County business offering free signal blockers to tackle increasing numbers of keyless car thefts
A county business is giving away thousands of car key signal blockers in a bid to help reduce the growing number of keyless vehicles being stolen.
It can take criminals less than 60 seconds to steal a keyless car – and bosses at Howden insurance, which has a branch in the centre of Shrewsbury, are now launching a campaign to help protect a keyless car from theft.
Chris Beane, branch manager at Howden Shrewsbury, said: “Thieves are using a variety of modern techniques to steal cars including keyless theft, which is where thieves capture signals from a key fob and then use that signal to unlock and then start the engine of the vehicle.
“Our ‘block the break in’ campaign has been launched to raise awareness of how common this method has become, and how it can be carried out brazenly, even in full daylight.
“One of the most common ways that criminals steal a keyless car is known as a relay attack where they use specialist equipment to ‘relay’ a signal without physical access to a key. Once the car is unlocked, a thief can easily start it and simply drive away.
