Pasop for remote jammers

BE AWARE – if you rely on a remote to lock your car, you could be the target and victim of criminals. Remote jamming is a growing problem in South Africa, and apparently it’s a crime that has arrived in Vryheid.
A Vryheid resident phoned the Vryheid Herald last week to report a case that occurred in a supermarket parking lot here in town. He said that he’d heard of a number of cases, and that the criminals were after the valuables in the cars rather than the cars themselves.
Remote jamming is practised by criminals who use another remote, operating on the same frequency as a car owner’s car remote. At the same time that you press your remote to lock your vehicle, the watching criminal presses his remote, interfering or jamming your “locking” signal to your vehicle.
You walk away believing your car is locked; the criminal walks to your car knowing it isn’t.
As soon as you disappear into the shops, the criminal will help himself to your property left in the car, if he doesn’t actually steal the car.
The crime is one thing, but there are added complications in that there being no sign of forced entry, insurance companies might reject any claim. The Star newspaper reported earlier this year that the “ombudsman for short-term insurance ruled that, if clients were to suffer any loss due to a remote jamming scam, their claims would be rejected. This is because they are supposed to check whether their cars are locked before walking away.”
So, if you rely on a remote to lock your car, ensure that you actually hear the “beep” of the alarm, and the sound of the locking mechanism engaging. Then physically check the doors and boot. And you should anyway keep any valuables out of sight and preferably in the boot.