Among the different types of scams and identity theft, key cloning is one of the concerns of college and university students because it allows thieves to access vehicles without signs of forced entry.
Police departments are warning students about key cloning due to an increase in scams and identity theft. There are no accidents or official reports that this has occurred near or at CSUN. University students should be aware of these concerns to help prevent theft occurring throughout the San Fernando Valley area. Thieves are now using devices that resemble phones or tablets in order to blend into the crowd so they are not spotted.
The Task Force for Regional Auto Theft Prevention (TRAP) unit consists of detectives from the LA County Sheriff’s Department. This unit investigates cases that exceed law enforcement agencies’ operational limits and jurisdictional boundaries, identifies locations used in connection with vehicle theft offenses that include legitimate “front” business locations which operate as illegal “chop shops,” and takes appropriate action; identifies and acquires data from vehicle systems to gather, preserve, process and analyze seized digital devices, equipment and data and to uncover evidence, seek input and solicit cooperation from the private sector to coordinate a public deterrence program.
This task force is made up of the smaller municipalities with multiple police agencies through the county and LAPD. Looking at the 33%, 33%, 33% model, the model consists of each percent representing LAPD, LA County Sheriff’s Department and other police agencies.
The department has been pushing out information on social media to bring awareness and they have partnered up with Hyundai and Kia to organize events to give out free steering clubs known as “The Club”, hardened steering locks that hook onto your steering wheel in order to prevent it from being steered and ignition wheel locks. Even with the key, there are certain parts of the car that the thieves would have to penetrate, including the steering wheel. Still, the department is putting this information out there to help the community.
It was discovered that there is a trend of vehicles being cloned; this all comes down to the software in certain vehicles. There are cars that are easier to intercept the signal or to plug into, overriding and finding out what to clone; the component is the part where they clone the key. There have been particular models that focus on keyless vehicles such as the KIA and Hyundais.
“That’s been a very common vehicle along with Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler and Ram vehicles,” said LASD Detective Division Chief Joe Mendoza. “All of these are from the years 2020, 2021 and there’s a small window of two or three years where these vehicles were installed.”
Officers also suggest checking with the car manufacturers for any updates on the software and using the ignition wheel lock. While not fully granting the ability to keep a vehicle safe, it helps by putting certain roadblocks in place, like installing alarms that can help identify the vehicle.
There are some students who have no idea about this situation and how it can affect them, especially for those who might be on campus for a longer period.
“I think this is a terrifying thing; I had no idea this was happening,” Broadcast journalism major Sharay Upshur said. “It makes you want to be on alert.”
Broadcast journalism major Farah Al Humairi said that she did not know that it was a common situation and has concerns about it.
“I had never heard of key cloning before, but after looking into it, I was surprised to find out how common it is,” Humairi said. “ I think it’s pretty concerning how thieves can steal a car without even having the actual key.”
