Truck broken into

Hey good morning.

I had my Tacoma broken into a few days ago without any signs of a break in. Honestly I wasn't aware it was even broken into until I looked at my security camera....

Came out to my truck Tuesday morning with the center console lid open and noticed my gascap key and truck cover key missing. I never leave the center console open nor would I misplace those important keys in the place I always leave them. Nothing else was missing and nothing else was disturbed. No signs of forced entry. I found it puzzling but could come to no other conclusion other than I got lazy and misplaced my keys.

That is until last night. I reviewed the video feed and saw someone ride a scooter up to my truck, check the tailgate, check the bedcover, I can hear them check the gascap door and then they stood there very still for a period of about 20 seconds. After that they moved and was able to open my door to the truck, which I double checked before going to bed ( I also have that 60 second auto lock feature active).

The only thing stolen were the keys. I am in the process of getting everything rekeyed.... The only thing I can think of is somehow I got nailed with one of those guys with an amplifier and was able to bypass the wireless entry feature.

This entire event happened in less than 90 seconds.

I just wanted to share this experience, make others aware, and hoping someone out there may be able to provide some advice or suggestions on how to prevent this type of occurrence.

 

Have seen the scooter trick here in Detroit, happened while I was outside cutting the grass.
Thanks for reminding me I need to let the cops know.

 

I was at work about a month ago, and heard a couple car alarms go off in the parking stucture nearby at the same time as i was getting ready to leave for the evening. As i walked out, a co worker says, "man, you have a loud horn, your alarm was going off and so did a couple others in that structure"... I found that odd, and later thought maybe it was someone with one of those gadgets thieves use? Don't know how to explain it any other way.

 

dang that sucks but at least they didn't bust anything. definitely curious how they got in.

 

Yea it was really weird. I never seen anything like it and if I didn’t see it happen on the film I wouldn’t have believed it.

I know there’s little devices that amplify signals so if they can extend the signal large enough to get your key fob in a radious... lets just say 300 feet, they can essentially trick your vehicle into unlocking... I just don’t know much else about these systems.

 

https://www.wired.com/2017/04/just-pair-11-radio-gadgets-can-steal-car/

Depending on the hack they probably need your key fob to be within range of either the truck or one of the repeaters. You can defeat this system by "hiding" your keys from RF. You'll hear of people throwing them in the freezer and that sounds dumb but it works. But also would any metal box. I put our key fobs in a little ammo can at night.

 

Ah ya. i know what you mean. They hope people leave their keys closer to the front of their home and 'grab' the code to duplicate it.

I have a manual key.

 

My sister in law lives in Seattle. It's a pretty big problem there. They said every couple months all of the neighbors cars will be gone through on the same night, no sign of entry. They don't take anything valuable or leave a sign they were there. Very strange.

 

Why would they bother with the gas cap door unless they put something in the tank ?

 

Manual key is so much better than those f-ing things. Sorry that happened, I'd be all ticked off.

 

I wonder if I can disable the feature and only use the manual unlock

 

I wonder if the suggestion above about putting the key in metal would work? Easy to test. Put it inside and try to unlock, then you would know. If I didn't park in a garage, that's what I would be doing. Also, turn off your spare fob.

 

First thing I did was order the mattgecko (sp?) bar for the back window slot. about 25.00 shipped. a little peace of mind goes a long way!

 

What is and what does the mattgecko do?

 

Faraday cage anyone?

 

I believe it's one of the oldest tricks to secure sliding windows like our back windows or sliding glass doors in homes. Cut a bar of aluminum, steel or wood that fits down in the track to prevent it from being forced open.

 

maybe to see if there was a back up key hidden in there....

 

Hopefully they will not be coming back for your tailgate. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tail-gate-theaf.526291/

 

I was thinking the same. I thought you can't siphon gas out of any vehicle made in the last 30 years, maybe longer.

 

Agreed. I keep that damn thing locked up tight. I may have failed to mention I have one of those HD Diamondback truck covers on my truck bed. Damn thing costs a pretty penny. I have a suspicious feeling that was what they were after. If not that, the whole damn truck.