How to Survive Car Theft

4 min read

It’s the end of your shift. Exhausted, you walk to your usual parking spot just to find that your brand new car is gone. You spent your life’s savings on those wheels and some crook is now tearing around town in it. Oh, man. If only you had signed up for insurance.

Every 40 seconds a vehicle in the U.S. is stolen. A quarter of those occur in parking garages or near commercial areas. If you think this can never happen to you, think again. These figures are growing. In major urban centers like London, the number of car thefts has increased 256% since 2016. So, if you want your dream-mobile to be waiting for you when you’re done with your shopping, pay close attention.

How can you lock your steering wheel? How are car thieves abusing technology? Are you driving one of the most targeted cars?

Step 1. Look under your car

New tech can be great and exciting but when it lands in the wrong hands it can do terrible things. Criminals take advantage of location devices like the Apple AirTag to keep track of cars that caught their eye but won’t steal just yet. Once they’ve marked your car in a public place they’ll track it back to your home. Then the waiting begins for the perfect moment to steal it from your driveway.

A tracking tag can be hard to spot. It could be hidden in the wheel wells, under the car, even the gas tank. Luckily for you, Apple will send a notification if you’re near an AirTag not registered to you . You can disable it by clicking on the notification and following the steps on your device.

Step 2. Don’t Become a Target

You might be thinking that flashy, high-end cars are the only ones that get stolen so you’re probably good with your Toyota Camry. You’ll be surprised to learn that your family car made it to the top 10 most stolen cars of 2020. And if you’re a proud owner of a Honda Civic, I have bad news for you. You’re driving America’s most stolen car of 2020, with 38,426 thefts occurring throughout the year. So next time you’re looking to spend a few bucks on a new car, check the most stolen car list of the previous year. It might spare you some unwanted stress.

Step 3. Block the signals

No matter how secure salespeople make them sound, keyless vehicles have a vulnerable spot. They operate by sending short-wave radio signals to your car’s fob to allow you to open the doors and start it. Fancy, huh? Well, thieves can use a device to reprogram their fobs to replace yours. You can be sitting in your home while they capture the signal from your fob and then boost it. This tricks your car into thinking that you and your fob are much closer than you actually are.

If it works, they will have full access to your vehicle and can drive off with the push of a button. Experts recommend you store your fob in a metal-lined box or commercially available signal-blocking pouch to foil any fob signal highjacking attempts.

Step 4. Lock the wheel

With all these sophisticated new-tech ways of stealing a car, it might be best to go back to the basics.
Get your hands on a steering wheel lock. This simple rod-type device stretches across the wheel, preventing the driver from moving it. This heavy-duty lock is purposely hard to miss, making someone think twice about attempting to steal your car in the first place.

Step 5. Get it on camera

When it comes to protecting property there’s nothing like a strategically-placed security camera. Someone up to no good definitely wants to avoid having their picture taken and wind up with their face all over social media.
Placing security cameras in plain sight might dissuade potential thieves from making you another victim. And even if they do, the footage will help police in tracking them down.

You’ve survived your car from being stolen and you can hit the road again. But this time you caught the attention of criminals that won’t wait for you to walk away to steal your car. They’re ready to take it from you at gunpoint.