Car Thieves key fob hack

[VectorZ]

this is what sucks. my Mazda CX-7 would kill the engine if it cant detect Keyfob

Yeah I don't think so. If your fob battery was weak, and died while you were driving, the car would just shut off? No way, that would be a huge liability when a family of four was killed when they flew off a curve on highway while doing 70 mph because they lost steering and brakes when the engine shut off.

 

[slimchance]

The unlock "pad" inside the door handle is not only looking for uniquely human contact. It's just a capacitive pad that's open to all kinds of "input." Water is a well known trigger but you could come up with all kinds of things that would substitute for your hand.

Just wondering though - how were you washing the truck without getting the handles wet?

that is simple ... first hours before i ran the trk thru a touchless car wash and the wash did no was the trk from my hip level down, roughly half way up the door and the way around the trk ... went inside the car wash and they refunded my money .... drove home, about 15 miles, and got a bucket of warm water and car wash solution, using the handled blue bristle brush dipped in the buck and washed the lower half of the truck and that is story of washing my truck and not getting the handle wet ... are you still awake... hello

 

[riccnick]

that is simple ... first hours before i ran the trk thru a touchless car wash and the wash did no was the trk from my hip level down, roughly half way up the door and the way around the trk ... went inside the car wash and they refunded my money .... drove home, about 15 miles, and got a bucket of warm water and car wash solution, using the handled blue bristle brush dipped in the buck and washed the lower half of the truck and that is story of washing my truck and not getting the handle wet ... are you still awake... hello

I'm gonna guess that while you were brushing the truck some water splashed up and contacted the handle.

 

[Wanderlust]

I remember riding my harley to the gas station once and after filling the tank realizing that I left the key fob at home. Had to call my wife and ask her to bring me the fob so I could start up and get back on the road.

That's why I carry the card that's in the owners manual that explains how to set up a personal pin number & instructions on how to start the bike without the fob for instances like this. lol

 

[slimchance]

went in for my first oil change .... 4,700 miles and the trk has not missed a beat .... 35 miles to the dealer and talked to the service manager ... service tech went out to bring it in for the oil change, would not start, service manager went out to bring it in, would not start, they called me out to start the trk and it would turn over but acted like it was not getting gas and would not start, i tried it 3 times ... GREAT timing, it happened for the first time AT the dealer for them ..... the salesman i got it from went out to try and start it and it STARTED .... they gave me a loaner jeep and i went on my way ..... 7 hrs later i called to check on it and the service manager said it did NOT throw any codes and they could NOT figure out what was wrong, he checked all the TSBs and Star cases and found nothing like this happening before ..... so, i picked up my trk and am now waiting for the next shoe to drop
another thought after re-reading this thread ...... what IF the service tech picked up the WRONG key fob from the rack and went out to my trk to bring it in, trk sent signal and fob did NOT respond with the right code, so the trk would turn over but NOT start, service manager took the fob from service tech and tried to start my trk with same results, got me and handed me the fob with the same results .... took fob and hung it on the rack ... salesman goes to rack and gets MY key fob from the group hanging there and my trk starts .... dealer could not find anything wrong ..... i have the trk back and it has started with no problems at least 2 dozen times ..... just thinking .......

 

[19RamLimited]

They are walking around your house and amplifying your key signal and transmitting it in a unit that sends the signal back out. Its not a duplication its them using your key and stealing the car with it. Since I have seen them steal Teslas this way I put my keys in the master in the rear of the house and lock my gate so no one can walk around. It literally takes seconds. They do it from inside restaurants. They grab the RF from your key amplify send it back out . There are mNAY videos of people doing this in real life caught on surveillance.

Its not hared to imagine. Wash your car with your fob in your pocket and touch the door handle. I do it sometimes from several feet away and I can unlock the truck.

They now sell battery disconnects they are like small relays. They go in the fob and after 10 mins of inactivity they go to sleep but if you press a key or it detects motion it activates and completes the battery circuit. This is to defeat these type of thefts.

 

[BlckDT]

This is wild! I knew the tech was out there but man is it pretty scary. Just sitting at a restaurant like you said and someone could get a hit and take your vehicle.


—-|||RAM|||-—
Phil

sent from my mobile device

 

[19RamLimited]

They can do it anywhere. When I saw someone dismiss this I was surprised because its actually very common right now. The push to start cars are targeted now for the fact they are so easy to steal. This video is even better and shows more clearly hoe they are doing it and how fast they can. Rolling codes and all of that are irrelevant to this they are taking the frequency emitted at all times and extending it. Teslas are targeted for the simple fact of how much they can make quickly from it. The battery alone can be sold fast and for a lot.

