GSM blocking message from tracker

[Jonlethbridge]

This post is promted after two recent reports of Californias reported stolen by owners: last week I parked my new 69 plate california ocean in the park and ride car park a 10 minute i ride from centre of Canterbury . Whilst having a coffee I was alarmed to receive a notification on my iPhone that my van reg no etc was being subjected to GSM blocking. I had immediate fears of thieves at work in the car park disabling my tracking device in preparation for a speedy escape down the motorway direct to a ferry at Dover for the crossing to France! I made for the park and ride bus and decided to ring 999 . The police operator was very helpful indeed and said he would send a police car to the car park to await my arrival. In fact when I arrived at the car park there were one police car by my van and two police cars blocking the exit from the car park. . The police officer said there had been a number of thefts of catalytic converters from the car park recently where thieves steal the catalytic converters for e palladium they contain. The police officer thought perhaps there could have been a thief with a scanning device looking around the car park. Although I wondered if I had over reacted in calling the police my feeling was that in fact the police were probably happy to show such a rapid and strong response to warn any nearby car thieves. However I am now left with a question: although it is possible to jam the GSM signal of a tracking device, is it possible for a thief to drive off in a California without the keys?

 

[westfalia]

That cannot be possible without a key of some sorts.
Even my surf key can't move the van off so i would say no.

Cracking response from the police though

 

[kurienp]

Jon, good to know that the tracker did its Job of informing you and you were able to take action and that your baby is safe.

On your question - driving off without the keys by hotwiring is technically nearly impossible in modern cars in a short period of time. If the theives had a full-day without anyone troubling them, then possibly they could change the ECU etc and get the car to start - but that's a different story.

Why don't you add a visible deterrent such as a steering lock, especially when parking in such places?

 

[Jonlethbridge]

That cannot be possible without a key of some sorts.
Even my surf key can't move the van off so i would say no.

Cracking response from the police though

Yes I was amazed by the response. The police station was only up the road from the car park, and one police car passed my bus with its blue light on.
They asked me to start the van to check there were no warning lights to indicate a stolen catalytic converter. I was very impressed. Apparently thieves can grab a catalytic converter in under 5 minutes.

 

[Jonlethbridge]

Jon, good to know that the tracker did its Job of informing you and you were able to take action and that your baby is safe.

On your question - driving off without the keys by hotwiring is technically nearly impossible in modern cars in a short period of time. If the theives had a full-day without anyone troubling them, then possibly they could change the ECU etc and get the car to start - but that's a different story.

Why don't you add a visible deterrent such as a steering lock, especially when parking in such places?

Thanks. Yes a steering lock sounds a good idea for use in that kind of high risk car park.

 

[soldana]

Do you have a Vodafone tracker? Mine has reported GSM jamming a few times. I always assumed it was just a temporary loss of mobile signal.

+1 for a steering lock.

 

[clarinetbcn]

Do you have a Vodafone tracker? Mine has reported GSM jamming a few times. I always assumed it was just a temporary loss of mobile signal.

+1 for a steering lock.

I like @Amarillo 's suggestion of turning the driver's seat around and backing it up against the lowered and extended steering wheel. Would probably take them longer to deal with that than to pick the steering lock!

 

[WelshGas]

This post is promted after two recent reports of Californias reported stolen by owners: last week I parked my new 69 plate california ocean in the park and ride car park a 10 minute i ride from centre of Canterbury . Whilst having a coffee I was alarmed to receive a notification on my iPhone that my van reg no etc was being subjected to GSM blocking. I had immediate fears of thieves at work in the car park disabling my tracking device in preparation for a speedy escape down the motorway direct to a ferry at Dover for the crossing to France! I made for the park and ride bus and decided to ring 999 . The police operator was very helpful indeed and said he would send a police car to the car park to await my arrival. In fact when I arrived at the car park there were one police car by my van and two police cars blocking the exit from the car park. . The police officer said there had been a number of thefts of catalytic converters from the car park recently where thieves steal the catalytic converters for e palladium they contain. The police officer thought perhaps there could have been a thief with a scanning device looking around the car park. Although I wondered if I had over reacted in calling the police my feeling was that in fact the police were probably happy to show such a rapid and strong response to warn any nearby car thieves. However I am now left with a question: although it is possible to jam the GSM signal of a tracking device, is it possible for a thief to drive off in a California without the keys?

