How To Lock Your Car

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  • cabinetman
    Gone but not Forgotten RIP
    • Jun 2006
    • 15216
    • So. Florida
    • Delta

    How To Lock Your Car

    Got this in email:

    How to Lock Your Car and Why

    I locked my car. As I walked away I heard my car door unlock. I went back and locked my car again three times .. Each time, as soon as I started to walk away, I would hear it unlock again!! Naturally alarmed, I looked around and there were two guys sitting in a car in the fire lane next to the store. They were obviously watching me intently, and there was no doubt they were somehow involved in this very weird situation. I quickly chucked the errand I was on, jumped in my car and sped away.. I went straight t o the police station, told them what had happened, and found out I was part of a new, and very successful, scheme being used to gain entry into cars. Two weeks later, my friend's son had a similar happening....
    While traveling, my friend's son stopped at a roadside rest to use the bathroom. When he came out to his car less than 4-5 minutes later, someone had gotten into his car and stolen his cell phone, laptop computer, GPS navigator, briefcase.....you name it. He called the police and since there were no signs of his car being broken into, the police told him he had been a victim of the latest robbery tactic -- there is a device that robbers are using now to clone your security code when you lock your doors on your car using your key-chain locking device..

    They sit a distance away and watch for their next victim. They know you are going inside of the store, restaurant, or bathroom and that they now have a few minutes to steal and run. The police officer said to manually lock your car door-by hitting the lock button inside the car -- that way if there is someone sitting in a parking lot watching for their next victim, it will not be you.

    When you hit the lock button on your car upon exiting, it does not send the security code, but if you walk away and use the door lock on your key chain, it sends the code through the airwaves where it can be instantly stolen.
    This is very real.

    Be wisely aware of what you just read and please pass this note on. Look how many times we all lock our doors with our remote just to be sure we remembered to lock them -- and bingo, someone has our code....and whatever was in our car.

    Snopes Approved --.
  • leehljp
    Just me
    • Dec 2002
    • 8449
    • Tunica, MS
    • BT3000/3100

    #2
    I wondered about the security code of remote keys.

    Something similar: Last week I went to an acquaintance's house in my 2004 Toyota van. I parked beside his 2006 Toyota Van. He was going to show me some places to visit in his town when my family comes from the US (Tomorrow). After returning to his house from the tour, I went to get into my van and I clicked the button to unlock. His van unlocked too. He clicked lock from his remote, and mine locked too. I clicked unlock and his unlocked also.

    These remotes here are a single button type. Press once and if it is unlocked, it will lock; if it is locked, it will unlock.

    What are the odds of parking beside a vehicle with the same code as yours?
    Hank Lee

    Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

    Comment

    • cabinetman
      Gone but not Forgotten RIP
      • Jun 2006
      • 15216
      • So. Florida
      • Delta

      #3
      Originally posted by leehljp
      I wondered about the security code of remote keys.

      Something similar: Last week I went to an acquaintance's house in my 2004 Toyota van. I parked beside his 2006 Toyota Van. He was going to show me some places to visit in his town when my family comes from the US (Tomorrow). After returning to his house from the tour, I went to get into my van and I clicked the button to unlock. His van unlocked too. He clicked lock from his remote, and mine locked too. I clicked unlock and his unlocked also.

      These remotes here are a single button type. Press once and if it is unlocked, it will lock; if it is locked, it will unlock.

      What are the odds of parking beside a vehicle with the same code as yours?

      That's a good question. In the US, the odds are pretty great, but I guess it could happen. A similar condition can happen with TPM's (tire pressure monitors). I read an article in one of the car magazines that if your car has them as installed from the factory, and a car near you has them, it's possible your reading could be transmitted from the other car. Anyone familiar with this anomaly?
      .

      Comment

      • OpaDC
        Established Member
        • Feb 2008
        • 393
        • Pensacola, FL
        • Ridgid TS3650

        #4
        Checked it out in Snopes. While technically true, since mid '90s very difficult and time consuming to do.
        _____________
        Opa

        second star to the right and straight on til morning

        Comment

        • RAFlorida
          Veteran Member
          • Apr 2008
          • 1179
          • Green Swamp in Central Florida. Gator property!
          • Ryobi BT3000

          #5
          +1 on Opa's find.

          I'd read a while back that it was nearly impossible to use the so called grabbers on the newer cars.

          Comment

          • woodturner
            Veteran Member
            • Jun 2008
            • 2047
            • Western Pennsylvania
            • General, Sears 21829, BT3100

            #6
            Originally posted by cabinetman
            Snopes Approved --.
            It's not "snopes approved" - snopes reports this as "urban legend".
            http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/lockcode.asp

            Snopes says it's not possible to unlock a car this way, and as an EE I can confirm, especially with rolling security code based systems.
            Last edited by woodturner; 11-20-2009, 07:58 AM.
            --------------------------------------------------
            Electrical Engineer by day, Woodworker by night

            Comment

            • cabinetman
              Gone but not Forgotten RIP
              • Jun 2006
              • 15216
              • So. Florida
              • Delta

              #7
              Originally posted by woodturner
              It's not "snopes approved" - snopes reports this as "urban legend".
              http://www.snopes.com/auto/techno/lockcode.asp

              Snopes says it's not possible to unlock a car this way, and as an EE I can confirm, especially with rolling security code based systems.

