kenny5

I was at the gym last week for about an hour. When I returned, I discovered that certain things in my trunk were missing, but there was no sign of forced entry. When I told my story to several friends from the same gym, they also had the same experience, since we all park in the gym's garage.

We think that someone must have been stealing the signals from our remote key fobs when we locked our cars with the fobs. How easy can this be done? How expensive is the device? I think we might report this to the police so that they can set up a decoy to catch the thief.

From now on, I will use my key to lock the car manually to avoid signal theft.

Rdxowner

Wow...that aint funny..what did u had in your trunk?..i dunno what device they used..Do u have a key entering to open the trunk? maybe they used some things to open it..nwayz good luck finding the thief

RSA_Secure

That sucks. Could have been a lot worse. Here is a good article for you to read, which explain how thieves break into cars equipped with keyless locks.

muranojo

didn't see the link to the article, would love to read this. thx.

jupitersolo

The link is the word "Here".

muranojo

O.K., got it. Didn't realize 'here' was hyperlinked. Thx.

triggle

Ya I could not find the hyperlink either. The color is so subtle it can easily disappear. Anyone know if this is a user configurable option ?

datmrman

It doesn't look like it.

It's a good practice to stylize hyperlinks so that other members can see them. I try to at least.

TL1999

soon or later will be GONE IN 60 secs.

kenny5

I didn't lose much. Just a tire pressure pump, a few CDs and a pair of skates. I don't like putting too many things in the trunk. The TL trunk helps in a way, because it is kinda small with only 12 cu ft.

If the theft technology is widely known out there, perhaps cars now should be equipped with rolling codes, just like the garage opener. The push button start cars are even more at risk, because the thief can drive the car off as soon as he gets in.

acurabon

Sorry to hear that Kenny5..but i think we owe you a million for sharing and alerting everybody 'bout this new bad guys' modus operandi.I'm scared too just like everybody..from now on i'll use my key to lock my baby.

darksom1

I thought you have to be in the car with the key or card in your pocket to get that to work? Am I wrong on that?

Anyway, damn that sucks if it is true! I never really keep anything of value other than music and tools in my car at anytime though. But still...

noktekniq

i just read the article. if it's in 20 mins. that's helluva long time. should be gone in 60 secs or less

leedogg

was reading another article regarding people leaving their keys + wallets in unlocked gym lockers and the thief would take both and raid the car. They would think they left their key + wallet in the car and by the time they got into their car, the thiefs would have plundered their cc's.

ayethetiense

uhm, where do you leave your keys while you are in the gym? is it locked in your own personal locker with your own personal combo lock? doe sthe combo lock have a master key? is it the gym's lock? if its the gym slock then they have a master key to get in.

kenny5

You are right ... they can now do it in 60 sec or less. See link
http://news.com.com/Gone+in+60+secon...3-6069287.html

In a year or less, it may be down to 20 sec or less. Car manufacturers have to step up on the design of security systems.

kenny5

I have my own combination lock, and so do my friends. We don't think the thief accessed our lockers at all. We are quite sure that the key fob signal was stolen with an interception/decoding device.

Adobeman

Yeah, I'm always amazed at how many folks leave stuff in unlocked lockers at the gym. (or just leave only a friggin hat in there when others really need a locker)

The other thing that simply baffles me is that there is a "wall of hooks" in the entry way of the gym where many, many people hang their keys on the way in and grab them on the way out. Wow, all anyone would have to do is pick the make of car they want, grab the fob and go out into the parking lot looking for the car that blinks. Your insurance certainly shouldn't have to pay if you are stupid enough to leave your keys hanging on a wall in public.

nfnsquared

Just use the switch on the door when you get out. I always do that and never use the keyfob to lock the doors when I'm in a public place.

darksom1

Man, probably 3/4ths of the places I go, if not more, are public places! I have lo-jack and a nice-looking ass blue LED blinking! If they want it take it! If it's gone in 60 seconds, it better stay gone for 30 days so I can get me a TL-S!!! NBP of course!

RSA_Secure

I try not to leave valuable stuff in my car. When I go to gym I use the gym locker to safeguard my wallet, cellphone, etc.

Gohensun

Like someone said in the above post...use the switch on your car door to lock all doors when you step out.

When I'm at the gym working out, my house & car keys are with me at all times. It doesn't stay locked in the lockers.

If you don't like the places you go to mall/gym...etc, just open and close the doors manually so your signals won't be captured.

darksom1

Thieves are like that! They get as sophisticated as the alarms get!

