$30 device available online blamed for spike in car thefts in Queensland

[csv8]

$30 device available online blamed for spike in car thefts in Queensland

by: Josh Robertson
From: The Courier-Mail
August 18, 2012 12:00AM


The BMW key programmer device that is being blamed for the spike in upmarket car thefts. Source: Supplied

CUTTING-edge crooks with $30 devices sold online are making short work of the modern standard in car security, helping drive a "diabolical" spike in vehicle heists in Queensland.

Thieves are using hand-held computers to thwart immobilisers in cars previously considered "unstealable", as vehicle theft numbers leapt more than a quarter in the year to March.

A handful of car makers remain a step ahead of car theft rackets straddling automotive trades and organised crime, but the most popular car brands remain vulnerable, locksmiths and theft investigators said.

The National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council knows of thieves overcoming Land Cruiser immobilisers in 12 seconds. NSW police footage shows one thief stealing a Rav 4 in 14 seconds, and online videos show even BMW security codes can be reprogrammed to a new key in minutes.

High-end cars can be overcome with on-board diagnostic tools (OBDs) that are available from China and Eastern Europe over the internet for as little as $30. Customs in NSW recently seized a black-market manual on how to bypass immobilisers, with blank luxury car keys.

Detective Inspector Darryl Charleson said the Queensland Police Vehicle Theft Unit had no intelligence on OBDs but thieves "obviously have ways to get around that mechanism".

But Theft Reduction Council chief Ray Carroll said sophisticated thieves using OBDs were becoming common.

"Not long ago insurers were safe in saying a car with an Australian-standard immobiliser that was stolen without the keys was potential fraud," he said.

"Now you can't really say that because there's good evidence where OBDs are able with a bit of black-market software to recode the immobiliser module to a key you've brought along."
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/q...-1226452922444
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[Jim Goose]

Well there is something i didnt know... programming a car to match the key??

Scarey stuff

[Rusty62]

Might have to get one of those old steering lock devices for the GT

[kaniSS]

Originally Posted by Rusty62

Might have to get one of those old steering lock devices for the GT

They will just cut the steering wheel and take it off.

[flappist]

The top targets really do paint a picture of the mindset here.

Joyriders steal cars to play with having no regard for the owners.

Professional thieves steal cars to sell for money either wholly or in parts which means they need people with money and a "flexible" moral attitude.

Symbiosis 1:01........

[Bluehoon]

Next generation of oboard ecu's will be security coded. Pretty much a firewall on the oncar systems.

Round and round we go. At least if you had a dizzy you cuold trump nearly all car thiefs as they simply wouldn't know what a rotor button is anymore...

[BHDOGS]

I always use a club lock for piece of mind sure it would only take 15 seconds to get throught but it all adds up haha

[jpd80]

Maybe the trick is to have your own battery isolation switch on the car somewhere
so that none of the electrics work until that manual switch is turned on..


with thee boing and the ding..

[ohzone]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Maybe the trick is to have your own battery isolation switch on the car somewhere
so that none of the electrics work until that manual switch is turned on..


with thee boing and the ding..


image

Unfortunatley a lot of new cars will throw error codes and some components wont work after disconnection
For example , Mazda sky active will cease to operate if power to the computer is reduced by more than 70% of battery power

[flappist]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Maybe the trick is to have your own battery isolation switch on the car somewhere
so that none of the electrics work until that manual switch is turned on..

Not such a good idea.

Apart from any alarm system not working your car would have to reboot upsetting lots of different settings the least of which are the ICC codes re-entered and all the body options set to default.

Disconnect the battery on your FG and then see ho long it takes to get you up a running again.....

[jpd80]

Well, how about a fuel shut off on a different remote?

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by flappist

Disconnect the battery on your FG and then see ho long it takes to get you up a running again.....

About 10 seconds to update the clock. The key holds all the radio settings etc.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by flappist

Not such a good idea.

Apart from any alarm system not working your car would have to reboot upsetting lots of different settings the least of which are the ICC codes re-entered and all the body options set to default.

