Remote Car door locks - A Must Read

[BrownBear416]

This email has been forwarded from the Sherwood Park RCMP Detachment

I locked my car --- as I walked away I heard my car door unlock I went back
and locked my car again three times. I looked around and there were two
guys sitting in a car in the fire lane next to the store. When I looked
straight at them they did not unlock my car again.
While traveling, my son stopped at a roadside park. He came out to his car
less than 4-5 minutes later and found someone had gotten into his car, and
stolen his cell phone, laptop computer, GPS navigator briefcase.....you name
it .. Called the police and since there were no signs of his car being
broken into- the police told him that there is a device that robbers are
using now to clone your security code when you lock your doors on your car
using your key-chain 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 have a few minutes to steal and run.
The police officer said... Be sure to manually lock your car door by
hitting the lock button inside the car, that way if there is someone sitting
in a parking lot watching for their next victim it will not be you. When you
hit the lock button on your car upon exiting...it does not send the security
code, but if you walk away and use the door lock on your key chain- it sends
the code through the air waves where it can be be stolen, something totally
new to us.
Be aware of this and please pass this note on..look how many times we all
lock our doors with our keys...just to be sure we remembered to lock
them....and bingo. Someone has our code...and whatever was in the car can
be gone.
Keep safe everyone.
Cst. Wally Henry
StrathconaCountyDetachment
Media Liaison/Community Policing Unit
911 Bison Way
Sherwood Park
T8H-1S9
Tel: 780-449-0152
Fax: 780-449-1265
Laura MATVICHUK
GIS/Major Crime Support Clerk
StrathconaCountyRCMP
Phone: (780) 449-0132
Fax: (780) 449-1265

[Med Head 2]

Hoax similiar story a few months ago

[Kingfisher]

This type of story has been around for ages. Check out Snopes if your unsure about a story.

http://www.snopes.com/

[180+]

absolute BS!! Also no RCMP member would give his home number on the computer!!

[RandyBoBandy]

Apparently, the newer pacemakers are of blue tooth technology..anyways I've been told that "hackers" have been having their jollies by hacking into a persons blue tooth pacemaker and doing nasty things...I'm just researching the validity of this claim...but it still STINKS if this society can stoop so low!:mad:

[7mm]

My wife and my mom took the kids to see my grand parents in Medicine hat this summer. They parked the RV, in Brooks, and spent the night their visiting some friends. At about 2:00 in the morning my wife heard a noise, so she looked out the window, and saw some guys rifling through a vehicle throwing some of the contents out on the ground. The one guy dropped something from his pocket, and my wife called the cops. The item that fell from the thiefs pocket was one of these electronic devices used to unlock your doors. The officers that showed up said they were glad they found it. He also said they wont work, if you hit the lock twice to set the alarm. He didnt say anything about how it works, if they have to be nearby when you lock the doors to clone the signal or not.

[Mish]

This is like back when people were stealing garage codes the same way.

Isn't that why new versions all have a "scrambler"? As in, each time you lock/unlock your truck, it randomizes a new code?

[Okotokian]

absolute BS!! Also no RCMP member would give his home number on the computer!!

Where was a home phone number listed? Those look like business numbers to me, especially since the fax numbers for the two officers are the same.

[wookie]

Source: http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=ae3bf62a-c2d2-428e-b0e0-a600e9032687

E-mail causing problems for RCMP officer

A forwarded e-mail that warns of a new technology thieves are using to break into cars has been circulating for weeks with a Strathcona County RCMP constable’s name attached, but he did not approve its release, nor can he confirm that such technology exists.

By Edmonton JournalNovember 17, 2008

EDMONTON — A forwarded e-mail that warns of a new technology thieves are using to break into cars has been circulating for weeks with a Strathcona County RCMP constable’s name attached, but he did not approve its release, nor can he confirm that such technology exists.

When Const. Wally Henry was in the United States, he spoke to some officers who told him about a device that might be able to unlock cars.

So Henry sent an internal e-mail mentioning the conversation. “I don’t even know if it’s true,” he says.

Someone sent that e-mail to someone else, who sent it to others. Now it’s all over the Internet with Henry’s number at the bottom, and he’s fielding a constant stream of calls from concerned car owners.

The e-mail currently being circulated explains that thieves can “clone your security code when you lock your doors on your car using your key-chain 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 have a few minutes to steal and run.”

At the top of the e-mail there is a disclaimer: “This is signed off by a Mountie from the Sherwood Park branch.”

The attention the e-mail has garnered has prompted the media relations constable to add a disclaimer to his voice-mail message.

“If your call is concerning an e-mail with my name attached to it, please be advised that the information in that e-mail is false, and please do not disseminate it any further,” a recorded Henry tells callers.

He says it is important that people who receive forwards check the authenticity before buying into the claims. “There’s no accountability for e-mails,” Henry says.
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.

[Hunter Trav]

This is like back when people were stealing garage codes the same way.

Isn't that why new versions all have a "scrambler"? As in, each time you lock/unlock your truck, it randomizes a new code?

This would be correct. A quality system will have what they refer to as "Rolling Code". I was an installer for a number of years, and this was done to combat the theives that were using code grabbers. If there is some new technology that is able to get around this, I haven't heard about it, but it is possible I suppose.

[Okotokian]

Source: http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=ae3bf62a-c2d2-428e-b0e0-a600e9032687

Note that nowhere in the article does it say that what was forwarded was not from the Mountie. What he says is that he doesn't know if it's actually true. The article does say that he DID wqrite an e-mail, and it is this e-mail that has been forwarded around.

So take it that the tale/threat may not be true, but it appears a mountie did write all or part of the e-mail.