six-string
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This is a pet peeve of mine so pardon the rant.
Disclaimer: I have NOT had my vehicle stolen (yet) but it is on the top of the list of models of most stolen cars at the moment.
So as you may have read/heard, car theft has become a massive criminal enterprise over the past few years.
No longer are cars being stolen by random thieves looking to 'chop' them, or kids for 'joy-rides'.
In fact, most cars stolen now are new or nearly new and are targeted thefts by very organized criminal gangs working with precision and a LOT of help. Clearly there is a 'pipeline' that involves insider info and cooperation from various government agencies and officials as well as insiders in the auto industry. It is a multi-billion dollar per year business.
And just like the drug trade, big money is a temptation to a lot of people.
Latest statistics here show over 4000 new or new-ish Honda CRV vehicles have been stolen in this province over less than 5 years. That amounts to 800+ per year and over $23,000,000 in value just for that one particular model. Of course lots of other cars like Lexus, Toyotas and trucks like the Ford F150, Ram, etc are being targeted too.
So this is the usual deal- a team (usually 2 or 3) pull up outside a home that has a targeted car or truck in the laneway. Sometimes the car can be in the garage, even if the garage is locked it is an easy break in.
One thief has a laptop or other device and using a program can hack the cars auto lock system and ignition in a matter of seconds. Sometimes they can read the codes from your car keys inside the house if they are within range. But some don't even need that anymore.
Thief jumps in the car and has the ignition hacked in minutes or less and simply drives off with the car and his buddies leading the way. Even though many of these crimes are caught on doorbell or home security cameras, the cops usually say their is little they can do and they seldom recover the stolen vehicles. They tell the owner, call your insurance company, the car is on its way out of the country for sale overseas.
So here's where the questions start-
How do the thieves know exactly what address to go to, to find a new or nearly new vehicle to steal?
Well they must have information from either the License Bureau (MTO/DMV) or from auto dealers who sold the car etc.
How do they have the computer software to hack into that specific cars lock and ignition system?
Well obviously they must have got it from someone in the auto industry either a dealer or mechanic or someone with access to the software and codes used to set security systems for cars.
When they take the car, what happens next?
Well it is usually put into a shipping container and onto a truck and then taken to a shipping port to go on a ship outbound to another country.
How is that possible?
Someone must have contacts within the trucking industry who are willing to accept illegal loads and know how to fudge their log books and get around inspection stations etc and get their load to the shipping port.
Once at the shipping port, they must have phony paperwork that can pass inspection (or inside contacts at Customs control) to sign off on the container approved for Export, including whats in the container, where it came from, where its going, registration of ownership, proof any taxes and license fees were paid etc. etc.
Then the container goes on a ship...well ships don't just accept any old tin can that shows up. They require forms, paperwork, payments, description of cargo, value for insurance, origin and destination etc. etc.
Then of course once the ship reaches its destination the cargo must be approved, inspected blah blah before it is allowed to be off-loaded etc. Gov't officials will be involved.
Recently 5 gov't employees at the License bureau in Toronto area were arrested and charged with falsifying registration and ownership papers for stolen vehicles. That's just one office.
Several busts recently have caught groups engaging in doctoring and/or replacing VINs (vehicle identification numbers). but its the tip of the iceberg.
What nobody talks about is that it is the consumer who pays for all this. The insurance companies who pay out to replace stolen vehicles simply spread the costs around to all their customers through higher premiums. So no matter how good a driver you are, or how long you are 'claims free' you are paying for someone else's stolen vehicle.
Disclaimer: I have NOT had my vehicle stolen (yet) but it is on the top of the list of models of most stolen cars at the moment.
So as you may have read/heard, car theft has become a massive criminal enterprise over the past few years.
No longer are cars being stolen by random thieves looking to 'chop' them, or kids for 'joy-rides'.
In fact, most cars stolen now are new or nearly new and are targeted thefts by very organized criminal gangs working with precision and a LOT of help. Clearly there is a 'pipeline' that involves insider info and cooperation from various government agencies and officials as well as insiders in the auto industry. It is a multi-billion dollar per year business.
And just like the drug trade, big money is a temptation to a lot of people.
Latest statistics here show over 4000 new or new-ish Honda CRV vehicles have been stolen in this province over less than 5 years. That amounts to 800+ per year and over $23,000,000 in value just for that one particular model. Of course lots of other cars like Lexus, Toyotas and trucks like the Ford F150, Ram, etc are being targeted too.
So this is the usual deal- a team (usually 2 or 3) pull up outside a home that has a targeted car or truck in the laneway. Sometimes the car can be in the garage, even if the garage is locked it is an easy break in.
One thief has a laptop or other device and using a program can hack the cars auto lock system and ignition in a matter of seconds. Sometimes they can read the codes from your car keys inside the house if they are within range. But some don't even need that anymore.
Thief jumps in the car and has the ignition hacked in minutes or less and simply drives off with the car and his buddies leading the way. Even though many of these crimes are caught on doorbell or home security cameras, the cops usually say their is little they can do and they seldom recover the stolen vehicles. They tell the owner, call your insurance company, the car is on its way out of the country for sale overseas.
So here's where the questions start-
How do the thieves know exactly what address to go to, to find a new or nearly new vehicle to steal?
Well they must have information from either the License Bureau (MTO/DMV) or from auto dealers who sold the car etc.
How do they have the computer software to hack into that specific cars lock and ignition system?
Well obviously they must have got it from someone in the auto industry either a dealer or mechanic or someone with access to the software and codes used to set security systems for cars.
When they take the car, what happens next?
Well it is usually put into a shipping container and onto a truck and then taken to a shipping port to go on a ship outbound to another country.
How is that possible?
Someone must have contacts within the trucking industry who are willing to accept illegal loads and know how to fudge their log books and get around inspection stations etc and get their load to the shipping port.
Once at the shipping port, they must have phony paperwork that can pass inspection (or inside contacts at Customs control) to sign off on the container approved for Export, including whats in the container, where it came from, where its going, registration of ownership, proof any taxes and license fees were paid etc. etc.
Then the container goes on a ship...well ships don't just accept any old tin can that shows up. They require forms, paperwork, payments, description of cargo, value for insurance, origin and destination etc. etc.
Then of course once the ship reaches its destination the cargo must be approved, inspected blah blah before it is allowed to be off-loaded etc. Gov't officials will be involved.
Recently 5 gov't employees at the License bureau in Toronto area were arrested and charged with falsifying registration and ownership papers for stolen vehicles. That's just one office.
Several busts recently have caught groups engaging in doctoring and/or replacing VINs (vehicle identification numbers). but its the tip of the iceberg.
What nobody talks about is that it is the consumer who pays for all this. The insurance companies who pay out to replace stolen vehicles simply spread the costs around to all their customers through higher premiums. So no matter how good a driver you are, or how long you are 'claims free' you are paying for someone else's stolen vehicle.
