As counter measures to prevent vehicle theft become more and more advanced, car thieves are responding with high-tech tools of their own. That much is evidenced by a recent string of stolen Chevrolet Silverado pickups, all of which had OnStar anti-theft counter measures disabled almost immediately.
One of the latest victims is North Texas truck owner Jarrod Hamlin, who recently spoke with local NBC news affiliate NBC 5 Dallas Fort Worth.
“Within three minutes [thieves] were able to pop the lock, pop the hood, change the computer, disable OnStar and steal my truck,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin had his blue 2018 Chevrolet Silverado stolen on January 28th in Carrollton, Texas. He said that surveillance video of the incident proved the ease with which the thieves managed to circumvent the anti-theft systems.
After talking to police, Hamlin went online and discovered other victims with similar experiences.
“They all said the same thing: no glass was broken, their keys weren’t used and the OnStar was disabled so fast that a lot of these people said OnStar’s last known location was in front of their house,” he said.
As it turns out, thieves are targeting Chevrolet Silverado models throughout North Texas, with the OnStar anti-theft systems failing to prevent the pickups from being stolen.
“These are the pros who do this because they know there is a market for it and they know they can make money off it,” said Carrollton police spokesperson Jolene DeVito. “You have OnStar, you already have a tracking system that should be enough, but when it’s not just go the extra mile.”
“I’m definitely going to end up putting a lot more security measures on it and not trusting the dealership to put something on it to protect my vehicle,” Hamlin said.
In a statement, OnStar responded to the rash of Chevrolet Silverado thefts by saying it was working “closely with law enforcement in Texas to understand the details of theft methods being used.”
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Source: NBC 5 Dallas Fort Worth
Comments
It’s not rocket science…
It’s a GM truck, any disgrental employee from tech can do it…
GM doesn’t have any disgrental employees ???
😠😡🤬
Bunch of haters of the truth…
Go online to hacks and cracks .
It was done to lo Jack, on star not much security there either. They steal Camaros with better tech than the trucks…
That’s the fact jack… not just an opinion…
not surprised they steal Chevrolet trucks, who would want a toyota turdra, ford or ram?
More Fords are stolen than Chevys.
I always live by the notion that the only way to beat a thief is to think like one.
Thieves always try to stay a step ahead, sure enough, it’s still true. If it’s being done in TX., it’s known by thieves everywhere.
Considering we live on the border and these trucks are being assembled in Mexico Id say I’m not surprised either
Well, the way I sees this, It’s just a political microcosm. The one side is just taking from thems that have and giving to thems that don’t. Which of course could be fixed from the other side of the spectrum by – wait for it – shoot the f’ers, problem solved.
GM probably realizes this now, but The “smarts” of this system has to be located in 2 separate locations of the vehicle. One location can be easy access for routine Tech access. The other “location” needs to be not easily accessible and contain circuitry that relays on a digital signature from the first unit. Break that connection and truck doesn’t start. …The Armchair OnStar Expert. Lol.
It’s just like everything else if a new law comes out there are people who know how to circumvent the law within hours. This is just one of the reasons why we shouldn’t send lawyers to make laws. They haven’t got enough common sense to realize there are smarter people smarter than them. Maybe GM needs to hire some hackers to design for them.
a timer that shuts off the fuel pump 1 minute after starting without a key as they will be out in traffic with no time to see what caused it.
It doesn’t mater if they don’t have the key. Once it has a different computer in it which they have probably already hacked and programmed for there needs the system isn’t going to know there is a issue.
I will almost bet some chinese individuals had figured it out and now there selling it. I saw a story years back on how they were selling their system system to steal any car. Anything can be defeated I am sure the keyless push to start systems are included.
This brings up a question as I have all of that in my 2018. Are the Key Fobs matched to the computer so if they swap out a computer with their bad guy one, can they just use Key Fobs matched to the bad guy computer and drive away ?
I’d like to see an article answering this question, I think most late-model GM owners would like to know this as well.
No it won’t. The key fob only works with the engine computer in the vehicle. You can change the computer, but it is the key which is the lock, so it still won’t run.
The Onstar system is a _keyless_ system.
The thieves start the vehicle remotely, then they change the computer so that it doesn’t stall when you put it in drive.
You can’t unplug the computer of the vehicle, and expect it to stay running!
