ONE car is stolen every 240 seconds in the UK, with thieves using hi-tech robbery kits including computer-hacking devices, GPS jammers and drones, we can reveal.
Experts warn that we are in the grips of an epidemic that is hitting all drivers in the pocket as insurance premiums are sky-rocketing in response.
Organised crime groups, many of them based in Eastern Europe, can snatch a car in seconds without the need to smash a window or hotwire the ignition.
Their methods have become so sophisticated that police often have zero forensic evidence to follow up on.
The vehicles, which are broken up in “chop shops” or shipped overseas, appear to have simply vanished.
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And the spike in car thefts has caused the price of car insurance to surge, with the average quote now a record £995 following a 58 per cent rise last year, according to price comparison site confused.com.
More than 130,000 motors were reported stolen last year, according to the Drivers Instructors Association, meaning 15 per hour.
This is almost double the 72,000 that were stolen in 2022.
The latest tech used by criminals includes GPS jammers that prevent owners and security firms finding out where the vehicle is taken.
Key code-grabbing kits allow gangs to hack electronic key fobs remotely.
Relay attack devices let them hack the smart key systems used on many luxury motors so they can unlock the doors and turn on the engine before driving away.
And “CAN injections” — the latest gadget that can be bought on the dark web — give thieves the power to hack into a car’s central control network without needing a key.
Gangs are even using drones to scout neighbourhoods for the specific car models they have been tasked with stealing.
And perpetrators have been seen wearing high-vis jackets to fool onlookers while carrying out the brazen thefts.
Retired Detective Chief Superintendent Clive Wain, who is now Head of Police Liaison for security firm Tracker, told The Sun on Sunday: “This is an epidemic and there is a huge amount of money to be made.
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“This is an extremely lucrative market for organised criminals.
“We have a particular problem with Eastern Europe at the moment as there are a large number of criminal gangs there that are orchestrating thefts across Europe and in particular the UK.
“They will use local criminals, who will be paid a relatively small sum to go out and steal a vehicle to order.
“Invariably it will go to a port, to be put into a shipping container and shipped overseas.
“Or it will be broken up into parts and sold here or abroad. The level of sophistication nowadays is huge.
“Last year, of the vehicles we recovered, 93 per cent were stolen without the keys being present.
“In March, 100 per cent of all vehicles recovered by us were taken without the keys being present.”
Lisa Townsend is police and crime commissioner for Surrey, where cars worth between £50,000 and £120,000 are being targeted by Albanian gangs.
She said: “We have seen a huge rise in keyless car theft and we have been very successful in getting people arrested and sent to prison.
“But it is a challenge and it’s also having a knock-on effect in that premiums are going up as insurance companies attempt to cover their losses.
“I have friends who are struggling to get insurance at all for certain vehicles, which shows that this is not a victimless crime. We are all paying for this.”
‘Paying off guards’
Last month at Guildford Crown Court, Perry Lovejoy, 29, Luke Jackson, 28, Billy Harrison, 30, and Harry Sales, 28, were jailed for between three and three and a half years for a spree of 53 relay attack thefts.
Police released shocking footage of the balaclava-clad gang making away with a Bentley after hijacking a key signal from inside the owner’s home.
Typically, two devices are used — one near the car and the other near the house, where the key fob is stored.
The signal is detected, copied and relayed between the fob and the car’s internal computer, allowing it to be unlocked and driven away.
Motoring expert Mark McCann met members of a south coast gang for his YouTube documentary I Exposed The World Of Car Thieves.
He found it was common to have scouts go out to drop a mobile phone map pin to flag the location of a sought-after vehicle.
(One) gang member was a 13-year-old wearing a £1,200 coat, a Rolex watch and Louis Vuitton trainers
Mark McCann
He said: “We went down to Portsmouth and spoke to one of the thieves who was stealing to order.
“The spotters were going out and doing a pin drop and then the thief was stealing the car so they could go into shipping containers.
“They would get it into the container by paying off the security guards at the docks.
“One guy was earning £10,000 a week and he was just a thief and driver, so fairly low down the food chain.
“Another gang member was a 13-year-old wearing a £1,200 coat, a Rolex watch and Louis Vuitton trainers.”
Retired Adrian Bull lives in Enfield, North London, a car theft hotspot with 1.62 cars stolen for every 1,000 of the population.
He was so worried about having his £15,000 Lexus 450 SUV nicked, he kept the vehicle’s smart key locked in a metal-lined Faraday box — which blocks electromagnetic fields — at night.
But last Sunday, his car was stolen by three men at 5.27am.
CCTV footage showed one man standing by his front door while another gained entry to the car and drove off. It is believed they used a relay attack device.
Adrian, 60, said: “It only took them 20 seconds and they didn’t need our keys, which were placed in a Faraday box that unfortunately wasn’t closed properly that night.
“Luckily, we had an Apple AirTag tracking device hidden in the car so we were able to track it to a block of flats in South London.
“It was scary, but we were just grateful to get the car back.”
The most popular car in the UK, the Ford Fiesta with 1.54million on the road, is also the most commonly stolen.
In 2023, 5,979 were taken, compared with 1,631 Range Rover Sports and 1,489 Evoques.
W had an Apple AirTag tracking device hidden in the (stolen) car so we were able to track it to a block of flats
Adrian Bull
Van thefts also leapt by 18 per cent last year, with 12,950 stolen across the UK.
Police failed to respond to 72 per cent of car thefts in the past 12 months, according to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats.
Just over one in 20 stolen vehicles were recovered by police in Kent last year, according to a Freedom of Information request by motor insurance loss adjuster Claims Management & Adjusting.
But automotive security expert Dr Ken Tindell, of Canis Automotive Labs, says manufacturers need to do more.
He believes the car-hacking devices are being created by “rogue engineers.”
Three of the biggest factors that influence a car theft are how it is secured, where it’s kept and the time of day
Simon Williams
He said: “The manufacturers should step up because a lot of these hi-tech attacks can be stopped through software changes.
“I know that’s not cheap because it’s not like fixing a computer bug where the patch can be rushed out in a few days.
“But the problem has to come back to the manufacturer because there is no one else in a good position to sort this out.”
There are steps drivers can take, too. RAC insurance spokesman Simon Williams said: “Three of the biggest factors that influence a car theft are how it is secured, where it’s kept and the time of day.
“Drivers must take even more care to protect themselves by parking in well-lit areas, removing belongings from sight and even adding a car alarm.
“Electric wing mirrors left open are a tell-tale sign that newer vehicles are unlocked, so it’s always best to triple check.
“And adding a steering wheel lock provides an excellent level of extra security.”
