Stop selling car theft gadgets, web firms told
POLICE today accuse Amazon and eBay of fuelling a car crime ‘ epidemic’ by selling gadgets that allow thieves to hack into keyless vehicles.
They are urging the internet giants to ban the sale of the devices in an attempt to crack down on soaring levels of a crime that had been declining.
Police are particularly concerned about ‘key programmers’, which can be bought for less than £30 on Amazon and eBay and can clone the fobs used in keyless cars.
Criminals also use ‘relay boxes’, which can be bought on the websites for £260. These let thieves pick up the signal from a car’s fob inside the owner’s home.
David Jamieson, police and crime commissioner of the West Midlands, has written to Amazon and eBay saying ‘ items advertised on your site … are seriously contributing to an increase in car thefts’.
He added: ‘ Vehicle theft is now becoming an epidemic. I am therefore asking you to stop selling devices known as key programmers. These key cloning tools, whilst legal and often used legitimately by car mechanics, auto locksmiths and dealers, are also increasingly used by criminals.’
Unlike with relay devices, key programmers require the thief to break into the car first, for example by smashing a window.
They then plug the programmer into a port under the dashboard and upload data from the car’s computer on to a blank key fob that can also be bought on Amazon and eBay. Stealing a car in this way can take just 30 seconds.
Car thefts had declined for a decade with the introduction of immo-
AN EPIDEMIC OF KEYLESS CAR CRIME
From last Saturday’s Mail bilisers, alarm systems and tracking devices. But the offence rose by 17 per cent across the country between 2012 and 2016 when more than 87,000 vehicles were stolen, according to the Office for National Statistics. Some areas have experienced more dramatic increases in the past three years. The number of car thefts surged by 189 per cent in Warwickshire, 59 per cent in Hampshire, 57 per cent in West Yorkshire and 56 per cent in Norfolk, according to separate figures from individual police forces.
In the West Midlands, where the number of cars stolen has soared by almost 80 per cent in the past two years, police say many were less expensive keyless family cars, attractive to criminals because they can be sold on more quickly.
Police are also furious that car makers refuse to take responsibility for the rise in keyless fob hacking. Executives from firms including Ford, Audi and Mercedes have been summoned to a meeting with West Midlands Police next week to discuss the matter.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said new technology in cars ‘has helped bring down theft dramatically … [but] we continue to call for stronger safeguards to prevent the sale of cloning technologies, signal blocking and other devices that have no legal purpose.’
Last night eBay said it had already banned the sale of these devices despite police finding them on its website. It added that anyone who put them up for sale could have them removed and action taken against them. Amazon declined to comment.