How to prevent keyless entry car theft

Did you know that there are ways that you can help to prevent keyless car theft? Find out here how you can help make a criminal's life more difficult.

Keyless car theft is a widespread method of car crime and keeping your fob safe has never been more of a challenge.

Discover how you can prevent your car from getting pinched with these top tips.

What is keyless car theft?

Also known as relay theft, keyless car theft happens when the signal from your key car is taken by somebody who is standing outside of the house using a device.

Sounds clever, doesn’t it? The way it works is that a device transmits a signal to somebody else who is standing by the car. This then tricks the car into thinking that the key is near it when it’s not. It allows the doors to open and Bob’s your uncle, you’re in and the ignition can be started.

This is what you can do to protect yourself from becoming a victim of keyless car theft.

Use a blocking pouch

You’re probably already doing blocking pouch by making sure that you keep your car keys in a safe place, but how safe is safe? Now might be a good time to play a little game of hide and seek with your keys, don’t make a thief’s job easy. By leaving your car keys near your front door, some would say you’re asking for it. Our top tip would be to keep them well away from your doors and windows.

If you can, use a signal-blocking pouch. This can help to stop access to your car by blocking the car key fob from transmitting its code to your car with a thick layer of metallic material. This pouch could make all the difference between your signal being grabbed and your car’s signal being blocked.

Wheel lock or car alarm

Yes, we know you probably threw your wheel lock out back in the 90s but they are still super handy so we couldn’t not mention them.

Most car thieves these days come prepared with technical bits and bobs rather than hand tools, so having a wheel lock on your car could really throw them off. If you don’t have one, then you could always invest in some car systems for extra security, like ignition cut-offs or passive alarms that activate when your key is removed from the car.

keyless car theft

Park defensively

If you have a garage, then parking your car in there overnight is definitely ideal. If you don’t have this kind of security, and you’re parking on your drive or on the road, then try to park defensively. This can work by parking as close to your property as possible. making access as difficult as possible.

For that extra security, you could even consider some CCTV or a bit of lighting. It’s crazy to think that we leave one of our most prized possessions outside our house every night. If there’s anything that you can do to help make your parking that little bit more secure, do it.

Turn off your wireless signal

Wireless is everything these days and as much as everyone loves to turn their wireless on when it comes to your keyless fob, turn it off.

In case you didn’t know already, you can actually turn off your wireless signal through your fob. All you need to do is look in your car manual and if you can’t find anything in there, then it might be an idea to contact the manufacturer instead.

Is there anything more you can do?

There are other steps you can take to make sure that your car is safe, like checking if there are any software updates for your car itself and just always being on your toes if you notice anything suspicious in your area.

Apart from that, we just have to wait to see what car makers can come up with to help tackle the issues around keyless car thefts. From modern frequency technologies and software to new keys etc. Who knows what they have in store for us.

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