Electronic Break-In

[02Steve15]

Last night my friends 2015 Ram 1500 was broken into, as was many of his neighbor's vehicles, including his brother's. There were no signs of a forced entry on either of the two vehicles. Both of his consoles were found open in the morning and his wallet was stolen. His brother's sunglasses from his car gone too.

I guess they are using some type of electronic thing to break into cars now? It picks up the signal from your keys, which only need to be a few hundred yards away? Anyone hear about this or am I just behind on the times?

Anyway, they found his driver license in another town about 20 miles away, along with his pistol permit. His card was used at a McDonald's and 7/11 in the area so hopefully the police can find some video footage of the idiot(s).


I also found this sticker in my glove box and thought it might be worth throwing on the bottom of the windshield. Anyone know what the "traceable ID" is? Do they just throw a bunch of numbers on some of the parts/wheels?

 

[Jmhm17]

Leaving your wallet inside your car is just dumb, no offence, but just plain stupid I hope he learned his lesson, and hes lucky his identity wasn't stolen. If he leaves his wallet in his car im sure he keeps his SS card in there too. Anyways..

This "scanning" technology has been out for the better part of a decade now. they used to use it on garage door openers. However there was counter technology to thwart these kinds of issues. Its called "rolling codes" I don't think our vehicles use this, but I know aftermarket alarm systems do, and almost EVERY garage door does now too. However, all they can do is get in, they cant drive off because of the immobilizer which will cut the ignition as soon as it does not recognise a key.

I don't think they made it mandatory OEM because if someone wanted to just get into your car they could break a window, unlike your house where they could literally use it to gain entry and kill or **** you as you could be inside..

I guess the takeaway from this is don't leave ANYTHING in your vehicle of value that can be easily removed in 30 seconds or less. And, if some one wants something bad enough they are going to get it regardless.

As for your sticker, sure put it on there, but any real thief is going to know it's bogus. You might scare away the dummies, but if I saw that sticker and my scanner worked to unlock your truck I would not hesitate.. AND remember if it is a real security system, you are now advertising the make and giving the thief more info on how to crack it. You have to think like a thief if you really want to protect your stuff..

 

[02Steve15]

So they don't put traceable numbers on any of the equipment, like wheels?

 

[RR7_905RAM]

I also found this sticker in my glove box and thought it might be worth throwing on the bottom of the windshield. Anyone know what the "traceable ID" is? Do they just throw a bunch of numbers on some of the parts/wheels?

I'm guessing if you check all your glass you will have a number on them that is etched in with acid.

As far as wheels and body panels I don't think so.

 

[Jmhm17]

What do you mean traceable?

 

[Jmhm17]

I'm guessing if you check all your glass you will have a number on them that is etched in with acid.

As far as wheels and body panels I don't think so.

I thought that was only done through your insurance company, thats a third party coverage thing I think..

 

[RR7_905RAM]

I thought that was only done through your insurance company, thats a third party coverage thing I think..

Could be. All I know is every new car we sell it gets etched as part of the PDI!

 

[RR7_905RAM]

He's gone out to look at his glass.

 

[Jmhm17]

lol^^

yeah and there's no way every part has a specific ID, I'm sure there are S/N's on them that can be tracked down to the manufacturing process in the event of a recall or something, but tacking that to an individual truck to differ from one VIN to the next, and where the truck went, and whom owns it is not recorded, nor is it possible, or worth the effort.. Have to think how many trucks are pumped out an hour..

For instance, everyone's truck that was made in Feb of 2015 has a headlight with a S/N that was part of a recall, they know what trucks have that headlight, but they dont know who has exactly WHAT headlight.. So my point is if we use this logic, whats to say the "stolen" headlight did not belong to another 2015 Ram? there's no way to trace it directly to your truck. and NO law enforcement agency unless related to a federal terrorist attack which could be the golden ticket to track down a person is going to go to the extent of pulling up and tracing manufacturing S/N's.. I'm sure the stolen parts on your truck will not tickle the fancy of the FBI lol

 

[TarPaper]

Speaking from experience, if his credit cards were stolen, it becomes a felony...sounds like he has a couple of crimes on his block worth an investigation by the police department...many are accountable for the crimes in the area and will do something to investigate. As Jmhm17 said, the sticker is worthless...if the thief wants to get inside your car, they will...let the police do their job and KEEP ON TOP OF THEM...good luck

 

[Jmhm17]

It was a felony as soon as they entered his property without consent. Also the fact they took SOMETHING, wither it be financial "stuff" or not is a crime. so, with that said they committed simple larceny with weak leads, which is very typical. I'm sure they will review the video cameras at the places he used the cards and put a BOLO and blast his face on the news, but this investigation will be piled onto the books along with all the others. No black suite investigator is making this his top priority..

