Hacker thieves target hi-tech keyless cars
HACKER thieves are targeting Ford Fiestas because of their new automatic keyless opening system.
Some Fiestas are also being stripped of parts. South Wales Police has now issued a warning to drivers about how they can protect themselves.
One hot-spot for thefts is hospital staff car parks, where the thieves know drivers are likely to be away from their vehicles for some time.
In the past six months, nine cars parked outside Princess of Wales hospital, Bridgend, as well as Singleton and Morriston hospitals in Swansea, have been stolen in broad daylight – with seven of them being Ford Fiestas.
At the same time, another nine Fiestas have had body panels and other parts stripped from them in hospital car parks.
The cars targeted included one of Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University (ABMU) health board’s own fleet of Fiestas, which is used to attend meetings.
It is thought Fiestas are being targeted due to the keyless way people access them. There has been a recent trend of thieves using a device called a “relay box” to extend the signal from the car’s keyless fob.
A relay box tricks the car’s locking system into thinking it’s the real key fob, effectively cloning it, and allowing thieves to get into the vehicle and drive off in minutes.
It is thought the thieves may be in car parks or nearby ahead of shifts waiting for staff to arrive and use their keys to lock their cars, so they can capture the signal as the locks are activated. They are believed to be wearing motorbike helmets to hide their identity if caught on CCTV.
The thefts come despite the best est efforts of some, e, including one ne person who ho wrapped his key ey fob in foil. il. Another victim m said they now w kept their keys ys in a metal tin as a result of the he crime.
Last month, h, we reported ed that a man had the entire front section of his car – including the bumper, headlights and bonnet – stolen from his car in broad daylight in Heath, Cardiff.
Keenan Middleton, from Whitchurch, had parked his silver Ford Fiesta ST on Clodien Ave- nue when thieves ripped the parts from his car. And Josh Golding from Port Talbot, who has the same model, had the entire front bum bumper and me metal grill sto stolen from hi his car while h he was in C Cardiff. Bosses at A ABMU have c condemned th the “callous” th thefts from st staff who finish a shift at hospita tal only to find th their cars have bee been taken or vandalised. And they believe hospital and medical s staff are being d deliberately liberatel targeted. Des Keighan, assistant director for estates at the health board, said: “We are absolutely appalled by the callous nature of these thefts. These are not opportunistic thefts. Thieves are deliberately targeting cars in hospital car parks.”
A spokesman for the police said: “South Wales Police is working closely and meets regularly with our partners at ABMU who have recently raised concerns around vehicle thefts from car parks at some of their locations.
“As a result we have provided crime prevention advice for them to share with staff and visitors to their sites. We request that the public report any suspicious activity and we will investigate any offences or suspicious activity reported.”
The force says to keep all fobs/keys out of view and away from windows and doors and keep them in a security pouch to prevent them being scanned by thieves.
It also suggests drivers use more than one secu- rity device, such as padlocks, disc locks, D-Locks and chains.
A spokeswoman for Ford said: “Ford Motor Company takes vehicle security seriously and continuously invests in technology to deter theft of, and from, our vehicles. Additionally, a growing issue for the industry is the availability of security tools, which should be confined to dealerships and other specialists, being on uncontrolled public sale.”
Ford says all of its vehicles are fitted with advanced security equipment as standard.