Disconnect the battery on your FG and then see ho long it takes to get you up a running again.....

I disconnect the battery numerous times on my FG and have no problems apart from clock being wrong

[Nikked]

Kids around here are breaking into houses just to steal keys so they can joyride...


over 30 cars stolen in june....and tamworth only has a population of 50000 odd...

[tezxr8man]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Kids around here are breaking into houses just to steal keys so they can joyride...


over 30 cars stolen in june....and tamworth only has a population of 50000 odd...

One of my Xr8's were stolen and written off after my house was broken into. my view is that the only way to stop them is hospitalise the scumbags. they learn a lesson they won't soon forget and they can't steal cars if they are out of action.

Problem is they are under 18 and do gooders think that you can't discipline kids cause that's just mean. life's tough
cops can't do anything and courts just let them out if it even gets that far and they dog's that are doing it are bragging about it all over facebook

[Tysonv48]

Rav 4 in 14 seconds
I thought that with fords at least it takes 15 minutes to complete the key reprogram

[2011G6E]

Scary...

I do remember back when remote unlocking was becoming common (overseas, less so here at the time) that a story came out from England on car thieves who were making use of a scanner-type device that would sit in your pocket. You held a button, and stood nearby when someone was unlocking their car. It would pick up and memorise the radio signal, and when you pressed the button again, it would retransmit it and unlock the car.

Of course this didn't mean they could start it any easier...but it let them get into your vehicle without having to bust a window or break in. Some cars were being stolen by better organised crooks with a flatbed or a trailer as you could get into the car and let off the handbrake and put it in neutral.

[PlukaDuck]

Install a fuel cutoff switch hidden in the car somewhere.

[Franco Cozzo]

Whats stopping you from turning up in a shopping center car park with a high vis jacket on and a tow truck with orange beacons on it?

No one would bat an eye lid except the owner, who is probably inside with his wife in Bras n Things.

[Nikked]

Ignition kill switch hidden somewhere...

[gtfpv]

not my problem . i pay insurance , it's up to manufacturers and insurance companies to work on security. not me . bad to hear this happens , it means something isnt being done correctly during manufacture .

[qdda5]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

not my problem . i pay insurance , it's up to manufacturers and insurance companies to work on security. not me . bad to hear this happens , it means something isnt being done correctly during manufacture .

I think its everyones problem.
We are the one that get slogged with higher premiums as a result.

[GhiaEB]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

not my problem . i pay insurance , it's up to manufacturers and insurance companies to work on security. not me . bad to hear this happens , it means something isnt being done correctly during manufacture .

Will be a problem when your insurance premiums go up to cover all the extra cars being stolen.

[Hayden1]

I've seen a car where you have to become part of the circuit for it to start up. There's a hidden screw on the dash which you touch at the same time as touching the ignition barrel. Once you do that, it kind of un-immobilizes itself and then starts just like any other car.

[Road_Warrior]

How about having a remote mounted MAIN relay inside the car instead of under the bonnet so the owner can pull it and take it with him if he/she so desires...no amount of technodickery is going to be able to defeat that...

[ea90gl]

I've installed kill switches on a few of my cars to interrupt starter motor solenoid simple and very effective. there are a few different ways to do it and not difficult at all

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

How about having a remote mounted MAIN relay inside the car instead of under the bonnet so the owner can pull it and take it with him

Thieves will just start to bring one with them.

[efgiar]

you can put the battery isolator on the main starter wire, wiring to the fuel pump etc. any more then that and you can bring the engine light on, including cutting the solenoid wire on the starter, alot of new cars need to read a resistance in the solenoid, or it will throw a fault code.

[gtfpv]

i remember my mates HSV VS clubbie , he lived in a unit , with car park underground , he was going to work one monrning and there were 2 slide marks where the car was parked .
whinched onto a tow truck , try and beat that with a kill switch ?

[mike_nofx]

Why arent gps tracking systems more widely used?

Say a hidden tracker somewhere very difficult to remove (maybe welded into a chassis rail or something?)

Then if/when it is stolen you and the police follow the car and possibly locate many more stolen cars