The only true protection for real, is auto and gap insurance, lo-jack, and make your payments on time! LOL! That way, if someone steals your car, you can get another one with little or no hassle!

Man, I used to have an alarm on my car. But I thought...for what? Once they bust the window - damage is done! Even if I scare them away, damage is done. I remove anything that is considered "snatchable" from plain sight, so as not to give someone a reason. So the only reason to break in to it is to steal it. That's why I have Lo-jack. If it's totalled when they find it, then that's why I have gap and regular insurance. Since I am out of a car at that point, that's why I paid on time and have good credit! Ya feel me?

If they want it, they will get it I don't care what you do. So good preparation is worth...well, you know how it goes! Be safe!

Desert_TL

WERD!!!! I was about to type this exact kind of response, but you took the words right out of my mouth.

Not using the wireless to lock your car in the parking lot may stop 1 thief in a thousand, but unfortunately the other 999 will still use a crowbar to bust your windows to steal the stuff inside. There's not a whole lot you can do about that. All of the fancy alarms and precations in the world can only go so far. You're right; the only real protection is to make sure you have quality insurance (not crappy discount insurance that will leave you high and dry when it's time to make a claim). Also, not leaving wallets and other valuables in plain sight really helps. More often than not, when I hear of someone's car getting broken into, it was to steal a wallet that was left on the passenger seat or something.

darksom1

I tell my lady that all the time. Thieves just need a reason...any reason...

evantec

There was a recent story in the news about something like that. No code-swapping just key-swiping.

I bet if you only took the valet key (no remote), the thief couldn't just beep it to guess where the car was. (He'd have to risk sticking it into every car door to see if it fit.) Then again, how many other Acuras are at the gym you go to? If not a lot there's a good chance he could still find your car.

Home depot has a $2 bungee cord you can put a key on. Yeah it's a pain but it's OK if you have no pockets.

Much safer for your car for you not to exercise and just be a couch potato at the PC!

evantec

Or if you have an "older car" like I did before my TL, the remote was cracked and even if you were the legitimate owner there was still a 50% chance it wouldn't unlock.

kenny5

I truly think the key fob signal theft technology is out there, as documented by various printed articles in the media as well as my own experience.

Below is my recent post in the RL forum:

I think you are wrong for various obvious reasons. First, I put my car keys (key fob) together with my wallet in the gym locker, and locked them with my own combination lock. If the thief managed to decipher the combination, why didn't he take the cash (totally fungible) in my wallet along with the credit cards? Also, why did he bother putting the key fob back into my locker after he stole from my trunk? I have yet to come across such a "kind-hearted" thief.

Let's face it, the technology for stealing key fob signal is out there, and it probably does not require a thief to spend lots of money and time to invest in such technology. If a thief pulls off just 50 jobs a day - a fairly easy task if he hits places like shopping malls and municipal parking lots - the return for his effort is quite handsome. This is particularly worrisome because not many people are aware of the technology, which make them easy targets.

I can think of at least two ways that a thief can use the technology to get into your car. One, by blocking the signal from the key fob when you try to lock your car. How many people test their car door to see if it is locked after "locking" it with their key fob? In so doing, the thief can easily open your car door (and your trunk) and take whatever he wants, after you walk away. Two, by intercepting the signal and storing it in the device, so that he can decode it and use it any time he wants. The second method is more problematic because he can hit your car again and again unless you are aware of the problem and think of a solution.

So, let's not dismiss this potentially large problem, thinking (erroneously) that it is "an awful lot of trouble [for thieves] to go through."

dampfnudel

Another thing to worry about.

well, it looks like I'll have to use my key to lock from now on.

avs007

Since I work with networking technologies at work, I would be truly dissapointed in Acura, (or all manufacturers really), if their keyless entry system is that vulnerable to code grabbing. That's the first thing I ask someone when designing a protocol, is if it's susceptible to man-in-the-middle that grabs the signal, and "replays" them.

It's so easy to defeat this exploit, by use of basic cryptography, payload signatures, etc. MUUUCH more secure than simple "code-rolling" etc. Does Acura even do Code-rolling? (Just curious).

dampfnudel

Actually, I think they do. Maybe I'm wrong ?

lukin3

There is a very easy solution for this problem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee3L9...elated&search=

Adobeman

LOL.

.....but would he fit through the pass-through since our rear seats don't fold down ?

I'd prefer this

http://tesladownunder.com/tesla_coil...eakout%20point