After years of declines, car thefts are on an upswing. The reason behind the increase, a mix of carelessness and technology.
“Car thieves are sly and all too often a driver's inattentiveness is a lure for theft,” says Ellsworth Buck, Vice Resident of Insurance, Florida's top independent car insurance agency.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau reports a stable rise in 2021, 2021 and 2021 of cars stolen using the keys or key fobs left inside. The surge is happening in cities and suburbs across the nation. Florida has the next to the highest incident rate in the country.
Cars remain vulnerable when they're not turned off, or even the key fob remains in a car, or the key fob is in the vicinity.
“Many key fobs are mistakenly left in the car cup holder,” says Ellsworth Buck, Vice President of Insurance, Florida's largest independent car insurance agency.
However, carelessness is not always responsible. Key fobs were intended to increase security, significantly reducing car thefts. But now, the protective measure is easily used against drivers.
Popular Mechanics explains, “Keyless ignition systems have a fob that transmits a unique low-frequency signal towards the car’s computer system, which in turn validates the correct signal has been sent and enables you to push a control button around the dashboard or console to unlock the doors and start the engine.”
When the important thing fob is too close to the car, even in the house, thieves use technology to copy and transmit the signal and drive off together with your car.
Aside from carrying out a better job keeping track of your key fob, Popular Mechanics recommends simple gear to keep your car safe and remain protected from theft.
Place keys inside your refrigerator, freezer or microwave (don't cook them) to bar the radio signal.
Wrap them tightly in tin foil to keep the signal from escaping ..
Store them really not even close to your vehicle.
Remote and smart key fobs can be protected with RFID (radio-frequency identification) signal blocking cases also. This is actually the just like the RFID wallet and accessories which help protect chipped debit and credit cards from theft. You can buy an RFID case or sleeve from Amazon.
Also available online, is a key fob protector or Faraday cage which blocks all electromagnetic fields.
