While this is not part of what we do or a service we provide at Nuvollo, the goal of my blogs is to inform and help, and I hope this one does just that.
As the car manufacturers build in higher tech anti-theft devices, the theives get smarter. Not only becoming tech savvy, but also using devices to track the target vehicle, as sometimes they can’t start them with their high tech devices so they track them back to the home and simply load them on a trailer and tow them away, low tech works along side high tech.
The Greater Toronto Area and surrounding are now the car theft capital of Canada. It’s the plethora of high end vehicles and even not so high end vehicles that make it a target rich zone. Cars get shipped around the world for resale, or stripped and parted out. It’s a huge ‘business’ so to speak. With the cost of car parts now it’s no surprise that this has spawned a marketplace for this, and the theives are capitalizing on it. And in other countries the high end cars fetch amazingly high prices.
This weekend past my son and friends were out as usual like typical young adults. After a late night of enjoying themselves they returned to the car, which was one of his friends parents brand new high end SUV, one of the coveted cars by thieves. Luckily a gentleman approached the car and knocked on my sons window, he cautiously opened the door, as carjacking is on the rise as well. He asked the guy ‘what’s up’?
Fortunately for his friend the gentleman saw someone put something under the SUV he told them. My son asked “where were you parked when you saw this” and he showed him how close he was, he wanted to make sure this wasn’t part of a scam. Sure enough he was parked close enough to see this happen and was kind enough to wait and see when they returned to the car to warn them.
Being smart enough not to run back home and give away the cars location, they pulled into a well lit gas station called the police who said they don’t have any way of getting under the car without a lift. The boys began searching under the car for whatever was placed there as there was no help from the police. They looked for a while but couldn’t find anything. My son took one last look not being a quitter and wanting to make sure it was safe for his friend to go home, sure enough he found the one place the thiefs could attach a magnetic GPS device. They called the police again and they came to take the device. They said they would attach it to a ‘ghost car’ and try to catch the crooks, after my kid did the detective work for them!
While this story had a happy ending thanks to a very kind person and my son who is determined, please be vigilant, and if you are driving one of the sought after vehicles, look into the counter measures available on the market to stop these thieves in their tracks. Placing bluetooth trackers in hidden places is a good way to find your car but you’re not going to risk your life going to get it, there are many very good devices to disable a vehicle on the market. I do it by driving a car they have no interest in LOL.
These are 3 GPS devices similar to what my son found under the car, notice how they fit in one hand, not always easy to find.
