Keyless car thefts in Peterborough having 'devastating' impact on victims
The crime is claimed to also be a problem in mainland Europe
Police in Cambridgeshire are warning how technology is making it easier for criminals to commit keyless car thefts and leaving a massive impact on victims' lives.
Radio signals are sent from a key fob to the car, which would allow the car to believe the keys are within a very close distance to the car and therefore unlock.
In the last four months, 25 cars have been stolen using this method in Cambridgeshire and neighbouring counties.
12 of these have taken place in Peterborough, 4 in Huntingdonshire and 2 in Fenland.
3 have been stolen from Boughton in Northamptonshire, while 1 were stolen from Stamford and 1 in Skegness, both Lincolnshire, and 1 from Haverhill in Suffolk.
13 of the stolen vehicles have been recovered according to police.
"It's allowed an opening for thieves"
PC Craig Trevor investigates organised vehicle crime for Cambridgeshire Police:
"It's allowed an opening for the thieves to target the cars because instead of having to come into a house and steal the physical key, they've got the equipment they can scan through a house without ever entering to steal the frequency," he said.
"Within a few hours, a car would be delivered somewhere and stripped down to parts; on other occasions, the cars are being kept whole but cloned onto new identities and exported out of the UK.
"We're talking millions of pounds across the UK in stolen cars; it's very important that we crack on to capture theses suspects because the unknown element of all this is what is the money they're making from these car thefts going towards."
"Devastating" impact on victims
PC Trevor said keyless car thefts are taking place across Europe, including Sweden, Norway and France.
Criminals may use tactics such as cloning number plates or jamming devices to try and stop vehicle tracker devices from activating.
But he warned these crimes often take place overnight, meaning victims may not actually know their car has been stolen until the next day.
"It can be devastating for victims because not only do they lose their cars, but some people will have all their trade equipment inside the cars or their livelihoods will be inside the cars," he said.
"What the police in the UK are doing is working alongside each other, sharing information and identifying certain routes that suspects may use or the actual suspects themselves when they get stopped."