Quebec provincial police have arrested a Quebec man in connection with a rash of vehicle thefts in Lindsay.
Kawartha Lakes police began investigating after receiving reports of vehicles stolen from driveways overnight on Tuesday (November 22).
During the investigation, police learned the suspects were travelling in a grey Honda Civic and used a sophisticated device contained in a backpack to steal five Dodge Ram pickup trucks and a Toyota Highlander from various locations around Lindsay.
The thieves conducted what is known as a “relay attack” against the vehicle owners’ keyless fobs. The fobs use short-range radio signals picked up by a receiver in the vehicle to unlock the doors and to allow the car to be started.
In the relay attack, signal relay devices amplify the signal from the keyless fob, even if it is stored at a distance from the vehicle such as by the front door, to “trick” the vehicle into thinking the keyless fob is present, thereby allowing the thieves to unlock the doors and start the vehicle.
On Wednesday afternoon, Kawartha Lakes police received information from the Sûreté du Québec (Quebec’s provincial police force) that they had stopped a black 2021 Dodge Ram pickup truck, believed to be stolen from Lindsay but not yet reported.
Kawartha Lakes police confirmed the vehicle was stolen from Lindsay and Surete Du Quebec arrested the driver, a Quebec man, for possession of the stolen vehicle. The investigation into the vehicle thefts is continuing.
Here are some tips for protecting your keyless entry vehicle:
- Park your car in a locked garage
- Block your vehicle in your driveway or garage with a second less valuable vehicle
- Store keyless car fobs as far away from the parked vehicle as possible
- Store keyless car fobs — including any spare fobs — in a container that blocks radio signals, such as RFID pouches (available from CAA). A low-tech solution is to wrap your keyless car fob in aluminum foil when you aren’t using it.
- Consider install a secondary security system, such as a steering wheel lock
- Consider adding a tracking device to your vehicle
- Install motion detection lights and exterior surveillance cameras to act as a deterrent
- Remove valuables from your vehicle to make it less inviting