They can’t drive it away easily but could be easily winched onto a low loader.

 

[Jonlethbridge]

Do you have a Vodafone tracker? Mine has reported GSM jamming a few times. I always assumed it was just a temporary loss of mobile signal.

+1 for a steering lock.

Yes it is a Vodafone S5 VTS which is apparently one of the high spec trackers. I had same tracker on previous van and so in total just one GSM alarm in 9 months - in this car park. I phoned Vodafone who confirmed that the device had logged GSM jamming at this time. He did say that false alarms can also be caused by interference in high tech areas such as data centres and I think he said airports which I don’t understand . He suggested using the Geofence option when parking in a high risk area as this would send a direct alert to my phone if the van was taken away from the fenced area.

 

[MattBW]

This post is promted after two recent reports of Californias reported stolen by owners: last week I parked my new 69 plate california ocean in the park and ride car park a 10 minute i ride from centre of Canterbury . Whilst having a coffee I was alarmed to receive a notification on my iPhone that my van reg no etc was being subjected to GSM blocking. I had immediate fears of thieves at work in the car park disabling my tracking device in preparation for a speedy escape down the motorway direct to a ferry at Dover for the crossing to France! I made for the park and ride bus and decided to ring 999 . The police operator was very helpful indeed and said he would send a police car to the car park to await my arrival. In fact when I arrived at the car park there were one police car by my van and two police cars blocking the exit from the car park. . The police officer said there had been a number of thefts of catalytic converters from the car park recently where thieves steal the catalytic converters for e palladium they contain. The police officer thought perhaps there could have been a thief with a scanning device looking around the car park. Although I wondered if I had over reacted in calling the police my feeling was that in fact the police were probably happy to show such a rapid and strong response to warn any nearby car thieves. However I am now left with a question: although it is possible to jam the GSM signal of a tracking device, is it possible for a thief to drive off in a California without the keys?

A T5 can be started via the OBDII port without much difficulty sorry say, I don't know if VW have engineered that flaw out for the T6. You would hope they had. It is why many T5 owners get a autowatch ghost or move or disable the OBD port.

GSM blocking is relatively easy as is GPS blocking however it is not perfect. Also does your tracker know the difference between poor signal and being blocked?

 

[Jonlethbridge]

A T5 can be started via the OBDII port without much difficulty sorry say, I don't know if VW have engineered that flaw out for the T6. You would hope they had. It is why many T5 owners get a autowatch ghost or move or disable the OBD port.

GSM blocking is relatively easy as is GPS blocking however it is not perfect. Also does your tracker know the difference between poor signal and being blocked?

Thanks. As you say hopefully the T6 is less vulnerable. I don’t know if the tracker can tell the difference between poor signal or being jammed. Quite possibly not. If the message had come while the van was parked in my driveway I would have taken it as some kind of unhelpful false alarm. However when parked for the first time in a massive park and ride not far from Dover I decided it might be significant. I think it is a matter of looking at the whole picture before becoming worried or ignoring it!

 

[Grumpy Mike]

I have a Vodafone tracker on mine and have since new. I have had that jamming alarm about 10 x. I just ignore it now. I do have a steering wheel lock and watch where I park her, in as open a place as possible.

 

[Jonlethbridge]

I have a Vodafone tracker on mine and have since new. I have had that jamming alarm about 10 x. I just ignore it now. I do have a steering wheel lock and watch where I park her, in as open a plac

Thanks. Interesting. Steering wheel lock definitely sounds like worth considering for added peace of mind.

 

[Loz]

Thanks. Interesting. Steering wheel lock definitely sounds like worth considering for added peace of mind.

Or an Autowatch Ghost