Modern cars are smart, sophisticated, and desirable. But that also means they often attract thieves looking for the right opportunity to steal them. Every year, Portland, Oregon encounters endless number of keyless car theft. 

And sophisticated keyless cars haven’t stopped car thieves from making away with them. Car thieves use advanced tools and techniques to gain access to keyless cars and drive away with them. 

How do car thieves break into keyless cars? 

According to official sources, car thieves use jammers, relay attacks, and other methods. A car thief might use relay equipment and stand outside your house to transmit signals from the car key fob to the car. The car thinks that you’re giving it the signal to open, and it does. Car thieves use the same method to start the car’s ignition and drive away with it. 

Car thieves can also jam the signal from the key fob to stop the car owner from locking their car. And they can gain access to a car app if the car owner uses a weak password or gets compromised. 

However, you can prevent your keyless car from getting stolen with a few simple changes. 

Here are the top tips on how to prevent keyless car theft in Portland. 

Block your key fob’s signal

Car thieves rely on picking up the signal from your key fob to open and start your car. To stop this from happening, store your key deep inside your house so that its signal can’t get picked up. 

You can also keep your key fob in an RF box or a Faraday cage; these containers will block your car fob’s signal. 

But there’s a clever and free way to get the same effect. Just store your key fob in an empty metal candy tin box and you’re good to go. 

Add a steering wheel lock

Even if a car thief is able to open your car door, you can stop them from driving away with your vehicle. Install a steering wheel lock when you aren’t using your car for a long period of time.

Install a driveway parking lock

A driveway parking lock is especially useful when you have to park your car outdoors. 

It forms a physical barrier that a car thief will be unwilling to deal with. And there are parking locks that also come with alarms to put people off from tampering with them. 

Place a wheel lock

Like a driveway parking lock and a steering wheel lock, a lock for your car wheel is an effective way to keep your car from being moved. 

It’s a visible physical device that will discourage car thieves from targeting your car. 

Turn off your wireless signal

Check to see if you have a button on your car fob for a wireless signal. Some keyless fobs have this feature making it possible for you to turn off your fob’s wireless signal when you’re not using it. 

The simple act of switching off your wireless signal will remove the means for car thieves to pick up the fob’s signal and open your car door. 

Add a GPS device 

Adding a GPS device to your car is a necessary action today. Sometimes car thieves are able to overcome the protective measures you’ve created. And when this happens, you need to be able to track down where your car is. 

GPS devices are easy to buy and are also affordable. Add one to your car in a hard-to-find location. This will help the police and make it possible to find your car fast. 

Contact a locksmith if you lose your keys

So far, we’ve looked at several preventative measures to stop keyless car theft. But what do you do if your car fob is missing or stolen? 

As soon as you suspect that you’ve lost your car keys, contact a locksmith right away. A locksmith service like ours in Portland will take action right away and replace your car fob. 

You’ll also get help to make sure that your missing key doesn’t work to open and start your car. 

Back to you

Car theft is an unfortunate risk that every car owner needs to face. And modern, ‘smart’ cars haven’t made it any harder for them to get stolen. 

Car thieves have sophisticated equipment and techniques to gain access to your car without using your car fob. It’s up to you to take added measures to prevent car theft as much as possible. 

We’ve laid out several ways to prevent keyless car theft. Use them and give yourself peace of mind. And remember, you can always call for locksmith services by Locksmith Monkey in Portland to solve all your lock and key issue, replace your car fob and other automotive locksmith services.