Car rifled through more than 3 times now

[ChefsKisser]

Our car on our drive has been opened overnight and had the glove box and front seat rifled through 3 times now. It also happened to our old car twice. DH is blaming me for not locking it but I’m sure I do. Our old car would auto lock if left for over a minute too so even if I didn’t lock it it would have been locked.
How can this happen? How can we stop it? It’s really unnerving obviously. We keep nothing of value in the car so nothing ever really gets taken.

By locking it?!
or a door camera?

For starters I'd have a door camera and a movement activated security light on the drive. Sometimes just having a bright light come on suddenly is enough to deter people.

Also, make sure it's locked, don't just think "I'm sure I locked it", check it.

The reality is these people are walking round all the time anyway. I’d rather they tried the handle and opened the car than smashed my window to get in. The thing to do with any car is not to leave anything in it of value

Put a large note - car unlocked - nothing of value in it

Yeah, check it’s locked. They are coming repeatedly because it’s repeatedly unlocked.
People literally go along a street checking all the handles on car doors, because it’s quicker and easier than smashing a window, and people don’t lock their cars….

Is it a BMW? they seem to be stolen a lot from family member's street - something to do with the electronic lock it can be easily opened also they are valuable in Russia or wherever they all go.
Look online to see if it is the make of car.

Your car probably is locked, ours has been opened when definitely locked a couple of times. Thieves have devices that connect to your car key if it is nearby.

Try keeping your car keys in the microwave, then a signal can't get to them.

Does your car not have an alarm???

Try keeping your car keys in the microwave, then a signal can't get to them.

Or an RFID wallet, which is what we do.
Don't most cars have alarms these days? If it isn't going off then maybe the car isn't locked?

Many modern car alarms only go off if you tamper with them and they only arm when you lock the car. If the doors aren't locked the alarm isn't set. If the doors are unlocked the alarm won't go off.

i thought cars only autolocked when driving or if you dont open a door after unlocking the car.

Sounds like you aren't locking the car...

You say your old car auto locked. Do you have a new car and have you actually checked it auto locks?

It's nothing to do with you not locking the car properly. My car was opened several times with no sign of force, and so were several other cars in my road. Thieves have devices which can clone your car key signal. Keep your keys in a Faraday box or pouch, or as someone else said, in the microwave, and it will stop them. I've not had a problem since we've stored all our keys in a Faraday box. We also installed CCTV.

Our new car doesn’t auto lock but I’m confident I lock it every day. It’s wing mirrors tuck in and I always stand and watch them as they do that. I can’t say 10000% obviously but I’m confident it wouldn’t be 3 times that I’ve forgotten. I’m going to look at a faraday box we don’t have a microwave. Can I wrap them in tin foil for now or is that crazy behaviour 🤣

Keep your keys at the opposite end of your houe to the car until you can get the special wallet. The thieves rely on the keys being close to the front door/drive as they need to intercept the key to car signal. Multiple walls will either disrupt or weaken that signal sufficiently unless thy have a good booster, so it's still worth getting that wallet.

I would also invest in a door camera to catch who has been trying to steal from you.

I'm not an expert but if someone has already cloned your key is it not too late to get a RFID blocker?

Do an online search for RF blockers for car keys......it may bring up something which may block signals from the car keys sensor, exactly like those RF blocker cards we all need to have in bags and purses.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/product-group-tests/103187/best-faraday-bag-car-key-signal-blockers-2023

As a side note, I keep my credit and debit cards in a RFID case in my wallet so no one can scan them.

I've been told that tin foil works but I've not tried it. I got our Faraday box from Amazon, it was only about £15 for one big enough to store all our keys. After my car door was opened, I got paranoid about whether it would be possible to clone the signal from our burglar alarm fobs, so we keep everything in the box now.

We use an old biscuit tin. If it's got a lid on, it's just as effective as a purpose built faraday box. The problem with both foil and a key pouch is that if there is a small break in the cover then they don't work any more. Having said that, I have a pouch which lives in my car and is used when in hotels when I'm close enough to my car (sometimes bedrooms overlook the hotel carpark) for the key to be scanned from outside and the car stolen.

the trick here is to make it DH's job to check its locked for a while then when it happens again....

They do indeed have devices that can open cars etc.

This happened to us once and since then nothing much is kept in the cars beyond actual rubbish so am not bothered if they do this.

This is interesting as it's happened to me twice. Car is a BMW. Old, like very old so not a fancy key, not keyless drive etc. First time I've assumed I've hadn't locked it but second I was sure I had and unfortunately they took a lot of cash and tried to use my bank card which I had hidden inside foolishly so I thought they would likely try again. Also stole bags from boot, some returns I was planning to take back to Primark, emergency waterproof coat and my gym kit bra.

I now regularly check I've locked it but no sensible tips so share. Police weren't interested even though there was CCTV covering car being parked (not mine so I couldn't watch it) and at petrol station where they tried to use bank card.

Tapo make very easy to use and set up wireless cctv cameras. It would be worth getting one to catch whoever it is.

You don’t need to buy a special box, any metal tin will work. I would also get a very bright light with a motion sensor.

Glad to hear a metal tin will work - there are definitely downsides to DH and I having keys in the microwave......
Also it will be quite easy to test the tin and find a handy place to put it.