People in Seattle are concerned about a string of car break-ins in which possessions were taken, but the victims said there was no damage and their cars had been locked.
It's happening in Ballard and Magnolia, and the thieves may be using a high-tech device to unlock the doors.
Post after post on the app "Nextdoor” show people complaining their cars were broken into despite being locked.
Sharm Knecht, who lives in Ballard, says she saw the posts but thought, “The cliché, ‘That won't happen to me.'"
“And then it did," she said.
Knecht, who drives a 2016 Mazda, showed us how her car locks automatically, when she -- or the car fob -- is a certain distance from the car.
But this week when she got in, it was clear someone else had been in first.
“I glanced down and noticed my phone charger was missing, my garage access card was missing, and I get out and look around and see everything's been taken,” Knecht said. Other missing items included a new pair of shoes, a box of speaker components, a bag of gift cards and her change holder.
Knecht says she's filed a report with Seattle police.
KIRO 7’s Deedee Sun asked Seattle Police Department if it knew of suspects using a special device to get into locked cars. The department says it started hearing of similar complaints three-four years ago, but has never seen any evidence of suspects doing that.
Seattle police say they've seen video of car prowlers getting into cars in the traditional ways, but no video that captures any sort of special device.
Greg Miller owns S3 Designs, a company that specializes in car alarms and fobs. He’s worked in the car security industry for 15 years and says it’s definitely possible.
“I know the technology exists and it's just becoming more prevalent as technology evolves,” Miller said.
Miller says there are several ways it could work.
“They’d have to have some sort of code grabbing device that's going to grab the signal being transmitted at that point and time. So they'd have to be within a certain amount of range,” Miller said.
In fact, in 2016, KIRO 7 met up with felon and computer hacker, Samy Kamar, who showed us a $30 device he built. He calls it a “RollJam” and it jams the signal when you're trying to lock your car doors with a key fob. Then when you try to lock it again, it captures the code.
The threat, has some people in Magnolia, keeping their car keys in the freezer, according to Nextdoor comments.
Miller says a better bet for protecting yourself is to keep your keys in an RFDI bag -- something you can find online, though even that may not be foolproof.
Greg explains that when you’re close to your car – say unlocking it by pressing a button on the car handle – the signal transmitted between your car and fob is a RFDI signal. But when you lock the car from a longer range – like when you use your car key fob – it uses a longer-range radio frequency signal.
And what sort of protection a special bag – or a metal box – might offer, depends on when and how the thieves are catching the signal.
Knecht says she hopes sharing what happened to her, will help make others more aware.
“Your privacy, you feel completely violated, you feel like you can't be safe in your own neighborhood anymore. You feel like you should be able to go home, lock your doors, and things area safe. But maybe they're not,” Knecht said.
Miller says technology has also advanced to keep up with the “bad guys.” Now, his company offers upgrades to your car fob and security, so you can get a text when someone opens your car door, and be told which door opened. S3 Design also installs LED security systems that can ward off thieves.
Miller and Seattle police both say the only foolproof way to protect your valuables is to not keep them in the car.