Motor vehicle theft

Methods

• Theft of an unattended vehicle without a key: the removal of a parked vehicle either by breaking and entry, followed by hotwiring or other tampering methods to start the vehicle, or else towing. In London, the police say that 50% of the annual 20,000 car thefts are now from high-tech on-board diagnostic key-cloning kits and immobiliser bypass tools.
• Taking without owner's consent : the unauthorized use of a car short of theft. This term is used in the United Kingdom, as is the derivative "twocking".
• Opportunistic theft: either the removal of a vehicle that is unattended with the keys visible and sometimes the engine idling, or theft of a vehicle offered for sale during what the thief represents as a test drive. A "test drive" may also give a potential thief insight into where the vehicle keys are stored, so that the thief may return later to steal the vehicle.
• Carjacking: taking a vehicle by force, or threat of force, against its owner or operator. In most places, this is the most serious form of vehicle theft, because assault also occurs and the method of taking over the vehicle is essentially a robbery, a more serious form of theft. In some carjackings, the operators and passengers are forced from the vehicle while the thief is driving it. In other incidents, the operator and/or passenger are held hostage in it. In still others, which are less common, the assailant forces the lawful operator to drive in accordance with the demands of the assailant, who rides as a passenger.
• Fraudulent theft: illegal acquisition of a vehicle from a seller through fraudulent transfer of funds that the seller will ultimately not receive, or through the use of a loan obtained under false pretenses. Many vehicles stolen via fraud are soon resold, by the thieves. Using this approach, the thief can quietly evade detection and continue stealing vehicles in different jurisdictions. Car rental companies and car dealerships are also defrauded by car thieves into renting, selling, financing, or leasing them cars with fake identification, checks, and credit cards. This is a common practice near national borders, where tracking devices are less effective because the victims may lack jurisdiction in the countries into which the vehicles quickly are removed.
• Frosting: Occurring in winter, which involves an opportunist thief stealing a vehicle with its engine running whilst the owner de-ices it. Though the term is specific to the UK, the issue occurs in many cold countries where a spare key is used to keep the vehicle's engine on and interior warm while its owner runs into a store or home with a remote lock to unlock it, though the vehicle is often simply left unlocked.
• "Hanoi burglary", where a vehicle is taken during a house burglary, often done with the explicit purpose of obtaining car keys. Named after the first police operation targeting the method.
• Joyriding: refers to driving or riding in a stolen vehicle, most commonly a car, with no particular intent other than the pleasure or thrill of doing so.
• Keyless system theft: The risk of cars with keyless entry being stolen is high. These are cars where the owner does not have to even press a button to unlock as long as the key is located at a certain distance from the vehicle. In theory, the key's signal should no longer reach the car when the driver moves away, making it impossible to unlock the car. Car thieves extend the signal from the owner's key with the help of simple signal amplifiers, or clone the key's RF signal. And then all they have to do is open the door, hit the start button, and drive away unnoticed, leaving the car alarm untriggered and no noticeable damage or proof of the car's theft outside footsteps.

  Auto-theft tools and paraphernalia

• A thin metal strap or rod that slips inside a door's cavity at the base of the window, to manipulate an internal locking mechanism or linkage. A famously known tool is called the "slim jim".
• A long rod with a hooked end that slips between door and frame, or through an opened window, that can reach and manipulate the door handle or lock from inside the vehicle cab.
• Broken pieces of ceramic, often from a spark plug insulator, used for throwing at car door windows so they shatter quietly.
• Specially cut or filed-down car keys, numerous tryout keys, jigglers and other lock picking tools.
• Slide hammer puller to break apart door locks, steering-wheel locks, and ignition switch locks by forced removal of the cylinder core.
• Multimeter or electrician's test lamp to locate a power source, for disabling alarms and jump starting vehicles.
• Spare wires and/or a screwdriver to connect a power source to the ignition and starter wires.
• Unusual looking electronics gear that may include laptop or tablet, radio antennas, cables, battery packs, and other modified computer components that look homemade.
• Many keyless ignition/lock cars have weak cryptographic protection of their unlock radio signal or are susceptible to some form of record-and-playback or range extending attack. While proof-of-concept "thefts" of top-of-the-line luxury cars have been demonstrated by academic researchers using commercially available tools such as RFID microreaders, examples of actual car theft using these methods are not very prevalent.
• A firearm, knife or other weapon used to break a window.
• OBD key cloning kit.

  Vehicles most frequently stolen

Prevention

• Devices used to lock a part of the vehicle necessary in its operation, such as the wheel, steering wheel, or brake pedal. A commonly used device of this kind is the steering-wheel lock.
• Immobilisers allow the vehicle to start only if a key containing the correct chip is present in the ignition. These work by locking the steering wheel and disabling the ignition.
• Hidden kill switches cut electric current to the ignition coil, fuel pump, or other system to frustrate or slow down a thief.
• Deterrents tell the thief they are more likely to get caught if the vehicle is stolen. These include:
• * Car alarm systems are triggered by breaking and entry into the vehicle.
• * Microdot identification tags allow individual parts of a vehicle to be identified.
• * Signs on windows warning of other deterrents, sometimes as a bluff.
• * VIN etching may reduce the resale value of parts or increase risk of resale.

  Recovery of stolen vehicles