In 2000, “Gone in 60 Seconds” starring Nicola Cage was released in the United States. It tells the story of a car thief who has washed his hands off car theft and left town at his mum’s request but was forced to delve right back into it to save his younger brother. He stole 50 luxury cars in one night. The reason why it is called “Gone in 60 Seconds” is because it takes 60 seconds for the car to disappear. But this legendary car hunter who only exists in the movie never thought of it—20 years later, his record was beaten by the real boy. Now, it takes only 15 seconds to steal a Toyota RAV4 with a “Nokia 3310 mobile phone“.
In a recent video, a young chap sat in a Toyota RAV4 and presses the start button but the car did not start. Then, he took out a Nokia 3310, connected the car to the Nokia with a USB data cable (huh?), and pressed a few keys. And this time, when he pressed the start button of the car, and with a “buzz”, the car started successfully. The entire process took only 15 seconds – between the time the Nokia was plugged in and when the vehicle started.
Nokia 3310 is a car key?
Seeing this, you may be surprised how it is possible that the Nokia 3310 turned into a car key. Don’t worry, don’t try to dig out your old Nokia 3310 from the drawer. The Nokia 3310 in the video is just a layer of camouflage, and the inside has been transformed into a professional car theft device. In simple terms, the principle of the device is to send a signal to deceive the car that it is a legal key. Those cars with average or no verification systems will be fooled by it.
According to VICE reports, not only the RAV4 but also some series of cars of Maserati, Lexus and other brands can also be cracked by this “Nokia 3310”. And this is the latest means of stealing cars that is spreading in the US market. Of course, it’s not just “Nokia 3310”, there are quite a lot of skins for these car theft devices. For example, the seemingly ordinary JBL audio below is an artefact for stealing cars.
After you disassemble the JBL device, you will find that most of the parts have not moved. However, someone transplanted a “Can injector” into the circuit board with ulterior motives obviously. This is the key to cracking the vehicle’s security.
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The operation of “Nokia 3310” is slightly different. JBL requires you to use a data cable to connect to the headlights of the car. In a demo video, the photographer clicked the switch on the JBL after connecting the data cable, and the door lock opened. When he got to the driver’s seat, the car was successfully started. With these new tricks, in all honesty, the threshold for stealing cars is a bit too low. This is actually a set of stealing tech specifically for wireless keys.
A car can be stolen as though it belongs to the thief
The entire process appears to be “too easy” once the thief gets to hold the fabricated wireless key. The car thief just needs to walk to the car and first use the device to send a signal to the car radio receiver. The car will then trigger a “finding signal”. After the signal is relayed by two radio devices, it will be transmitted to the key. The key will respond and send out a signal when it receives it. Once the signal from the key is transmitted back to the car, the two parties will “shake hands” successfully, thus unlocking the car. This pair of devices is equivalent to amplifying the response range of the key. This will trick the car key into being nearby.
The equipment is awesome, but the operation is just like a child’s play. The scary thing is that “too many” people are now getting their hands on such keys.
A crime documentary was filmed in France 8 years ago. It was about a car thief who bought equipment from Russia. Plugs it into the OBD-II port of the car and reset the car system. Then you can start it with a blank key. But now, you can find where to buy this type of product online. This is something that car owners need to worry about
Do you still remember the Kia challenge on Tiktok that trended last year? Because many old-fashioned Kias and Hyundais do not have engine anti-theft systems, a group of teenage kids roam the streets with a USB data cable all day long, smashing windows to steal cars when they spot Kias and Hyundais. They also post their car theft scheme online to show off.
Revert back to the good old days
In the past few years, in order to prevent the wireless key from being stolen from a long distance, many car owners put metal around the key. However, the good old way of using a physical anti-theft device is the safest.
For example, you can directly lock the steering wheel using a physical steering lock. When there is a physical lock, the thief must cut through the lock if he must drive the car. In many cases, that will be too much trouble and he will just ignore your ride. The more obvious the better, so that the scalp will tingle when the thief sees it outside the car window.
