorf has implied, you can 'block' the transmission (and thus 'theft' of the signal) by using a faraday cage to block the electromagnetic signal from the key.

Also as David Matzdorf was saying, Fords without that feature (Mk7 Fiesta, MK2/3 Focus) were/are easily stolen using the OBD2 port, so the common 'fix' is to disable the OBD2 port.
(I may or may not have worked for said manufacturer and seen first hand how completely ignorant they are towards the fact the Fords have eternally been child's play to steal.)

Even if your car has no technological disadvantage, some one will kick your door in and take the keys if they simply want your car. You're better off leaving them by the front door because it's simply much easier to not have your kids/family being harmed over the sake of some silly concept such as a car.

I'm very much a car person but wouldn't spent a lot of money on one - same reason why I don't have many tangible possessions that are valuable. It makes you an easy target. I do also understand that not everyone can buy something older and simply maintain it themselves, with some people relying on newer cars to be reliable. I am, of course, talking about exotic/desirable/decadent ones, mostly.


No idea why anyone would be suggesting Kane would be involved in insurance fraud though.

 

[ralvy]

I suspect it’ll be linked to automotive cyber crime. I don’t know loads about it but it’s possible to ‘hack’ into the signal sent by your key to unlock the car remotely, and there is loads of other coding in any modern car which cyber criminals can hack into, allowing them to unlock the vehicle and start it and disable any tracking devices built into the car. The criminals would probably have needed to be nearby Kane at some point when he was leaving the vehicle in order to hack into the signal.

I’m probably talking bollocks but this is my very basic understanding of how it works.

Come on. This is not the 80s, no one says 'hack' anymore.

 

[sausage]

Come on. This is not the 80s, no one says 'hack' anymore.

They do. It's actually irritating because it's a completely misused word.

I get bored of constantly hearing someone boast about how their child/relative was suspending from school for 'hacking' into the school 'mainframe' and that they are going to be a child prodigy, when it actually means that they found a way to circumnavigate the pathetic restrictions the school IT Dept had put in place (in my experience, people who do IT support in schools and most businesses are very low on the IT literacy ladder). So yeah, people say 'hack' more than they did in the 80's.

Worse than that, it's used to sensationalise anything. "Life hacks", for example, which is normally a tip about how to use something properly.

 

[Col_M]

Gary in the Isle of Man isn’t happy, rumours that H left a bag of stinky nappies in the boot and no oil change since he bought the car.
Caveat Emptor

 

[Matthew Wyatt]

Never having owned a fancy car nor even a new one I’m out of my depth with all the electronics and hacking talk, but surely to sell a stolen car it’d need to be shipped overseas somewhere the VIN counts for nothing, and shipping would take a big chunk out of any profit. There must be a break even point where the car’s resale value makes it worthwhile and I wonder what that cash value is.

As an aside, I love my car but I’m willing to bet five quid (to the SC coffers) that it’s less likely to be stolen than anyone else’s (roadworthy) here. JimmyG2 may run me close but I have a couple of aces up my sleeve.

 

[mumfordspur]

Used to be Ireland - My old man came home from work at about 2am in his Land Rover (3.8td Defender Mk3 - beeeeast on the farm we worked at), had a shower and grabbed some sarnies to go fishing, went back out the door about 2 hours later and it was gone.

Told the Police, they came round in the morning, asked a few questions and left. Called him the next day early, said they'd found it - he asked if he could come pick it up, they said not really, it's got different plates and it's currently in the front window of a jewellers in Belfast. Apparently it was linked to some big outfit who did a lot of these robberies, were really well organised etc. but eighteen hours, man. That's incredible.

Shame, for me as a 14/15 year old kid, that was a fun ride wazzing across fields and stuff with the big chunky tyres on it.

Sorry for your Dad,s loss Rock (I hate theft of any sort) but that is a well written, entertaining account of events.

 

[TheChosenOne]

Never having owned a fancy car nor even a new one I’m out of my depth with all the electronics and hacking talk, but surely to sell a stolen car it’d need to be shipped overseas somewhere the VIN counts for nothing, and shipping would take a big chunk out of any profit. There must be a break even point where the car’s resale value makes it worthwhile and I wonder what that cash value is.

As an aside, I love my car but I’m willing to bet five quid (to the SC coffers) that it’s less likely to be stolen than anyone else’s (roadworthy) here. JimmyG2 may run me close but I have a couple of aces up my sleeve.

Cut up and parted out. Good money for components. Cloning and ringing. Cut & Shut

 

[Typical Spurs]

I used to work in a prison and lots of the young men who found themselves there were because of these crimes.

1 in particular went into detail about how they do it but as it was about 4 years ago now there's parts I can't remember. In short @davidmatzdorf is right. Hack in via your keys. The device can then unlock the car. Once in the car, device goes into the charge point or USB and can then access everything in your car to allow it to start. They would travel at night to scout nice cars (sometimes travelling 40-50 miles) and return within the next week to steal them.

Regarding what happens to cars, with what I was told by those locked up for doing it, is that they are completely broken down and sold for parts. I've no idea about cars and whether every car part has a unique number/identifier, but these lads said that performance car parts fetch a very good amount of money. Once completely dismantled they can be moved around the country relatively easily.

They said that they would rarely break in a garage to get to a car. And when people used steering locks, locks that fitted on the handbrake and gear stick etc, it was a real pain in arse to steal. Have a look next time you walk past a row of cars how many have those locks to deter people - hardly any. They said getting access to a car remotely using their devices was far easier than using force to remove physical deterrent.

Also, don't leave car keys in obvious places, like near the front door. They said they they would sometimes break in the house to get keys if they could do it quick enough, and most people have them in a dish/basket or hanging by the front door to make it easier to steal.

Advice:
Use physical locks/deterrents in your car.

Don't have car keys on show.

If you can, have car keys upstairs whilst you're asleep, most won't go upstairs to retrieve them.

Keep your house locked. I can't tell you how important this is. Many burglars or those who are willing to enter your house to get keys often told me that you wouldn't believe how many people don't lock their doors. And I'm not talking just locking them at bed time. I mean if you're home at any time and its not summer hence your doors would be shut, just lock them. Sounds too simple but a locked door is pain in the arse for these idiots.