Johannesburg - Be careful! Car washes appear to have become the latest hunting ground for criminals, who steal vehicles from car washers while you’re out in the mall or perhaps enjoying a coffee while you wait elsewhere.
Some motorists have shared on social media their unfortunate tales about how their cars were stolen after leaving them at the car wash.
One Facebook user, who wrote in a Fourways community group, said she left her BMW X3 at a local car wash where she has been getting her car washed for the past 4 years.
However, when she went to pick up her car before school pick- ups she arrived at the car wash and her car had been handed over to her “driver” - a man she or her husband did not know.
The car washers handed the car keys to the car attendants who were instructed by the garage owner, only named as Yusuf, to do so.
@Tshedza_Ndivhu on Twitter, said he left his car at a car wash in Springs, requested a Bolt to run some errands and to his surprise, his car whisked past him while he was in the Bolt.
I left my car at car wash and took bolt to town but got a shock of my life when my car overtook the bolt I was in 🥺
— Ndivhu A (@Tshedza_Ndivhu) October 10, 2022
Bizz Tracers Forensic Investigator and criminal expert Calvin Rafadi said there are alot of gadgets that are used these days to steal cars and open areas where there is little to no security presence are very easy to target.
“Criminals are closer than people think. They use what we call a key phone that is usually used by locksmiths, they use it to decode car keys and for it to work, they have to be in close proximity.
“Usually 4x4 cars are the biggest target because the market is big and they are easy to sell.”
After vehicles are decoded, criminals can with just a click of a button take the car and use cell jammers, they are able to interfere with the tracking system in the car which makes it hard for the cars to be traced.
People are warned to be vigilant about their surroundings and to rather sit at car washes and watch their cars as they are being serviced than to leave them unattended because often criminals study regular customers or have inside information from car wash employees on regulars which makes the process a lot easier.
“Public spaces such as shopping centres need to be more strict with their security. People also have an option with some tracking devices where they are alerted when their car starts and when it stops regardless of the interference gadgets used by criminals so people should activate such options so they are able to avert car theft,” said Rafadi.
IOL