Criminals Using “Code Grabbers” to Steal Cars: Real or Hoax?

An online warning claims that robbers are using “code grabbers” to record your keyless car code to steal your car. Is this rumor true or false?

While this rumor has circulated for years, a series of reports in 2013 indicate that criminals are using an unidentified “mystery box” to unlock cars and burglarize them. It is not believed that they are code grabbers as indicated in the warning, but perhaps code scanners of some sort.

Let’s take a look at a recent version of this rumor which has been circulating since at least 2006:

I locked my car. As I walked away I heard my car door unlock. I went back and locked my car again three times.

Each time, as soon as I started to walk away, I would hear it unlock again!! Naturally alarmed, I looked around and there were two guys sitting in a car next to the store. They were obviously watching me intently, and there was no doubt they were somehow involved in this very weird situation. I quickly chucked the errand I was on, jumped in my car and sped away. I went straight to the police station, told them what had happened, and found out I was part of a new, and very successful, scheme being used to gain entry into cars.

Two weeks later, my friend’s son had a similar happening….While traveling, my friend’s son stopped at a roadside rest to use the bathroom. When he came out to his car less than 4-5 minutes later, someone had gotten into his car and stolen his mobile phone, laptop computer, sat nav, briefcase……you name it. He called the police and since there were no signs of his car being broken into, the police told him he had been a victim of the latest robbery tactic there is a device that robbers are using now to clone your security code when you lock your doors on your car using your remote locking device.

They sit a distance away and watch for their next victim. They know you are going inside of the store, restaurant, or bathroom and that they now have a few minutes to steal and run. The police officer said to manually lock your car with the key — that way if there is someone sitting in a parking lot watching for their next victim, it will not be you.

When you lock up with the key upon exiting, it does not send the security code, but if you walk away and use the remote button, it sends the code through the airwaves where it can be instantly stolen.

Remote keyless systems (RKS) originated around 1982 and was put in more widespread use by 1990. While earlier remote keyless systems were lacking in security features, modern keyless systems have rolling random codes which change each time the door is unlocked. To crack such a system as the warning above states would require very specialized equipment and a rather large investment in time to pull it off.

Perhaps the best summary on this topic was posted on the website How Stuff Works, which stated:

It’s not often you hear about cars being stolen using this method. The reason: it simply doesn’t happen very often. While it’s theoretically possible, the technologies used in modern remote entry systems — like rolling codes and data encryption — make a theft of this nature pretty difficult to pull off. If a thief wanted to steal your car this way, he or she would have a pretty high-tech mountain to climb.

The warning above pre-dates the 2013 news reports of the new “mystery device” used to break into cars. It isn’t likely that the criminals reported in the 2013 reports are using “code grabbers” to steal cars as suggested in the older warning above.

2013 Reports

Although the method for cracking keyless systems as indicated in the warning seems beyond the capabilities of most criminals, it has been widely reported in 2013 that some thieves are using an unknown device to disable car alarms and unlock car doors in order to gain entry and burglarize them. Law enforcement officials have said that don’t know how the device works, but claim to have recently obtained one in Texas.

A 2013 report about these new mystery devices showed . In one of the surveillance videos, it appears that a man is walking down the street, scanning for the first car which his device will open.

Mike Bender, an ex-police officer and auto-theft expert told CNN, “The ease that this is working and the frequency that we’re seeing it reported throughout the U.S. means it’s only become a greater problem.”

Volkswagen convinced a UK court to ban a British computer scientist from publishing a report which revealed secret codes used to start luxury cars. Flavio Garcia argued, “The public have a right to see weaknesses in security on which they rely exposed.” He also pointed out that the “industry and criminals know security is weak but the public do not.” Garcia said that the software behind the codes has been available on the internet since 2009.

A consultant at a 2011 security symposium demonstrated his ability to hack a car’s security system using only a cell phone and a laptop.

Bottom Line

It appears than an older warning regarding keyless remotes and crime is being attached to a more recent news story. The warning regarding “code grabbers” pre-dates the 2013 “mystery device” reports and is not believed to be the method being used. The mystery device appears to work without access to the owner’s keyless remote, and the suggestion in the warning above to manually lock your doors does not appear to apply to this new device.

Sources

• Can other people unlock my car door with their remote? (Patrick E. George, How Stuff Works)
• High tech car theft: 3 minutes to steal keyless BMWs (Network World: July 8, 2012)
• New high-tech device helping car thieves (Jason Barry, KPHO: Updated May 20, 2013)
• Car thieves use mystery gadget to hack in (Kyung Lau, KVOA Tuscon: Updated June 29, 2013)
• Scientist banned from revealing codes used to start luxury cars (Lisa O’Carroll, The Guardian: July 26, 2013)