Keyless Car Thefts in Washington On The Rise—what You Need To Know

The rate of car theft is climbing in the United States and in parts of Europe as well and part of the reason is modern cars. Most modern cars these days don't even use physical keys anymore except for emergency entry. Now you have a key fob with a radio transmitter in it that says hello to your car, then your car unlocks, you jump in and go. 

Well, that is the problem. 

According to msn.com,
‘Criminals are using sophisticated relay attacks to exploit keyless entry systems, allowing them to steal cars in mere seconds, without breaking a window or triggering an alarm. What makes this method particularly dangerous is its stealth; many victims don’t realize their car is gone until they step outside in the morning.’ 

All the car thief really has to do is receive and amplify the signal coming off your key fob that's just laying around on the counter in your house or maybe in your coat pocket hanging up in the closet. Then the thief has a second device that takes that signal and amplifies it next to your car, and your car unlocks because it thinks it's you. 

The cars that are being targeted most? 

• Ford (Fiesta, Focus, Kuga) 

• Volkswagen (Golf, Polo, Tiguan) 

• Land Rover (Range Rover Sport, Evoque, Velar) 

• Mercedes-Benz (C-Class, E-Class, GLC) 

• BMW (3 Series, 5 Series, X5) 

• Nissan (Qashqai, Juke, X-Trail) 

• Audi (A3, A4, Q5) 

• Toyota (RAV4, Corolla, Yaris) 

• Kia (Sportage, Niro, Sorento) 

• Hyundai (Tucson, Santa Fe, i20) 

 So how do you protect your car? 

The first recommendation would be to get what they call a Faraday pouch and put your key fobs in it. A Faraday pouch basically blocks all RF signals going to and from anything that would be in the pouch. No radio frequencies, nothing for the thieves to amplify and use to steal your car. You might have a car that uses a “sleeping” key fob that will go to sleep when it is not in motion. (that's good) 

There are other options like physical locking devices on your steering wheel, locks on your pedals, and also wheel clamps. (That last one sounds very inconvenient.)  

You might also check the settings in your vehicle to see if you can disable keyless entry. It might not work, but you also might look into keyless entry using your cell phone instead of your key fob. Some new cars have an app that will send a request for your car to unlock. 

The thing to keep in mind is if you own a vehicle that allows keyless entry and you are using that feature, you are not safe.  

You could wake up some morning and look in your garage and see nothing but an empty space where your car should be. 

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