How Is Tech Helping Criminals Hijack Vehicles?

Modern cars come with features like keyless entry, but thieves are now using that same technology to their advantage. According to the Office for National Statistics, around 58% of car thefts in England and Wales in the year ending April 2024 involved signal jamming devices. These block a car from locking, making it easier to steal.

The scale of the problem is certainly going up before our very eyes. The Home Office recorded over 61,000 car thefts in 2023, this is literally double the number from 2015. Around 40% of those were taken without keys, using tricks like “relay attacks” to fool cars into thinking the key is nearby.

Some criminals are using tools that can cost up to £30,000. As reported by Autocar, these devices can control high-end cars like Range Rovers and Ferraris through their internal electronic systems.

To make it harder for thieves to carry them, a new law now bans owning, importing or selling these gadgets unless there’s a legal reason. Diana Johnson, the minister for policing, crime and fire prevention, said the government will keep working with the police and carmakers to stop vehicle crime.

 

Where Do The Stolen Cars Go?

 

The National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), a police unit funded by motor finance companies, checks shipping containers to catch stolen cars before they leave the country. Officer Adam Gibson found one container in Felixstowe labelled “household goods,” but inside were four stolen SUVs with fake plates. Two were hanging from the ceiling to fit everything in.

NaVCIS data shows that between 2021 and 2024, 40% of the stolen cars stopped at ports were headed to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Another 20% were bound for the United Arab Emirates, and smaller numbers were going to Cyprus, Jamaica and Georgia.

If a car makes it overseas, getting it back is hard. Owners usually file an insurance claim quickly, and by the time a tracker locates it, the paperwork is done. It’s also expensive to work with other countries to return a car.

 

 

What Did Experts Say, According To Autocar?

 
Neil Thomas, director of investigative services at Inn Track, said, “Cross-border investigations are very challenging, and if a car goes to another police area, recovery can be very inconsistent.

“Recently, we were told that a Mercedes CLA had been stolen without the keys being present from a car park at Stansted airport in Essex. We tracked the car to a street where it had been parked up to ‘cool off’ while the thieves waited to see if it had been tracked. It had been stolen from the Essex Police area but found in the Metropolitan Police area.

“The Met told us to liaise with Essex, who said they had to ask the owner if they wanted their car forensically examined. They didn’t, and so it was returned to them. The point is that, during this time, valuable opportunities to examine the car were lost and we don’t know how it was stolen.”

Clive Wain, head of police liaison at Tracker, said, “In terms of countering electronic compromise, it’s a step in the right direction, but it won’t resolve the issue of keyless thefts.

“The support we get from the police in tracing stolen cars is magnificent and is why we have a 95% recovery rate. However, I believe there are elements in the judicial system who believe car theft is a victimless crime and that insurers will settle. They may think this way when sentencing.

“Bringing a car crime offender to justice and knowing full well that at court the sentence won’t reflect the time and effort [used on] bringing them to justice is challenging for the police when their resources are stretched.”

“Chop shops are appearing up and down the country. However, very often the people arrested at the scene are not the orchestrators of the theft or operation.

“Instead, those people are often overseas. The people in the chop shop are just being paid to steal cars and break them up. So even if they’re pursued through the courts, you’re missing the top end of the organised crime group.

“Investigating those people uses resources that could be used elsewhere on the thin blue line. It’s very difficult.”