POLOKWANE – After a recent incident where a Polokwane motorist fell prey to vehicle remote jamming criminals, the police in the city have issued a warning to motorists to be attentive and make sure their vehicles are locked before walking away from them.
Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Nthobeng Phala, said the number of cases in which items were stolen from cars by using remote jamming systems, were on the rise and had increased over the past few months.
According to Lee Anne Bredenkamp, a sales representative of a local insurance company, this kind of theft was of great concern to the insurance company and motorists when it came to the actual claim for lost goods.
“Insurance companies will not be held liable for payouts in such instances because it is impossible to prove whether the vehicle was locked or not,” she said.
Remote jamming is a simple technique. Criminals use electronic gate remotes to interfere with the car’s remote locking system, jamming the signal that the car’s remote control sends to the locking system. The car then stays unlocked while motorists believe their vehicle is safely locked. This then gives the criminals free access to the inside of the motor vehicle.
John Peterson, an employee at a local access control supplier, said: the remote controls used to jam the cars’ remote locking systems could be bought for less than R200 and were simple to programme for use.
“Programming the new remote is done by pressing and holding down the button while an existing remote’s button is pressed and held down. The new remote picks the signal of the existing remote up and stores it on the chip. Each remote can be programmed and reprogrammed numerous times for various access systems.”
Phala said the remote jamming crime was first reported in 2009, and since then the crime had evolved many times for various scenarios. He said in most cases, the criminals followed their victims to establish a routine and ensure they had enough time to get away after the theft.
Phala urged motorists to always manually check that their vehicles were locked after using a remote system.
He said motorists should avoid parking in remote or dark areas as much as possible.
“Be aware of your surroundings and make sure that you are not followed or watched when you exit your car,” he warned.
