High tech car thieves now hacking your entry fob signals, investigators say

Suspected hack involved in car thefts

Fairfax County Police are searching for the people who stole three vehicles from driveways in an Alexandria neighborhood Sunday morning. The thieves stole the vehicles by hacking signals from the keyless entry fobs that were inside the homes at the time.

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - Fairfax County Police are searching for the people who stole three vehicles from driveways in an Alexandria neighborhood Sunday morning. The thieves stole the vehicles by hacking signals from the keyless entry fobs that were inside the homes at the time.

Two of the vehicles belonged to a family with three small children.

Video shows two people getting out of a car at the end of the driveway on 3rd Street at around 6:50 A.M.. They get into the Black Audi Q7 and Gray Infinity Fx35 and within 30 seconds they drive away.

The owner of the vehicles, who asked he not be identified due to safety concerns, says he noticed the vehicles missing a few minutes later and immediately panicked.

High tech car theft in Fairfax County

Thieves may have used an unusual technique to steal two cars in Fairfax County.

"It’s just, ‘am I going crazy or where are the vehicle,’ and then it’s just an immediate sense of just being violated and angry. Our children’s car-seats are in the car, the day to day stuff that we use, the things in the cars for the kids. It’s just an extreme sense of being violated," the father of three said.

Fairfax County Police say a BMW was also stolen Sunday morning from another home nearby. Both the BMW and the Infinity Fx35 were located days later in D.C. Police are still searching for the Audi Q7.

AAA says thieves hacking key fob signals and stealing vehicles is a growing trend.

"The fact is that they can trap your signal even when your key fob is resting on the countertop or the tabletop of your home. So you have to be aware of that because they can stand outside your residence and still steal the signal," John Townsend, Manager of Government and Media Relations for AAA said.

Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather

This is done through a hacking device that makes it easy for thieves to capture the signal. Townsend says the best way to prevent this from happening is to keep your key fob far away from your vehicle and store it in a metal container inside your home.

"You have to protect that signal that is always sending and is always on," Townsend said.

Townsend says technology has helped reduce the number of auto thefts but in this case, technology needs to catch up with the new crime trend.

"The one device that they made for the convenience of the motorist is the thing that is they thing that is being exploited by auto-thieves. And this happens all the time. They are light years ahead of us and the industry needs to catch up and put a theft prevention device in these key fobs," Townsend said.

The family who had their two vehicles stolen have three young children including a newborn. They say their cars are their lifeline and they expected people to be kinder especially in a pandemic.

"You never know what people are going through at the time. Like I said, I got three kids, very young kids and those vehicles are our lifeline to be able to do the things that we need to do. Especially during the pandemic you hope to see better out of people, taking care of each other and being considerate," he said.