This is the new weapon used by thieves to spot their next target: a device that mechanics are finding more and more often on vehicles, where their owners would never have seen it.
Anyone can be targeted, and it is almost impossible to protect yourself from it. Who has the time to search their car from top to bottom every day, looking for that tiny detail that almost everyone doesn’t know exists? And even so, we still need to think about it… and know where to look. This is why it is the real holy grail for thieves: very affordable and easy to find on the internet, it can be installed in just a few seconds on a vehicle, without its owner noticing.
With this new technique, thieves know everything about your schedule and can take action at the right time. But above all, when they need it most. Indeed, they are generally not small, isolated bandits looking for an opportunity. Behind this scheme, there are in reality vast organized networks from which specific brands, models or colors of vehicles, or even very specific spare parts, are ordered.
So, to steal a car peacefully, when its owner is not nearby or busy, crooks use GPS trackers. In a report broadcast on TF1automotive professionals say they are discovering “more and more” often hidden tracers on their customers’ cars, particularly during servicing. “The thief can slide it directly under your windshield, on your grille“, explains Pablo Joao, mechanic in Vanves. Other drivers have also discovered them… inside their rearview mirror, hidden behind the mirror. We are particularly familiar with Apple AirTags, but many similar models are sold at low prices on the internet. These tracers are thus used to “study the movements of the vehicle, and therefore the lifestyle habits of the owners“, as explained by Jean Delene Moissy, member of the national police union Alliance Seine-et-Marne.
Fortunately, there are some tips to try to protect yourself against this growing phenomenon: free applications to install on your phone, or even portable detectors capable of detecting the waves emitted by these beacons, by scanning for foreign signals (GSM, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.) around your vehicle. Although their effectiveness is not 100% guaranteed, these simple solutions allow an initial verification for individuals concerned about their security.
