Warning Beware car thiefs grabbing keys through letterbox :(

[damppatchnot]

yesterday morning woke up to find my 3 week
Old car gone. No sign of a break in and when police arrived they advised that a thief had put a wire hook through my letterbox and taken the keys off the end of s long hall table where they sat in a tray

Seems everyone knew about this scam but me but just in case I am passing it on to try and prevent it happening to anyone else

Had heard about this. Bumping for you though!

Happened to us - dh's car keys had my spare on, so both cars. They actually managed to go through letterbox and then back on themselves to key shelf above the door in a nook. Apparently they use surveyors rods, rods that are used in assessing cavity walls, that are flexible and have light/camera on. Bit like keyhole surgery stuff.

Bastards. But at least they didn't come into the house (house keys also on the set).

We replaced dh's car. Mine was recovered 2 weeks later having been crashed during an armed robbery.

However, dh replaced his car and we he keys very carefully. Ended up being burgled TWICE by thieves trying to find car keys (during day, dh's car parked outside, family trip in my car). That was way worse because they ransacked house. Didn't find the keys though, and dh sold his car soon after and now has car no one would consider stealing!

Police said stealing to order was the idea. Cars can be out of country within hours. My car was just a little extra (6 weeks old but people carrier, useful for armed robberies and ram raiding).

for you OP

does anyone know if it is OK to keep keys in a zipped handbag in the hall? or can the thieves unzip with the wire?

I wouldn't leave keys anywhere obvious.
And yes it's stealing to order as know spell e else that lost a car that way.

Pooka thats awful'!

They took house keys so we had locks changed too

What rotten people we have in this world

Hugs to you ((((((((xxx)))))))))

A house in our village was burgled several times last year simply to get hold of car keys. Now that cars can no longer be hot wired, unless they are very old, this is where the crime rates are increasing. I keep all of our keys in a kitchen drawer and hide them away when we go away.

We drive modest cars so we are in a lower risk category, but having once owned a burglar magnet car and experienced a house burglary it has made me very wary and security conscious. MIL thinks I am OTT about it, but she has been lucky not to have anything dreadful like this happen to her. She grew up in an era when you could leave your door unlocked and refuses to change even when we point out that it will affect any insurance claim.

Thanks for the timely warning.

If someone wants to steal my car, I'd rather they hooked the keys through the letterbox and took it than broke in and ransacked the house looking for the keys. It's just a car. I leave keys right by the front door. If someone breaks in looking for car keys, I'd like them to be the first thing that they see.

You do have a point Pfft

My keys are easily found but they are secured on a hook on the far end of the hall shelf, not reachable through the letterbox. Stlll no need to ransack the house but far better than leaving them by the front door, easily nicked through the letterbox IMO.

Like pfft we leave things where they can be found.

We were burgled bur cos they found my bag and car keys easily they were in and out. A friend of friend was woken with torch in her eyes by masked men demanding cash, jewellery and keys as they took stuff up with them to bed / have a safe for their valuables.

Robbery never nice but I'd rather not have to come face to face with the bastards.

I agree with soupdragon - I now keep my car keys in my bag, in the hall. They can't be hooked, but if someone breaks in they don't have to search hard for keys.

However - the house was not ransacked because we'd hidden things. The keys weren't found simply because they weren't there. Dh had taken his set of keys including key fob to work with him when he cycled in. So they just weren't there to be found.

B+Q used to sell a gadget back in the 80s like a springy wire with a magnet on the end for hoicking keys through letterboxes.

A friend bought one to get the keys to the house they were buying after the vendors locked up and moved out a few days before completion.

Happened in our road, and we were up with dd (3) and it was the only house with a light on at 6.30am. The neighbours had had the keys to both cars taken, but only one car had gone.

An aquaintance was woken, like Tory's friend, with torch in her eyes demanding car keys. Her H working away, she was in bed with toddler DS.

H had advertised a flashy car in exchange and Mart, they had come to steal it.

Frankly, I'm glad I have a not-very-desirable car.