KEYLESS CAR THEFT Epidemic as Electronic Devices Used to Steal Vehicles & Insurance Costs Soar

[TaxmanHog]

Ford pickups are #2 on the risk list

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[rugedraw]

Three clients of mine had their new Range Rovers stolen this way last month alone.

 

[queuewho]

I really wish Ford would implement pin-to-drive. I know relay attacks have been used to steal teslas as well, but how many that had pin-to-drive enabled were stolen? Probably zero.

 

[jetfixr1]

I really wish Ford would implement pin-to-drive. I know relay attacks have been used to steal teslas as well, but how many that had pin-to-drive enabled were stolen? Probably zero.

@Ford Motor Company Perhaps this should be an OTA.

 

[Biggie]

Every single chance we have to give Ford some feedback (e.g. I signed up for the early access program, so I get occasional surveys from them.), you should request that they add the PIN to start option. There is already the back up start code for those of us that use PAAK, so it should not be that complicated to add this as well. They just need to know that their customers see it as a priority.

 

[John Becker]

This wasn't a problem back in the '70s. Thieves had to break the steering column lock first. Since then, the manufacturers have made it much simpler and cleaner for car thieves.

 

[wighty]

I guess my key drawer needs to be turned into a faraday cage.

 

[astricklin]

I guess my key drawer needs to be turned into a faraday cage.

Until there's another solution. Yes

 

[F150ROD]

It would be nice if Ford allowed us to control top speed from the App. Someone takes the Lightning, we can set a speed limit of 25 mph

 

[wighty]

It would be nice if Ford allowed us to control top speed from the App. Someone takes the Lightning, we can set a speed limit of 25 mph

I sort of wonder, how easy is it to disable the GPS location/cell services on the Lightning? Like if they steal it and drive it somewhere, can they disable the location services and still continue to drive it the the final location/chop shop (thinking if they just disable it at the chop shop that doesn't help them, you could send law enforcement to the last known location).

 

[sstevetx]

Crap, guess I'll be using a faraday box at home for my fob. I wrapped my spare in aluminum foil which shields it. I'll get one of those faraday pouches to carry when I'm out.

PAAK uses Bluetooth instead of RFID. I wonder if they can hijack that as easily as the RFID fob. Edit: Looks like PAAK is potentially vulnerable too https://www.autoblog.com/2022/05/17/ncc-group-reveals-bluetooth-hack-tesla-vehicles/

 

[Jim Lewis]

A while back, another thread on the forum discussed fob hijacking. As a result, I bought the following item: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B4DNQZ34/.
It works really well with the top of the pouch closed. Even in the truck with the fob in the pouch, the truck can't detect the fob. I use PAAK and carry the fob in the case as a backup (and I have a keycode that I should write on paper to carry in my wallet). I keep my spare fob in a Faraday pouch locked in a steel Hon filing cabinet.

Not to be too paranoid (ex-NYCer here), but I've always wondered about the security weak point of handing your car over to the dealer with a fob. Perhaps any keycode generation at the dealer would notify the owner through FordPass, as when we delete and regenerate PAAK and keycodes ourselves... Shipping trucks from Dearborn with a master keycode in the glovebox seems a bit crazy, too...

Folks should also be aware of the potential to have your truck hijacked through a resident BT OBDII dongle: OBD Connection | Iternio. After reading the Iternio web page, I got an OBDLink MX+ and an OBDLink CX device. OBDLink claims these are "hacker-proof" and safe to leave in your vehicle. They are also advertised to go to sleep and cause very little parasitic drain when the vehicle is turned off. Since my garage is right next to my kitchen, where I spend a lot of my time on my computer on a large dining room-sized kitchen table (see avatar), we'll see how that works out. (I always disconnect the OBDII app from the device and turn off "automatically connect," but I worry my phone will keep the OBDII device awake by my proximity)

 

[TaxmanHog]

It would be nice if Ford allowed us to control top speed from the App. Someone takes the Lightning, we can set a speed limit of 25 mph

Use your second FOB as a "MyKey" program it with a teenagers limited profile, low speed, low volume, nagging reminders about speed, etc..... leave it in the house able to be scanned by the thieves, box up your normal keys....

 

[rdr854]

I guess my key drawer needs to be turned into a faraday cage.

That’s what I did. I have four boxes for all the keys. Even the Ford Fusions have these types of keys.

 

[ChrisCon]

Three clients of mine had their new Range Rovers stolen this way last month alone.

I live in the Hamptons and this happens every single day . It’s an epidemic . Range rovers are definitely on the top of the list here . But it’s all cars and the best part is that half of the people actually just leave their fobs in the cars overnight because they think their gated mansions protect them , but the gates are much more easily defeated than the cars key cloning. Incidentally most vehicles end up in Newark NJ.

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