Two reports were made less than a day apart near Cornwall, Ontario
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say that in the past 24 hours, two people near Cornwall made the same unsettling discovery: a tracking device had been put on their cars without their knowledge.
OPP Insp. Marc Hemmerick of the Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry detachment said that both people got alerts that an Apple AirTag tracker was trying to connect to their iPhones.
The issue was that neither of them had an AirTag.
Hemmerick said Wednesday that both of them noticed that AirTag devices had been put in secret places on their cars.
The first report was made on March 4 by a person living in North Stormont Township, according to the detachment.
She looked under the hood of her Jeep Wrangler and found the tracker in the fuse box. The police said that it had been parked in a public place in Montreal the night before.
The second one happened on March 5 in South Stormont Township. The AirTag rang his phone while he was driving, so he looked under the hood of his Toyota Rav 4.
Hemmerick has seen AirTags and other trackers put on cars and trucks in his area before.
In a news release, the OPP said that thieves can put a tracker on a car, follow it, and wait until they can steal it.
They are looking at people’s habits and routines to figure out when the best time is to send the vehicles.David Corak, owner of a company that makes car alarms
“They’re looking at people’s habits and patterns,” said David Corak, who runs the car security company DC Unlimited in Brampton. “This helps them figure out the best time to take the cars.”
He said that stealing cars in Ontario is “almost like an epidemic.”
“They do all of their research ahead of time, whether they use [trackers] or just watch them in person.” Then, it could be over in three to six minutes after they strike.”
Hemmerick said that this kind of thing usually happens to luxury cars and that Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep cars are at the top of the list. He also said that high-end Toyota cars are being targeted, especially the Toyota Highlander.
“I can tell you that the number of stolen cars that have been found has gone up,” the inspector said.
The OPP is still looking into the two things that happened.
More thefts in Ottawa and other place
In Ottawa, about twice as many cars have been stolen each year in the past five years. More than 1,200 cars and truckswere reported stolen in 2022 in Ottawa.
The police in Ottawa wouldn’t say if AirTags or other tracking devices like them had been used in the capital.
In a press release about the two thefts in eastern Ontario, the OPP suggests that people park their cars in a closed garage, maybe with a less valuable car blocking the door.
Police also suggest using a device that makes it impossible to access a car’s onboard diagnostic (OBD) port. They warn that an ignition system can be reprogrammed by using an OBD that is not protected.
The police said that GPS trackers, alarms, and devices that lock the steering wheel can also help, along with a number of other anti-theft tools.
Technology pros, con
The OPP also suggests that people who own cars leave their own AirTags inside them so they can be found if they are stolen. Apple sells one of them for $40 and promotes it as a way to find lost keys or bags.
“Thieves still use technology to help them steal expensive cars, but you can use the same tools to protect yourself,” they said in a news release.
Corak said that AirTags have their limits and that thieves can also find them.
He suggests a device called an IGLA that makes it impossible to start a car, even with the keys, without putting in a code.
Jeff Bates, who runs Lockdown Security in Markham, says that a lot of stolen cars from southern Ontario end up being shipped from Montreal across the Atlantic Ocean.
He said that thieves have found ways to take advantage of the fact that more cars now start without keys. The techniques used to stop theft have also become more complicated.
“It has a lot of pros and cons,” he said.