by John
(Australia)
Laptop Security More Critical
Do You Leave Your Laptop In Your Locked Car?
I received this email from a friend:
Quote:
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 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 to 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 entered his car and stolen his mobile phone, laptop computer, sat nav, 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 remote locking device.
They sit a distance away and watch for their next victim. They know you are going inside 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 with the key — that way if there is someone sitting in a parking lot watching for their next victim, it will not be you.
When you lock up with the key upon exiting, it does not send the security code, but if you walk away and use the remote button, 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.
Unquote
This appears to be a repeat of a chain email hoax that was circulated a number of years ago and has resurfaced. However, I never believed that mobile telephone cloning was possible, but apparently, it now is. One thing is real for sure and that is identity theft from laptop computers is common.
So do you leave your laptop in your locked car? However, what is probably more important is do you have laptop security? More information is here: https://www.identity-theft-scout.com/laptop-security.html.
I would be interested in reading whether other people have heard of actual instances of laptops being stolen from locked cars.
Moderator’s Comment
For professional people who have client details on their laptops even the slightest possibility of cloning of remote locking of cars is an important issue because client details could be copied from the laptop and the laptop replaced, the car relocked and the professional would not know of the security breach until crimes were committed and reported.
John Cosstick
Moderator