              I posted the email as received. The link you posted is no good. I don't know if it's possible, but in this Snopes link they say it could happen.
              http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/lockcode.asp
              .

              Comment

              • LCHIEN
                Internet Fact Checker
                • Dec 2002
                • 21054
                • Katy, TX, USA.
                • BT3000 vintage 1999

                #8
                The kind of technology required to do this feat and the required knowledge would be well beyond the skills and means of your average petty criminal, as the snopes article points out. It would also require a detailed knowledge of the algorithms used, which are probably different for each car manufacturer (and usually would be kept tightly under wraps), and they change these designs periodically so each manufacturer would have many designs to know.

                correct snopes link below:
                http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/lockcode.asp

                Altho snopes says its possible and it is, its just too unlikely. I'm not the least bit worried. Just a bunch of alarmist BS.
                Last edited by LCHIEN; 11-19-2009, 11:47 AM.
                Loring in Katy, TX USA
                If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                Comment

                • JimD
                  Veteran Member
                  • Feb 2003
                  • 4187
                  • Lexington, SC.

                  #9
                  Well the link cabinetman posted is good but a key piece of information it contains is that the latest cars are much less vulnerable. Mid 1990s or older = vulnerable. Newer than mid 1990s not really vulnerable. In theory it could happen to the newer cars but nobody thinks it will be cause the code automatically changes so a simple grab-and-reuse process won't work.

                  So your vulnerability is a function of how old your car is. My oldest is 2006 so I would seem to be not really vulnerable.

                  Jim

                  Comment

                  • Uncle Cracker
                    The Full Monte
                    • May 2007
                    • 7091
                    • Sunshine State
                    • BT3000

                    #10
                    Originally posted by LCHIEN
                    Just a bunch of alarmist BS.
                    Burglar alarmist??

                    Comment

                    • mschrank
                      Veteran Member
                      • Oct 2004
                      • 1130
                      • Hood River, OR, USA.
                      • BT3000

                      #11
                      Originally posted by cabinetman
                      I posted the email as received.
                      And that's how BS gets spread.....
                      Mike

                      Drywall screws are not wood screws

                      Comment

                      • jking
                        Senior Member
                        • May 2003
                        • 972
                        • Des Moines, IA.
                        • BT3100

                        #12
                        Originally posted by cabinetman
                        I posted the email as received. The link you posted is no good. I don't know if it's possible, but in this Snopes link they say it could happen.
                        http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/lockcode.asp
                        .
                        But as the Snopes link points out, this is not "Snopes Approved". They point this out at the beginning of their article. They also say it could "theoretically happen". I know from experience that doesn't mean much.

                        I've learned that you can't simply trust the chain e-mails people send you. If fact most of the ones I receive I delete without reading. After all there's that e-mail I received about not opening forwarded stuff b/c it might contain a virus.

                        Comment

                        • herb fellows
                          Veteran Member
                          • Apr 2007
                          • 1867
                          • New York City
                          • bt3100

                          #13
                          I have heard of emails with a 'snopes' link in them that is totally phony and will infect your computer to boot. Can't verify this, maybe Snopes can??!
                          The problem with email links is that anyone can put anything in there to direct you to any place. I always make a point of going directly to Snopes on my own through a self entered url, not a link. Much safer that way, I think.
                          There are also some who say Snopes is no longer a good authority.
                          You don't need a parachute to skydive, you only need a parachute to skydive twice.

                          Comment

                          • Rand
                            Established Member
                            • May 2005
                            • 492
                            • Vancouver, WA, USA.

                            #14
                            As a rule of thumb:

                            Any email that suggests you pass it on, or send it to everyone you know etc. is bull.

                            Basically, the email is the virus and you are the vector.
                            Rand
                            "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like your thumb."

                            Comment

                            • LCHIEN
                              Internet Fact Checker
                              • Dec 2002
                              • 21054
                              • Katy, TX, USA.
                              • BT3000 vintage 1999

                              #15
                              here's an article that explains the rolling code.
                              http://auto.howstuffworks.com/remote-entry2.htm

                              to elaborate, the pseudo random code generator (PRBS) generates the next key. Both the receiver and the remote use the same peudo random code generator so they will be synched. There are billions of coefficients for PRBS genereators so they must be generated the same way at the remote and the receiver to stay synched. clearly this is proprietary info that stays with the manufacturere and is embedded in the microhips. Examining the sequence of previously generated keys cannot be used to predict the next ones, unless you know the exact PRBS algorithm used.
                              Loring in Katy, TX USA
                              If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                              BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                              Comment

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