Keyless car thefts at all time high

Keyless car thefts are at an all-time high following 2020 which saw a rise to 93% of all cars being stolen without the keys being present.

Thieves use sophisticated equipment to exploit keyless technology by hijacking the car key’s signal, typically from the security of the owner’s home, and remotely fooling the system into unlocking the doors and starting the engine. This is commonly known as a “relay attack”.

And with most popular cars having keyless start technology, it is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. Most 

premium 4×4 cars being hot targets, with car thieves stealing to order and often shipping them abroad or stripping them for parts in a chop shop to meet the growing demand for spare parts.

Regionally London is worst for stolen cars, followed closely by the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Essex. While Merseyside has dropped out of the top 10.

Aston spoke to Clive Wain, former detective chief superintendent and head of police liason at Tracker to discuss the rise in keyless car theft and how to stop it. 

Photo by Olav Tvedt on Unsplash