HIGH-TECH CAR THEFT: Rocks Jefferson City

JEFFERSON CITY, 12/22/09 (Beat Byte) --  Jefferson City residents are complaining about a new type of high-tech car larceny in which thieves use remote controls to unlock electronic car doors. 

 

"This happened to my boss this week," emailed Gina Thoenen, an employee of FHC Properties in Jefferson City.  "He was at the YMCA, left his wallet in his locked vehicle, and the thief stole 3 credit cards."

Calling it the "latest robbery tactic," police in other cities describe "a device robbers are using to 'clone' your security code when you lock your car doors using a key-chain electronic locking mechanism."   

 

Would-be thieves supposedly stake out vehicles, watching people leave -- and lock -- their cars.   Hitting the door lock on a remote-control sends a code through the airwaves that -- like a Wi-Fi Internet signal -- can be intercepted.  Police advise "manually locking" car doors by hitting the lock button on the door or inside the vehicle.

"This happened last Monday at the Helias High School football game," said Paula Benne, President of Jefferson City-based C & S Business Services, Inc.   "There were something like 6-8 cars broken into, some by this technique."