Can Car Thieves Disable Car Trackers?
When you’ve worked so hard to buy your dream car, bike, motorhome or even truck (who are we to judge!), as much as you want to enjoy driving it, you also need to secure it beyond it’s factory settings, and that’s where car trackers come in.
Once installed with all the incredible features and functionality that come with a car tracker, you might assume that it’s impervious to car thieves and could never be stolen. Sadly that’s just not the case. We’d be lying to you if we said any system we sell, or any system at all, is completely 100% theft-proof. The fact is that nothing is. If any other company says otherwise, then they’re simply being dishonest.
Car Trackers & Thieves:
For sure, almost all car trackers will help you locate and recover a stolen vehicle but security, like many other industry where crime plays a part, is a cat and mouse game. Systems are designed to combat all known vulnerabilities. Criminals ultimately find ways around them with ever more sophisticated techniques, until systems are improved to combat those, and so it repeats.
Once you have a security system from us installed, one of the most common questions we get asked is can car thieves disable car trackers? Let’s try and answer that question for you now.
It probably won’t surprise you to learn that, for what seems like a simple question, there isn’t a simple answer. The answer is both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ and will really boil down to which system you have and the features inherent to that device. Some will have more protection against particular attacks than others. Older systems, for example, will obviously have less defence against thieves than systems released today.
Many people who buy a tracker do so because of a stipulation from their insurance company. Expensive and especially high-end vehicles will often be required to have a device fitted before an insurance company will cover it, often over and above the factory standard device. That’s why its important, when looking for a tracker, you get one that’s ‘insurance-approved’. This is why, when asking whether trackers can be blocked, it’s in this context that the question usually gets asked.
The most popular method of theft is what’s called a Relay Attack. Simply put, the thieves have their own gadget that mimics your genuine key fob’s signal, effectively fooling your vehicle into believing it’s a legitimate signal from you and so unlocks itself.
Insurance Approved Trackers:
It’s worth noting that all ‘insurance-approved’ trackers will come with the ability to detect any attempted tampering. This includes battery disconnection, movement alerts (including tow-away) and, obviously, any recognisable attempted theft of the vehicle. This will normally come via the dedicated smartphone app that comes with almost all of the systems we sell. Many also come with GPS / GSM jamming alerts, like Vodafone’s Protect and Connect S5 and Tracker’s S5 Plus and Locate systems, but does that mean that they cannot be blocked?
Most, but not all trackers will counteract jamming devices by using multi-roaming SIM cards within them and will also utilise multiple satellite networks, rather than just relying on GPS. This multi-pronged approach will make them safe from most typical attacks, and also makes them more reliable and accurate with their positioning in general.
That said, even if your tracker utilises GPS, GSM or even GLONASS, it’s still jammable. Ideally what you want is a tracker that also uses VHF, or Very High Frequency. This is a tracking frequency that can NOT be jammed, because it’s undetectable.
Both the aforementioned systems from Tracker; the Locate and S5 Plus and their Monitor system all use VHF technologies within them, so would be the best bet if it’s something you’re really concerned about. It’s worth noting that the Monitor system doesn’t come with its own app. Should it need to be located, this can only be done by Tracker’s own control room and the Police themselves.
Whilst it can be disconcerting to think of your vehicle being stolen, it’s worth noting that most thieves won’t try and block the signal. If they do manage to steal it, they will often keep it secured somewhere for 2-3 days to see if it’s detected by the authorities and if not, they’ll assume there’s no tracker anyway.
If you want to be sure and need your vehicle securing, contact our team and we can help you find the best system for you and your own needs.
