Car Theft Syndicate: How Organised Crime is Targeting Vehicles in South Africa
Organised crime poses a serious threat to South Africa, impacting the lives of millions. This blog explores car theft syndicates—a sophisticated network of car thieves operating with a singular focus: stealing vehicles. These are not mere petty criminals. Their groups function like well-oiled machines, using advanced techniques and insider knowledge. No car is safe from their reach, from high-end SUVs to budget sedans.
Car theft syndicates have graduated from being a mere nuisance. Stolen vehicles are often exported, resold, or used in criminal activities. These organised rings know exactly what they’re after and how to get it.
Cartrack’s vehicle tracking solutions provide a way to outsmart them. We offer the latest tracking solutions to prevent your car from becoming another statistic.
What Is a Car Theft Syndicate?
A car theft syndicate is an organised group of criminals that specialise in stealing vehicles. These thieves use organised methods to target specific vehicles. Their skills often make them bypass security systems and evade law enforcement. Car theft syndicates steal vehicles for several reasons like reselling them in local or international markets or selling their parts.
Syndicates often have a clear hierarchy. Leaders coordinate the illegal activities while other members are assigned specific roles. Each group follows particular methods to ensure operations run smoothly. Let’s look at some of the methods used by car theft syndicates.
Methods Used by Car Theft Syndicates
Target Selection and Surveillance:
Vehicle theft syndicates often start by researching their targets, types of cars owned, and locations. This can include following people to learn their routines.
Criminals can collaborate with insiders, like your complex’s security, car guards, car dealerships and repair shop employees to get to you. You might wonder how insiders agree to cooperate; some are bribed, while others are coerced. Insiders can be persuaded in the following ways:
- Financial Incentives: Money is a powerful motivator for insiders. Criminals use this method knowing people rarely refuse cash.
- Coercion or threats: Insiders may not want to steal vehicles. However, threats or coercion may arise, leading to fears of repercussions for refusing to participate.
- Manipulation: Thieves might exploit personal issues, like money troubles, to convince insiders to gain insider cooperation.
- Grooming: Over time, syndicates gain insiders’ trust, convincing them that the thefts are low risk.
- Lack of Awareness: Insiders may not fully understand the implications of their actions. They may be blindsided and made to believe that the transactions are legitimate.
Planning and Coordination:
A typical syndicate can include a driver, the actual thief, a lookout, and a tech-savvy individual.
Syndicates are usually very particular with their timing, targeting big events or general areas where security isn’t tight.
Car theft syndicates are increasingly operating online as well. Criminals use the internet to coordinate their activities, share information, and sell stolen vehicles or parts. This shift to online operations lets them reach a wider audience. It also allows for more discreet transactions. This makes it harder for law enforcement to track their activities. Here are some ways these thieves can use the Internet to facilitate their activities:
- Online Marketplaces: Stolen vehicles or parts can be sold on social media, classified ads or specialised websites.
- Information Gathering: Syndicates can gather intelligence on vehicle models and locations online. Victims can also be stalked via social media.
- Communication: Criminals may use encrypted messaging apps to communicate and coordinate activities discreetly.
- Remote Key Programming: Syndicate members can use advanced online tools to program keys or unlock vehicles from a distance.
- Hacking and Scams: Some may use hacking to steal customer data or create fake ads to lure victims.
- Virtual Auctions: Stolen vehicles can be auctioned off online, making it easier to reach a wider audience.
Execution of theft:
Thieves now use advanced gadgets to clone key fobs. Keyless entry systems can be broken into to steal cars without alarms and break into keyless entry systems, making it easy to steal cars without setting off alarms. Thieves also use fake license plates and signal jammers to hide their actions and avoid detection.
This is how car theft syndicates use advanced equipment:
- Keyless Entry Systems: Thieves use devices to intercept and boost the signal from key fobs, allowing them to unlock and start vehicles without needing the physical key. This technique enables them to steal cars with minimal effort.
- Signal Jamming: Syndicates use advanced jammers to disable key fob locks, leaving victims unaware that their vehicles remain unlocked. This allows thieves to steal cars effortlessly and without drawing attention.
