According to Lincolnshire police keyless car thefts have increased across the county, their statements (below) can be read here – published:18/11/2024
We have seen an increase in keyless car thefts across the county this month with thefts occurring between the hours of midnight and 4am. Since the start of the month, we have had vehicles stolen almost every day from locations across the county including Crowland, Boston, Lincoln, Cranwell, Gainsborough and Sleaford. The vehicles stolen were high in value:
3 x Lexus
2 x BMW
2 x Mercedes
1 x Porsche Cayenne (attempt theft)
We suspect this may be the work of an organised crime group.
Cars with keyless entry unlock automatically when the key comes within a short distance of the car. This can be from inside a pocket or bag. If you have to push a button on your car key to open your car, you don’t have keyless entry.
Keyless car theft or ‘relay theft’ is when a device is used to fool the car into thinking the key is close by. This unlocks the car and starts the ignition which means they only need to be within a few metres of your car key to capture the signal, even if it’s inside your home. This means that even if your car and home are secure, thieves can still unlock, start and steal your car.
Thieves often make use of cars with cloned number plates to travel the country using what are referred to as ‘jamming devices’ to block wireless signals used for CCTV and vehicle tracking devices.
Colleagues at West Midlands Police have created a video to show how quickly a theft can take place.
How to protect your keyless entry car:
When at home keep your car key (and the spare key) well away from the car.
Put the keys in a screened or signal-blocking pouch, such as a Faraday Bag. We recommend purchasing from a reputable supplier as we are aware of instances where such pouches have been purchased but have no signal-blocking ability.
Reprogramme your keys if you buy a second-hand car.
Turn off wireless signals on your fob when it’s not being used.
Make use of physical security measures such as steering or pedal locks and park cars in garages where feasible.
People are asked to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity.
Lincolnshire Police are actively patrolling the roads and neighbour hoods and have recently recovered a number of stolen vehicles and arrested individuals.
More information about preventing car and vehicle theft and checking before buying a potential cloned car can be found here Preventing car and vehicle theft | Crime Prevention | Police.uk
2024 Lincolnshire Police DVLA ‘stolen’ data:
As at the date of the above report, 18/11/2024, the following 16 Lincolnshire vehicles were recorded as stolen by the DVLA
Theft methodology was sought from Lincs police, for 2024 data:
- If held in a readily retrievable format, the method of theft i.e. with keys, keyless etc. and
a. If taken with keys, how these were obtained; left in vehicle, burglary, by force (or threat of) etc
The response:
- In relation to your request, Lincolnshire Police would have to manually search the relevant records to retrieve and identify the method of the theft. It has been estimated that for question 4 it would take 8 minutes per record to extract the information from therefore with 521 records to review it would take over 69 hours in total. Please note, the fields relating to question four are not mandatory and this data is not always stated (often recorded as unknown entry).
The constabulary added
- ‘for question 4, the business area dealing indicated that the data you requested is rarely stated on the record (i.e. often recorded as unknown entry).’
Another constabulary that does not record theft methodology information in a readily retrievable format.
28/02/2025 – Request for 11/2024 data