Car owners warned as keyless thefts continue to soar

Keyless car crime has exploded in the last five years, and now accounts for nearly two-thirds of all car thefts according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) – raising more questions regarding the security of this kind of technology.

Obtained by legal firm RTA Law, the Office of National Statistics’ CSEW data shows that between March 2023 and 2024, 58 per cent of car thefts were committed by criminals who are illegally accessing cars by replicating and/or manipulating the signals emitted from the vehicle’s keyfob. 

This follows recent Metropolitan Police data which estimated 40 per cent of car thefts are performed this way, rising to 60 per cent in London where newer cars with keyless access features are more common.

Wind the clock back to 2019, and just 14 per cent of cars were stolen this way. Now, as more and more cars are offered with keyless entry tech, criminals are turning away from smashing windows – just four per cent of thefts occur now this way – and are instead choosing relay attacks and signal jamming or cloning in order to gain access.

RTA Law’s Rod Mitchell described the findings as “shocking”, and warned drivers: “We always need to be thinking one step ahead when technological advances take place to keep ourselves and our belongings safe.”

One of the main ways that drivers can protect themselves against keyless car theft is by placing their keys in a protective Faraday pouch – which blocks the signal – or disabling keyless access features altogether. 

It’s worth pointing out that given the data referenced here is from the CSEW, it is sourced from a very narrow pool of scenarios; for example, the sample size for March 2023-2024 is just 52 incidents, which is a minuscule fraction of the tens of thousands of car thefts that occurred in that timeframe. The CSEW also relies on individual reporting and given that there isn’t always certainty over how a car was broken into, there may be some discrepancies.

Nevertheless, there is no disputing that keyless car theft is a real issue, with the Government only recently having put forward plans to outlaw the types of devices used to perform it. Under section 68 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006, only the usage of signal jammers, for example, has been viewed as illegal – not necessarily the ownership of this sort of tech.

Those found in possession of keyless car theft devices will soon have to prove they hold them for a “legitimate purpose”, such as using signal repeaters to boost mobile phone coverage in areas of poor reception.

Speaking when the new rules were first proposed, Labour Minister for Policing, Crime and Fire Prevention, Dame Diana Johnson MP said: “These thefts have a devastating effect on victims, who need their vehicles to go about their everyday lives. We are aware of the real concerns people feel with the use of these electronic devices being so prolific.”

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