Photo: irishtimes.com
Call the police: a gang of car thieves is believed to be operating in North Dublin, Ireland, stealing cars and moving them over the border. Call the fashion police, too: 2 of these thieves operate in boiler suits.
A boiler suit is the same thing as overalls or coveralls: a piece of garment that covers the entire body and is meant to be worn over your actual clothes when doing dirty chores. These car thieves’ color of choice is white, but their outfit has nothing to do with getting dirty: they wear it to prevent leaving any DNA trace, The Journal reports.
“The men were captured on CCTV leaving a property in Portmarnock last month. It appeared that they were wearing white boiler suits. They stole a vehicle which had been newly bought by a family just weeks previously,” the report says.
The thieves used the relay method of stealing a keyless car. One of them went around the house and captured the signal emitted by the keyfob inside the house with a relay device, while the other was by the car, waiting for it to be unlocked and to drive off in it.
“Gardai believe that in this latest case, they are looking for two men with extensive criminal histories,” the report continues. “This is due to the fact they were wearing what appeared to be boiler suits, which could potentially protect them from leaving any DNA. Officers believe that the men’s DNA profiles may have previously been taken.”
Since mid-June, police have registered 20 cases of car theft in the area, and they believe this boiler suit-wearing duo may be responsible for a chunk of them. In this case, the vehicles were probably taken over the border where they were sold on or stripped for parts.
Relay theft remains a highly popular method of stealing a car in Europe. Car owners with keyless vehicles are urged to keep the fob inside a Faraday pouch / an aluminum can / wrapped in tinfoil when not in use, to prevent thieves from capturing the signal and “tricking” the car into opening and starting. In the case of Tesla vehicles, a security OTA update saves them this kind of trouble: set a 4-digit code in the car’s computer and just enable “Pin 2 drive” on the keyfob when you get home.
“The men were captured on CCTV leaving a property in Portmarnock last month. It appeared that they were wearing white boiler suits. They stole a vehicle which had been newly bought by a family just weeks previously,” the report says.
The thieves used the relay method of stealing a keyless car. One of them went around the house and captured the signal emitted by the keyfob inside the house with a relay device, while the other was by the car, waiting for it to be unlocked and to drive off in it.
“Gardai believe that in this latest case, they are looking for two men with extensive criminal histories,” the report continues. “This is due to the fact they were wearing what appeared to be boiler suits, which could potentially protect them from leaving any DNA. Officers believe that the men’s DNA profiles may have previously been taken.”
Since mid-June, police have registered 20 cases of car theft in the area, and they believe this boiler suit-wearing duo may be responsible for a chunk of them. In this case, the vehicles were probably taken over the border where they were sold on or stripped for parts.
Relay theft remains a highly popular method of stealing a car in Europe. Car owners with keyless vehicles are urged to keep the fob inside a Faraday pouch / an aluminum can / wrapped in tinfoil when not in use, to prevent thieves from capturing the signal and “tricking” the car into opening and starting. In the case of Tesla vehicles, a security OTA update saves them this kind of trouble: set a 4-digit code in the car’s computer and just enable “Pin 2 drive” on the keyfob when you get home.
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