Keyless Car Theft: What You Need to Know and How to Protect Your Car
Keyless car theft, also known as relay theft, has become a major issue in the UK amid rising vehicle crime rates.
New data reveals that the UK is lying third in the European league table of car thefts, with 64,000 vehicles stolen in the UK in 2023, a 5% increase on 2022.
According to Police reports, a car can be stolen in under two minutes, and in 2019, vehicle thefts occurred at a rate of one every five minutes in the UK.
The majority of these thefts involved keyless entry systems. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect your vehicle, with a simple Faraday pouch being one of the most effective.
How does keyless car theft happen?
In relay theft, thieves use devices to intercept and extend the signal from a keyless fob, allowing them to unlock and drive away without the physical key. Cars that are particularly vulnerable to relay theft are Land Rover, BMW, Ford Mercedes, and Audi models.
Signal Capture: One thief stands close to your home or wherever your key fob is kept, using a relay device to capture the radio signal emitted by the key.
Signal Transmission: The other thief stands near your car with another relay device, which receives and amplifies the captured signal, tricking your car into thinking the key is nearby.
Unlock and Start: Once the car receives the signal, it unlocks and allows the thieves to start the engine, making it possible for them to drive off in seconds—all without needing physical access to your key.
The entire process is very quick and quiet, allowing thieves to target cars parked on driveways or on the road close to the owner’s home. In many cases, the owners only realise what’s happened when they go to use their car, only to find it missing.
Keyless Car Theft: The Solution
One of the simplest and most effective ways to protect your vehicle from relay theft is to store your key fob in a Faraday pouch when it’s not in use. The Spero Key Fob Faraday Bag, also known as a signal-blocking pouch, contains a layer of copper and a further layer of silver that blocks radio signals from passing through.
When your key fob is placed inside the pouch, the signal can no longer be intercepted or relayed.
Faraday Bag | A Cheap Solution to an Expensive Problem
In light of the growing problem of keyless car theft, a faraday bag is an affordable way to maintain the security of your car. For anyone with a car with keyless entry, ensuring thieves cannot connect to the keyless car fob is the only way to prevent the risk of car theft. With car insurance doubling for many people because of the rise in car theft, stopping this problem is an issue for us all. Share this with anyone that has a car with keyless entry.