Technology is evolving and developing at a rapid rate, with all sorts of amazing comfort and functional features. It puts the excitement we all experienced over the launch of electric windows to shame, when you realise that you can now talk to your car about what music to play or allow it to guide you into a parallel parking spot. 1 thing that’s not going over well with all these modern advancements is the fact that criminals are getting smarter and using the new tech to their advantage so that they can steal cars more efficiently.
In particular, the keyless security systems which use smart keys have become increasingly normal in the cars of today and the usual ‘run-of-the-mill’ key ignitions are almost gone, disappearing into the realms of relics… And thieves are loving it. They’ve been inspired to enjoy their own technological revival and steal more cars with less effort.
How thieves used to steal cars
Not all South Africans have cars that use smart keys, so it pays for thieves to retain their memory of the remote jamming method, which requires a device that can be used to jam the signal from your remote control to your car. This prevents the car from locking and gives the thief easy entry. You’ll probably know that thieves favour the remote jamming method in shopping centre parking lots or similar locations so that they can wait for someone to do that thing when you lock up while you walk off.
This way, they just have to sit around and wait for the opportune moment to hotwire your car and drive off into the proverbial sunset. What you need to do is lock your car and then check the doors to ensure that everything is as it should be before you walk away.
But now there are smart keys around, giving thieves a different angle to their thieving ways. You see, how it works is that a smart key identifies the car via antennas in the car’s bodywork and a radio pulse generator in the mechanics of the key. Using your smart key, you can unlock, lock, and switch the engine on and off without even touching the key. Given that the smart keyless security system is more complicated than the ignition system, you’d expect it to eliminate the possibility of hotwiring a car. You’d expect, to put it more bluntly, that this would mean that cars using smart keys would be a lot more difficult to steal.
Unfortunately, this just isn’t the case… Because as the rising age of technology transforms the world as we know it into something better, thieves have been paying attention.
How thieves are getting around smart key security systems
We can’t speak to how all thieves would break in and steal cars using this new system, but there is 1 way that’s proving pretty popular. Lots of car thieves are resorting to using hand-held devices to bypass keyless security systems and driving away with cars, which they then sell with fraudulent documents.
Unlike remote jamming devices that interfere with your car’s security signal, this device hacks your car’s security system in much the same way that a cyber criminal would hack your email address or bank account. And then they’re free to drive off with less hassle.
The solution?
Keyless car thefts and remote jamming are becoming a real trend and unfortunately there’s not a heck of a lot that you can do to prevent it. Well, apart from making sure that your car is locked before walking away and taking out a reliable car insurance policy. In all honesty, car insurance is just a must when it comes to protecting yourself from the cost of things going wrong with your car. Things like a car accident, hi-jacking, or theft. So really, don’t ignore this as a powerful solution to the threat of having your new car pinched.
If you’re looking for car insurance that deals with claims quickly and fairly and is super affordable (with premiums decreasing every month in line with the depreciation of your car) then click here for a super cheap quote.
Posted in partnership with King Price Insurance