- Lock Picking: Experienced criminals use special tools to pick locks, typically targeting older vehicles that lack advanced features. This makes these cars more vulnerable to theft.
- Stealing Keys: Criminals often steal physical car keys from owners. Using methods like burglary or scouting homes where keys are in plain sight, like in a bowl by the front door.
- Using Key Fobs with Technology: Criminals use advanced tech to clone key fobs. This allows them to make duplicates that can unlock and start vehicles. This method shows their skill in exploiting modern security systems for theft.
Escape:
Organised car theft syndicates have a well-planned escape strategy and know the best routes to avoid the police. Other stolen vehicles are sometimes used as getaway vehicles.
Using stolen cars to escape adds another layer of deception. By driving vehicles that may have been reported missing, confusion is created for investigators. This makes it tough for the police to track them down and stop future thefts.
Distribution of Stolen Vehicles:
Thieves can resell the stolen vehicles to local markets and can sometimes alter the VINs to hide the vehicles’ true identities.
A Mail & Guardian report notes an increase in vehicle smuggling along the South Africa-Mozambique border. In response, a solid concrete fence replaced the old, weak cattle wire fence, which was easy to bend or remove. However, members of car theft gangs are now building makeshift steel bridges to get stolen vehicles over the new fence. This shows how criminals are finding ways to adapt to stronger protections.
What Other Uses Do Syndicates Have for Stolen Vehicles?
Besides being resold, the stolen vehicles are often stripped for parts. This lets criminals dismantle cars and sell the parts on the black market, maximising their profit. Popular parts, like engines, wheels, and electronics, are valuable. This makes auto theft a lucrative operation.
Superintendent Xolani Fihla of the Johannesburg Metro Police said these skilled criminals can dismantle a vehicle in about 30 minutes. Car parts are quickly removed to maximise profits and minimise detection risk.
The most common stolen car parts are:
- Wheels and tyres
High-quality wheels and tyres are now prime targets for a skilled criminal syndicate and have a high market value. The high demand in the black market fuels a calculated approach to theft. Thieves use expert techniques to remove these valuable parts from vehicles in minutes. The ease of detachment and high resale value help these criminals, to execute their operations with ease.
- Car batteries
Organised car theft syndicates use their insider knowledge of vehicle security to disable alarms, access the engine compartments and sever the battery cables. Car batteries are straightforward to remove and untraceable once sold. Thieves can quickly open the hood and cut the battery cable. This disables alarms and keeps car owners unaware of the theft. This operation can be executed in just over a minute.
- Airbags
Airbags have a resale value. Replacing them often requires replacing sensors in the steering wheel. Their ease of removal and reinstallation makes them a lucrative target for organised criminals.
- Tailgates
Many tailgates lack identification numbers, making them difficult to trace. Their simple removal process lets criminals exploit this flaw. It enables the sale of stolen parts with minimal risk.
Find out more about car parts theft and how you can protect your vehicle from it.
How to Protect Your Vehicle from Organised Crime Syndicates
Protecting your car is essential for preventing theft and ensuring your peace of mind. Let’s explore how you can safeguard your vehicle against these threats.
Effective Ways to Minimise the Risk of Car Theft
- Install a GPS tracking device and have your vehicle insured.
- Lock your car whenever it is left unattended, and keep it in a garage when parked at night if possible.
- When at home keep your keyless car fob away from your car.
- Put the keys in a screened or signal-blocking pouch, such as a Faraday Bag.
- Use a strong full-cover steering wheel lock even if the vehicle security system is bypassed.
- Reprogramme your key fobs if you buy a second-hand car.
- Turn off wireless key fobs when not in use.
- Never leave your vehicle unattended with the engine running, even if you are only absent for a moment.
- Consider fitting CCTV covering your home and driveway.
- Use LED security lighting to make your vehicle more visible. This can also help deter criminals.
- Avoid parking in unsecured parking lots.
- Avoid high-risk areas.
By implementing these preventative measures, you can achieve a substantial reduction in the risk of your vehicle being targeted by organised crime syndicates. Find out more ways to prevent your car from being stolen.
How can Cartrack assist me if car theft syndicates target my vehicle?
Cartrack is dedicated to providing world-class security to our clients.