@Jami
Oh yes you can…
I have a question. My brother’s 09 Yukon was stolen, here is how it happened. The thieves broke the driver window, popped the hood, removed the horn fuse, put it in neutral, pushed it out the driveway and far enough where the cameras were no longer able to see them. At some point they started the truck and drove off. By a blessing a police officer noticed them passed the red light and attempted a traffic stop. The driver jumped out of the Yukon and into a get away vehicle. The officer said the yukon started rolling back so he had to jump in and put in park meanwhile the thieve fled. What’s odd, the officer said the truck was completely off when he jumped to out in park. Keep in mind this only within seconds of the POS jumping out. The truck was towed to a storage lot. The very next morning when my brother went to pick it up, he noticed the ECM was disconnected. My question is – is this possible? Can you drive it with the ECM being unplugged??
Since the invention of the wheel anything that is made can/will be stolen even more so in the high-tech era e now live in.
Create a lock in the engine bay specifically the cpu area and there you have it
Omg there best selling vehicle let’s see if Gm does anything about this it’s not about money Gm needs to show its costumer that they do everything to protect their brand but they probably won’t do nothing until a lot of them end up stolen in Detroit
G M makes out because the insurance company will buy the customer a new chevy truck..
Nothing is impossible to steal if you know what to do.
Alarms on Corvettes were disables with a long screw driver pounded through the Lowe front fender shorting the battery.
I saw a cop last night break into a new Hyundai with a wedge of wood and a long rod. It too 30 seconds or less, it was on national TV on Live PD.
The only way to prevent a car from being stolen is a stick of dynamite set to go. Then you will be up on charges of your own.
You have insurance.
The best thing to do is just unplug the ignition under the hood or a kill switch hidden in a non obvious place, If it won’t start they are not going to hang around to diagnose it.
i put a push on push off switch under the carpet that cuts the power to the FI. i just hit it with my foot before i get out.
Put a old school cig lighter in a 12 volt power output, with out it in it don’t start …
No fob etc. I have never in my 40+ years of owning cars had one stolen…
K.I.S.S.
how does that work or how do set that up?
ingenious
Clifford alarms had a fancy key pad…
Intimidated lots…
It was all about a cig lighter…
Regency alarms a kill switch with a valet buttom…
People just want $hit that they think is high tech….
Lol
I have a 2019 Silverado, if someone tries to take my truck, what is the best way to clean blood off of the dash and seats, locked and loaded waiting for hunting season. Good luck getting my truck.
I have a 2019 Silverado, if someone tries to take my truck, what is the best way to clean blood off of the dash and seats, locked and loaded waiting for hunting season. Good luck getting my truck.
Hi Don,
I’m Jessie. So I was thinking about some really really cold weather and an Icicle came to mind. Now how in the world did that just happen?!?!?! I’m a chic. 42. And love my 2014 Chevrolet Silverado Z71 LT. Awesome isn’t it. 😜😉
Here in Hawaii, people have been stealing late model vehicles by recording signal from key fob from just outside the front door. They then duplicate the signal of the key fob and use that to steal the vehicle as if they have the actual key fob. They are warning people to not hang their key fobs next to a door.
The key fob can be anywhere in the house. If the car is parked outside the key should be kept in a faraday bag which blocks the signal.. They will just move to next house
Keep your FOB in aluminum foil when it’s inside your house.
People can literally pull the fuse out of the onstar fuse spot… My roomate used to do it to my malibu…lol
Did they combine the PCM & BCM into one unit? They used to be separate and had to be paired to communicate. BCM controlled Onstar, start commands, door and window commands etc. PCM controlled engine, transmission etc. If not paired, the car wouldn’t start.
i do not think they are combined but they talk to each other if that makes a difference I doubt it
Perhaps adding an on-screen key code. Just like with two factor authentication for computers. Have the key fob on you and then key in an eight character code on the navigation/radio screen.
Apparently the thieves in North Texas like GMCs too. Just had one stolen from hotel parking lot in Plano.
Apparently the thieves in North Texas like GMC Pickups too. Just had one stolen from hotel parking lot in Plano. Shame something can’t be done to prevent this
Someone edited out part of Onstar’s comment to the Texas story. “OnStar responds to more than 15,000 stolen vehicle requests globally each month on average, and we take great efforts to help prevent vehicle theft. We have been working closely with law enforcement in Texas to understand the details of theft methods being used.”
With 15000 assists, not all are being prevented by disconnecting things.
I’d bet they are coming up ways to prevent disabling.
I think someone earlier in this old thread predicted this, but theives in Texas have electronic devices they connect to your OBD and allow them to quickly reprogram their key to your truck, fire it up and run