Are you concerned about signal relaying theft?

ceric

ceric

:
2022 CX-5 Turbo
If you leave your fob close to an outer wall/window and your vehicle outside, you could become a victim.
Some thieves are equipped with a set of signal relaying devices (one amplifier and one receiver) that fools your vehicle to open doors or even start engine.
This has happened all over the country. A simple search on youtube will find several reports.

I recently purchased a faraday box from Amazon for $15 dollars. It is very nice leather (faux) box with metallic linings.
I store all my fobs (including spare ones) in it.

I tested it by putting my Mazda6 fob in it. My Mazda6 cannot find it. Great. It works.
Risk for me is actually low since I mostly park my vehicles inside garage.
I tried tin foil. It worked.
I also tried a metal cookie box, and surprising it did not work. (it did work for cell phone)

Are you concerned about this issue?
Maybe I worry too much. :cautious:

1646956469726.png
 
That is certainly a nice box, but I have so many metal tins around the house that I would probably just line one of them with a couple layers of tin foil and use that instead :p

With that said, I park my car in the garage, so this is much less of a concern for me. If I parked in the driveway or on the street close to the house, I would definitely get one of those boxes. Saw a YouTube video where it took a pair of thieves less than a minute to steal a car off of a driveway using this method.
 
I want a box not so much protection from thieves although that's good too. But more as a place to keep my keys from being lost in the house and to prevent the fob from communicating to the car (battery savings). I have a gated community, garage, a glock and this thing tipman m4 micro - Bing video
 
Absolutely not. This is a completely over blown fear. Is this possible? Yes. Does it happen? So exceptionally rarely as to be a non issue. Just a way for some companies to sell... pretty boxes. :D

People can also still your info from your credit card in a similar fashion. I don't have a faraday wallet either. ;)

@CX-5um Your fob is not constantly talking to your car.
 
7eregrine said:
Absolutely not. This is a completely over blown fear. Is this possible? Yes. Does it happen? So exceptionally rarely as to be a non issue. Just a way for some companies to sell... pretty boxes. :D

People can also still your info from your credit card in a similar fashion. I don't have a faraday wallet either. ;)

@CX-5um Your fob is not constantly talking to your car.
Click to expand...
Oh when you sleep at night they talk I tell ya. They talk!!!

OIP.tRdlaMheEvH27N33VxVj5gHaEK
 
If you live in a bad neighborhood and park your car outside there is some risk. Otherwise, precautions are overkill. If you work in a bad neighborhood the fob will likely be out of range.

810,000 cars were stolen in the US in 2020 by all methods., which sounds like a lot, but that amounts to about 3 out of 1,000 registered passenger vehicles. How many of those thefts were caused by people leaving their cars unlocked in the driveway with the keys in the ignition. Quite a few I'd think.

On a related topic discussed in other threads, reported thefts of catalytic converters have jumped from about 1,300 in 2018 to about 14,400 in 2020. That's still only about 1 out of 20,000 vehicles so victimized in 2020. If you park your car at night in a bad neighborhood with frequent cat thefts having been reported, some precautions might be in order. Otherwise, you've elevated a risk that is not deserving of the attention. In the gross numbers you're 3 times more likely to die in a car wreck this year than having your cat stolen.

In life there are innumerable risks of all types around every corner, some small and some large. Pick your battles or go nuts chasing them all down.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The way they steal cars now, is they bring an unprogrammed key and program it to your vehicle. I've not heard of it happening on Mazda CX-5's, but it's a huge issue with Honda CR-V's. Especially in Canada.
 
7eregrine said:
Absolutely not. This is a completely over blown fear. Is this possible? Yes. Does it happen? So exceptionally rarely as to be a non issue. Just a way for some companies to sell... pretty boxes. :D

People can also still your info from your credit card in a similar fashion. I don't have a faraday wallet either. ;)

@CX-5um Your fob is not constantly talking to your car.
Click to expand...
Agree. I can see maybe an RFID blocker wallet, but even then I just carry my wallet in the front pocket instead of back. This seems a bit much.

No I am not concerned.
 
Show me just one single verified case where a car was stolen in this manner.

I bet you can't.
 
theblooms said:
Show me just one single verified case where a car was stolen in this manner.

I bet you can't.
Click to expand...
Does this one count as *verified*?
www.youtube.com

Watch thieves steal car by hacking keyless tech

Police in West Midlands, UK have released footage of criminals stealing a car by relaying a signal from the key inside the home, to the car in the driveway.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

The good news is that these devices are not cheap yet ... thousands of dollars.
BTW, these boxes look/feel nice for $10-20.
 
It might be rare but it's good to think outside the " it can't happen to me" mentality.
 
CX-5um said:
Are you planning to move out of Chicago?
Click to expand...
There's no point in doing so really. I'm a city guy and carjackings are up in pretty much every city in the US at this point so moving would be a wash. There are more dangerous places than Chicago for sure.

It's just another part of the breakdown of civility in the US but this ain't the forum for that issue.
 
Car thefts are just way up in general here in Denver. But they mostly target easier to get cars. Big ones right now being Kia and Hyundais due to some defect that lets them hit the door handle and unlock the car.
 
Relay Attack Theft...

•••••Very real.. this is how all of the GX 460s get stolen in Canada and make their way to containers for export outside of north America

Easy theft today

I keep keys in faraday bags myself

leasing.com

Keyless car theft: What is a relay attack, how can you prevent it, and will your car insurance cover it?

What is relay car theft? How can you prevent it? Will your insurance cover it? Here are all the answers.
leasing.com leasing.com

relay-car-theft_3.jpg


This cheap little bag will accomplish the same thing


May want to consider anti-theft device on CAT as well


overall metal commodity prices used in CATs aren't coming down soon
 
I don’t have a habit of taking my keys out of my pocket, so not really an issue for me. Also, if car get stolen insurance will cover the cost of a new one. That is what i pay it for. (You just have to hope they never find your car back.)

As mentioned above, it is a real way to steal a car, just like crossing wires back in the day. But it still isn’t very common.

It is kind of like how car doors are really easy to unlock on any car, but we still trust the lock to protect our belonging (if you ever called a locksmith to get your keys inside a locked car, you know what I mean). Real pros will get your car no matter what, but for 99% of the time it is safe enough.
 
ceric said:
Does this one count as *verified*?
www.youtube.com

Watch thieves steal car by hacking keyless tech

Police in West Midlands, UK have released footage of criminals stealing a car by relaying a signal from the key inside the home, to the car in the driveway.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

The good news is that these devices are not cheap yet ... thousands of dollars.
BTW, these boxes look/feel nice for $10-20.
Click to expand...
Calling BS.

The car won't unlock unless you press the unlock button. So, to "steal" that signal, someone has to be inside actively pressing the unlock button.
 
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