We offer a range of products and services to help protect your vehicle from theft and assist you if you are targeted by car theft syndicates.
- Real-time GPS tracking
Always keep tabs on your vehicle’s location with Cartrack’s vehicle tracking. You will have access to real-time location updates. It helps us pinpoint your car if it is stolen so that we can recover it.
- Stolen Recovery Rate (SVR)
You’ll have peace of mind that your car is always protected against theft. Our world-class recovery team and 24/7 control room ensure that your vehicle is always in good hands. We have an approximately 92% audited recovery rate, making us the number one car tracking company in the county.
- Cartrack Mobile App
Our App has features that can assist you if someone steals your vehicle. You can share your live location with your loved ones to know where you are and help you. Press the panic button so our Control Room can call you and immediately alert and dispatch our highly skilled recovery teams to recover your car.
Other benefits of the app are:- View your live vehicles’ location and past trips
- Activate CarWatch, which alerts you if your vehicle moves once parked
- Activate Protector, which provides Medical, Roadside, Legal, Accommodation and Car Hire services
- Learn effective driving techniques to optimise fuel efficiency and reduce maintenance expenses.
- Share your live vehicle location
- View speeding reports to improve safe and courteous road user behaviour
- Risk reports to prevent accidents and hazardous driving behaviour
- Maps in three different views: Default, Satellite, and Google.
- View your live vehicles’ location and past trips
- Power Events Notification
You will get an alert if your vehicle is disconnected. This could mean someone has tampered with it.
- CarWatch
Give your vehicle its virtual car guard with CarWatch activated on the Cartrack app. CarWatch is a Value Added Service. It helps keep your vehicle safe. It will alert you to any unauthorised movements. The moment your ignition is on, or if there’s any suspicious movement without your authorisation, our 24-hour control room receives an alert. With this, the agent calls you to confirm if everything is in order and to figure out if your vehicle is in the process of being stolen.
- Protector
Our protector service gives a quick response to emergency services such as medical and roadside assistance. Just flick the button on your Cartrack app. A service agent will call you or your loved ones to help.
- Jamming Detection
For thieves who think it’s possible to outsmart our technology, Cartrack offers signal-jamming detection as a value-added product feature. Switching to RF frequency will let us communicate with the vehicle. This is if the thief is jamming the tracking system’s cellular connection.
The main benefits are:- The GPS allows for accuracy down to 3 m
- Jamming Detection backup battery unit can power the unit for up to 2 days; therefore, tracking your vehicle for maximum time
- Up to 3 years of backup battery life expectancy
- The GPS allows for accuracy down to 3 m
- Cartrack’s Road Vision camera solution
Install a front-facing camera (Dashcam) that can act as a preventative measure. Even when your car is off, it can deter criminals from targeting your vehicle.
- Cross-border vehicle recovery
If your vehicle gets stolen and taken out of the country, we will still have your back. Our GPS vehicle tech supports international roaming when you choose our cross-border tracking option.
- Limited Stolen Vehicle Recovery Warranty
If your vehicle is stolen and cannot be recovered, you can claim R150 000 cash back with Cartrack’s warranty. Terms and Conditions apply.
- Geofencing
Cartrack’s Geofence feature lets you set virtual boundaries around specific areas. You’ll get instant email or SMS alerts the moment your vehicle enters or exits them. For example, if you lend your vehicle to a loved one to go to the mall, you can create a geofence to the mall and back. This gives you a new level of instant visibility and safety.
Protect your car from highly skilled thieves
You don’t have to worry about outsmarting thieves; let us do that for you. Contact us today and give your vehicle all the protection it needs.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Car Theft Syndicates in South Africa
Q: What type of vehicles are most likely to be stolen in South Africa?
A: The South African Police Service (SAPS), says the most stolen vehicles are sedans, hatchbacks, and coupes.
Q: What is the common motive for motor vehicle theft?
A: Economic downturns can drive some people to crime, like car theft, for quick money. Stolen vehicles are often exported, resold, or used in criminal activities.
Q: How do I report a stolen car as a Cartrack customer?
A: Call our Control Room at +26 (4) 83 720 7500 and press option 1 to alert our agents. Remember, the sooner you report the theft, the sooner we can recover your car.
