Then the thieves would come back, and use the downloaded information to reprogram a “dummy” key fob (the smart key that has replaced physical keys in most new cars). Runners would break into a car, then hook up a diagnostic tool (one popular brand is the X-Tool used by mechanics) and leave it for 20 minutes to download data from the car. They followed these squads of “runners” through Mississauga and Etobicoke. They tracked two of them, watching from a distance for 24 hours. Shrivell said an “organized crime group” from Montreal was sending four-man teams to Toronto. The same thieves were also going after Toyota Highlanders and Honda CRVs. Late last year, he and his team started “Project Kryptonite.” The name came from their original focus on a rash of Lexus thefts and they wanted a name that would reference the target and what could be done about it - “Superman, Lex Luthor, Kryptonite” he explains. Here’s what happened in their most recent undercover project. Along the way, he’s learned quite a bit about the lower rungs of this organized crime - nobody seems to be able to touch the higher echelon. Police have confirmed it is not an offence to cover your VIN - that it’s an offence is an apocryphal story that, for all we know, was started by thieves.ĭetective Greg Shrivell’s auto squad team in Peel’s 11 Division (Toronto police do not have dedicated squads but Peel and York do) have had some success in breaking up theft rings. It may not be the most elegant fix, but to prevent a thief from scanning your VIN, slide a music CD you no longer need (thanks to digital music) between the windshield and dashboard (I chose a Bruce Springsteen CD). Rhonda’s thief was slow, crouching down from time to time when a car passed. Most of the videos the Star has seen, the thief does all of this in a few minutes. Then, with specific proprietary information provided by the VIN-code scan, her thief simply hooked up a diagnostic tool to a “port” under the dashboard, programmed new key fobs, and drove away. Police detectives investigating car theft say the Lexus has a particular issue that makes it very easy for a thief to “pop” the door open with a screwdriver. Insurance data shows that she had a six in 100 chance of that car being stolen, even though it was three years old. The Star reported Wednesday that vehicles like Rhonda’s Lexus are in high demand. One was found inside a trailer hitch on an SUV. Police are warning drivers to do a walk around their car to check - but the tags could easily be obscured by snow or slush. Then, later, using an app, the thief can determine where those cars are parked for the night. York Region police recently found Apple AirTags were being used by thieves to “tag” a car in a parking lot on busy shopping days. “You would not know it until you come back and find your car gone.” “That’s when the thief copies the signal,” one detective said. Police say that in malls like Sherway in Etobicoke or Yorkdale in north Toronto, thieves skulk in the parking lot and wait for a shopper to get out, walk a few feet away, then lock their door with a smart key. That’s when a thief uses a device to pick up the electronic signature of your smart key (fob), then copy that signature to a blank smart key. Based on two decades of on-the-ground research, Galeotti’s captivating study details the vory’s journey to power from their early days to their adaptation to modern-day Russia’s free-wheeling oligarchy and global opportunities beyond.The “relay attack” is still popular with some thieves. Identified by their signature tattoos, members abided by the thieves’ code, a strict system that forbade all paid employment and cooperation with law enforcement and the state. The vory-as the Russian mafia is also known-was born early in the twentieth century, largely in the Gulags and criminal camps, where they developed their unique culture. Now, Western readers can explore the fascinating history of the vory v zakone, a group that has survived and thrived amid the changes brought on by Stalinism, the Cold War, the Afghan War, and the end of the Soviet experiment. Mark Galeotti is the go-to expert on organized crime in Russia, consulted by governments and police around the world. The first English-language book to document the men who emerged from the gulags to become Russia’s much-feared crime class: the vory v zakone
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |