Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Garmin
Thieves are turning to new-generation methods to find things to steal, and the police in a series of regions, including San Francisco, San Jose, Vallejo, and Oakland, warn of a trend that involves using Bluetooth to find electronics.
Burglars specifically looking for electronics rely on Bluetooth to find devices left in cars. The system is as simple as it is concerning, as almost every device that connects wirelessly to your car or other gadgets could be exposed.
Thieves walk around neighborhoods, getting close to cars to scan for available Bluetooth connections. Depending on the device, they can retrieve the product's name, sometimes revealing complete information and letting the thief determine if it's a laptop, a phone, or earbuds.
The bad actors use simple devices like smartphones to scan for Bluetooth, but others turn to radio scanners or malicious applications that can retrieve more information about the found devices. Finding devices is a matter of seconds, as the electronics you leave behind without an active connection continue to search for the paired device via Bluetooth.
For example, earbuds paired with your smartphone use Bluetooth to send the audio signal. When the smartphone is no longer in the working range, it keeps searching for Bluetooth signals, eventually exposing the connection. Thieves using smartphones and dedicated hardware can find them.
Stealing these electronics takes seconds, as the criminals use software to unlock vehicles or turn to the old-fashioned way that involves breaking your car's window.
Police have a very simple recommendation for all those who want to avoid becoming a victim of these thieves: turn Bluetooth off and put your electronics out of sight. Thieves who smash your window to search for gadgets don't have the time to look for them thoroughly in the cabin, so if they're not in plain sight, the likelihood of a criminal targeting them drops significantly.
Law enforcement also emphasizes that letting devices enter sleep mode still exposes them to these Bluetooth scanning tactics. Unless these devices are powered off, they could still produce a Bluetooth signal, so eventually, a burglar could detect them.
The best way to deal with this new trend is to never leave electronics in the car. Taking the laptop and the smartphone with you is the best thing you can do, as nobody breaks into the vehicle without a reason. If you must leave a gadget in the car, turn it off to block it from transmitting a Bluetooth signal to nearby devices.
Police reveal that the number of burglaries involving cars is increasing alarmingly. In the first week of August, the San Francisco police department reported a 42 percent increase over the last year, with thieves breaking into over 200 cars in just seven days.
Thieves walk around neighborhoods, getting close to cars to scan for available Bluetooth connections. Depending on the device, they can retrieve the product's name, sometimes revealing complete information and letting the thief determine if it's a laptop, a phone, or earbuds.
The bad actors use simple devices like smartphones to scan for Bluetooth, but others turn to radio scanners or malicious applications that can retrieve more information about the found devices. Finding devices is a matter of seconds, as the electronics you leave behind without an active connection continue to search for the paired device via Bluetooth.
For example, earbuds paired with your smartphone use Bluetooth to send the audio signal. When the smartphone is no longer in the working range, it keeps searching for Bluetooth signals, eventually exposing the connection. Thieves using smartphones and dedicated hardware can find them.
Stealing these electronics takes seconds, as the criminals use software to unlock vehicles or turn to the old-fashioned way that involves breaking your car's window.
Police have a very simple recommendation for all those who want to avoid becoming a victim of these thieves: turn Bluetooth off and put your electronics out of sight. Thieves who smash your window to search for gadgets don't have the time to look for them thoroughly in the cabin, so if they're not in plain sight, the likelihood of a criminal targeting them drops significantly.
Law enforcement also emphasizes that letting devices enter sleep mode still exposes them to these Bluetooth scanning tactics. Unless these devices are powered off, they could still produce a Bluetooth signal, so eventually, a burglar could detect them.
The best way to deal with this new trend is to never leave electronics in the car. Taking the laptop and the smartphone with you is the best thing you can do, as nobody breaks into the vehicle without a reason. If you must leave a gadget in the car, turn it off to block it from transmitting a Bluetooth signal to nearby devices.
Police reveal that the number of burglaries involving cars is increasing alarmingly. In the first week of August, the San Francisco police department reported a 42 percent increase over the last year, with thieves breaking into over 200 cars in just seven days.
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