 

[Edwards]

went in for my first oil change .... 4,700 miles and the trk has not missed a beat .... 35 miles to the dealer and talked to the service manager ... service tech went out to bring it in for the oil change, would not start, service manager went out to bring it in, would not start, they called me out to start the trk and it would turn over but acted like it was not getting gas and would not start, i tried it 3 times ... GREAT timing, it happened for the first time AT the dealer for them ..... the salesman i got it from went out to try and start it and it STARTED .... they gave me a loaner jeep and i went on my way ..... 7 hrs later i called to check on it and the service manager said it did NOT throw any codes and they could NOT figure out what was wrong, he checked all the TSBs and Star cases and found nothing like this happening before ..... so, i picked up my trk and am now waiting for the next shoe to drop
another thought after re-reading this thread ...... what IF the service tech picked up the WRONG key fob from the rack and went out to my trk to bring it in, trk sent signal and fob did NOT respond with the right code, so the trk would turn over but NOT start, service manager took the fob from service tech and tried to start my trk with same results, got me and handed me the fob with the same results .... took fob and hung it on the rack ... salesman goes to rack and gets MY key fob from the group hanging there and my trk starts .... dealer could not find anything wrong ..... i have the trk back and it has started with no problems at least 2 dozen times ..... just thinking .......

I don't think the truck will even turn over without the right key being present. It just doesn't make sense that any Ram key would allow it to crank but only yours will allow it to start.

I guess we'd need two owners to try to rule it out.

 

[19RamLimited]

No key or wring key no crank just says no key detected

 

[ramhead]

I'm not doubting they have the technology to do this but let's be real....while our trucks are nice they are mostly not the type of vehicles these hi tech thiefs would be going after or putting themselves in a risky situation to steal. Mercedes, Teslas, Porsches, BMWs, etc. owners are much more at risk of this type of problem. I'd worry more about the low level hood rat breaking a window to pilfer inside or trying to steal my tires vs. this.

 

[ldoh]

Make sure your spare fobs are tucked away too.

 

[ldoh]

I'm not doubting they have the technology to do this but let's be real....while our trucks are nice they are mostly not the type of vehicles these hi tech thiefs would be going after or putting themselves in a risky situation to steal. Mercedes, Teslas, Porsches, BMWs, etc. owners are much more at risk of this type of problem. I'd worry more about the low level hood rat breaking a window to pilfer inside or trying to steal my tires vs. this.

According to the NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau) the 2016 most stolen cars (by make and model) are:

1. Honda Accord
2. Honda Civic
3. Ford Pick-Up (full size)
4. Chevrolet Pick-Up (full size)
5. Toyota Camry
6. Nissan Altima
7. Dodge Pick-Up (full size)
8. Toyota Corolla
9. Chevrolet Impala
10. Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee

 

[slimchance]

I don't think the truck will even turn over without the right key being present. It just doesn't make sense that any Ram key would allow it to crank but only yours will allow it to start.

I guess we'd need two owners to try to rule it out.

unlocked my trk from the house (150' away) .... took wife's fob out to my trk and pushed the button to start... it said "No key fob present" ... there goes that hope

 

[User_18177]

If you are a Sprint Booster owner or plan to get one, it has a nice security feature where it will only sit in idle until you enter the correct pin (if set up). So even if you are the owner and start the truck up and place it into drive or reverse, it won't be going far anytime fast. It locks the throttle out. Maybe not worth getting solely for that purpose but it's a nice added layer of protection if that's a concern.

 

[ramhead]

According to the NICB (National Insurance Crime Bureau) the 2016 most stolen cars (by make and model) are:

1. Honda Accord
2. Honda Civic
3. Ford Pick-Up (full size)
4. Chevrolet Pick-Up (full size)
5. Toyota Camry
6. Nissan Altima
7. Dodge Pick-Up (full size)
8. Toyota Corolla
9. Chevrolet Impala
10. Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee

Yes...but that's a perfect example of how stats can lie or at least give a false impression - There are many more of the vehicles on that list present in the US so the overall numbers for the thefts of them are always going to be higher than the exotics or luxury vehicles.

 

[jdmartin]

Yes...but that's a perfect example of how stats can lie or at least give a false impression - There are many more of the vehicles on that list present in the US so the overall numbers for the thefts of them are always going to be higher than the exotics or luxury vehicles.

Exactly. More useful? Number stolen as a ratio to total number of that model registered. If you did it that way you'd find a whole different list. Most of the cars on that list are at/near the top of their segments in models sold.

 

[Will_T]

They now sell battery disconnects they are like small relays. They go in the fob and after 10 mins of inactivity they go to sleep but if you press a key or it detects motion it activates and completes the battery circuit. This is to defeat these type of thefts.

Old thread but this came up again in another place. I looked and could not find anything like this. Anyone have a link?

I did also see that Ford now has a couple of car models that have FOBs that go to sleep after 30 or 40 seconds and wake up only when moved. This seems like a simple solution for Ram and others to implement. But maybe not since the new trucks are being delivered with the same vulnerability. The go to sleep after inactivity is really all that will work on a large scale. Almost everyone I know with a recent model car or truck has the keyless entry and push button start. And virtually none of them are going to go to any effort like a pouch in pocket or metal can in house to limit access. The thought is that "it will not happen to me". And statistics likely prove that thinking right. But I would definitely pay for ungraded FOBS or a retrofit battery disconnect if such was really available. But as I said, I have not found it yet??