In the times that we all live in now, the prospect of using a physical car steering lock seems like a pretty far-fetched one to imagine. After all, with most modern cars coming equipped with a variety of high-tech electronic theft-deterrent systems on-board, many consumers are confident in the prospect that their vehicles will remain secure. But as the saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way, regardless of how advanced technology may get.
M’sian woman calls upon netizens for help to recover stolen car
Last Thursday (10th March 2022), Facebook netizen Marina Liaw took to calling upon Facebook netizens for help after her brother-in-law’s pickup truck was found to be stolen in Shah Alam. According to the post shared to community Facebook page KL吹水站, the car had been parked in an area in Kota Kemuning when it was stolen. But what made the incident all the more startling was the fact that the thief had taken less than a minute to unlock the car before driving away with it.
In the clip shared online, the thief could be seen making his way over to the parked Ford Ranger Raptor, dressed head-to-toe in black. Slipping on a pair of gloves as he went, he then proceeded to approach the driver’s side door before effortlessly unlocking the car with little to no effort.
Climbing on-board, the thief then spends another moment getting the car to start before reversing out of the parking spot and driving away with it. From start to finish, the entire process took 49-seconds in total.
Clarifies that the car was indeed locked at the time, and that its key could have been cloned
The clip has garnered some skepticism from netizens, who claimed that the car may not have been locked at the time it was stolen, but Marina went on to clarify that the car had indeed been locked during the time of the incident. She points to the fact that the truck’s side mirrors will automatically fold-up when locked, and unfold when unlocked, the latter which happened as the thief boarded the truck.
“Technology nowadays is incredibly advanced. They can reset your entire car, copy your keyfob, or even hack into your car’s system.
We suspect that when we brought the car to a car wash yesterday, the thieves had installed a GPS tracker on the car as well as copied the keyfob without us knowing, because my husband noticed that the car was being followed by a white Vellfire. The Vellfire even stopped right next to our car at one point!
My husband didn’t think too much about it and assumed that they lived around the area, but only came to realise that the thief alighted from the very same Vellfire in the CCTV video before stealing the pickup truck. They had been following us this entire time!” she explained.
As of writing, the car remains missing and Marina has urged any witnesses who have seen the car in their vincinity to contact her immediately at 03-5520 2222.
The vehicle’s details are as follows:
- Car model: Ford Ranger Raptor, grey colour with number plate VGP 6033
- Last seen in: Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam
- Date of theft: Around 1.00pm on 10th March 2022
Netizens have submitted their own theories about how it could have been done
The post, which has since gone viral, has left many netizens stunned at the efficiency by which thieves can now apparently steal cars. However, some have put in their two-cents, saying that what these thieves are doing is not uncommon.
“That’s really incredible. This is especially when you consider that with Fords, you can’t even shift them into gear without the key present. I wonder how they did it.”
“One of the weaknesses of keyless entry security systems is that they can be remotely replicated.”
“Go to YouTube and look up ‘keyless entry theft’. They can use signal amplifiers and transmitters to do it. The smart ones can even directly authenticate blank key fobs while in the field. (this is actually taught in the Ford Ranger’s car manual).”
“The speed at which he opened the door almost makes you think that the car belonged to him!”
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