 

[TarPaper]

NYC laws are absolutely different...taking a cc is a felony, nuff said...in NYC if they break into a car, its a misd., depending on the amount of damage....so, with that said, it would be investigated here in nyc....sorry to chime in on laws I am not familiar with...anyway, good luck

 

[02Steve15]

I'm not sure what it is here, but in good old Connecticut, we don't punish offenders. That would be downright silly.

By traceable I just mean if they put a number on it so in the event someone claims it as stolen property, the same number on the wheel could be found on the truck, proving the wheel(s) came from the truck.

The PD should be able to retrieve video from both locations in which the card was used. Hopefully that will go a long way in identifying whoever they were. They also now know he most likely has firearms in his home, since they saw his gun permit, so that can either be good or bad..

 

[TarPaper]

If the police come into the possession of such property it would be traceable if there are numbers/letters on the part, if the report made when the property was stolen originally is in some sort of database....this way when the police come across property they believe is stolen, they can match those parts/numbers with that in the database...hope this helps

 

[02Steve15]

If the police come into the possession of such property it would be traceable if there are numbers/letters on the part, if the report made when the property was stolen originally is in some sort of database....this way when the police come across property they believe is stolen, they can match those parts/numbers with that in the database...hope this helps

Right, so my questions was essentially whether or not they actually do this and put numbers on the wheels or just give you a sticker to put on your vehicle in an attempt to act as a deterrence because you will be SOL if it happens to you.

 

[TarPaper]

That question would best be answered by the local police...in NYC, years ago, the NYPD had a program where they etched the vin on the windows on the vehicle...I have never heard of putting part numbers on other areas other than the vin by the manufacturer...with that said, if you know someone who can put identifying numbers on the parts of your vehicle, that would be a benefit if the part/car was stolen and you reported those numbers to identify the part...but its a shot in hell for the PD to seek those numbers out in the event they come across a part which may or may not be stolen

 

[TarPaper]

We gave out stickers years ago called "CAT" which stood for Combat Auto Theft...that program did not do well...it was scrapped

 

[Cleave]

This "scanning" technology has been out for the better part of a decade now. they used to use it on garage door openers. However there was counter technology to thwart these kinds of issues. Its called "rolling codes" I don't think our vehicles use this, but I know aftermarket alarm systems do, and almost EVERY garage door does now too.

Just in case anyone was wondering, "rolling codes" can also be scanned. The vehicle I had before the Ram had Homelink (similar to OnStar) which had a button on the mirror that could capture the code from my garage door opener - which used rolling codes.

 

[Jmhm17]

Interesting.. I am not up todate on all that stuff but do know what I posted. Dodge uses Homelink and I always wondered how it grabbed the codes if they were rolling ( I thought there was some kind of Homelink transceiver) . I guess it just makes it a bit harder like cracking WEP WiFi passwords. Figured it was only a matter of time, just didnt think it already happened. Good info! ty

They could add 128bit RSA encryption but now your garage door opener is going to cost 10 fold what it is now lol, im sure that is an option if money's no object for all things remote.. but for your 40k$ truck.. just be smart. Oh and get a dog or stay armed if you worry about personal and home security in general.. This is the world we live in, there's always someone nearby that wants your ****, whether its your life or your property.. Stay safe ppl!

 

[Pull Ya]

IMHO---When you rely solely on someone or something else to provide protection for your stuff, I believe you have committed a serious error. Protection of your family and property is your own responsibility. You can enhance it in numerous ways, but it is still YOUR responsibility. Alarms, dogs, being armed and industrial strength locks are great enhancements. I agree that theft from a motor vehicle will not garner much attention from most P.D.'s at least in a busy jurisdiction, unless the theft amount is really high or you have some kind of political pull.
Jay