{"id":123768,"date":"2026-03-15T19:07:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T22:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/899667568"},"modified":"2026-03-15T19:07:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T22:07:39","slug":"south-east-hotspots-for-high-tech-car-thieves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/15\/south-east-hotspots-for-high-tech-car-thieves\/","title":{"rendered":"South East hotspots for high-tech car thieves"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dandenong, Berwick and Narre Warren are among the suburban hotspots for vehicle thefts using key-cloning devices, according to Victoria Police.<\/p>\n

Car theft has escalated in recent years in Victoria, coinciding with a surge of thieves using key mimicking or cloning technology to override car security systems, police say.<\/p>\n

More than a quarter of stolen cars \u2013 or about 10,000 vehicles a year \u2013 are likely to be taken in this manner.<\/p>\n

Police are working with manufacturers of popular makes and models with push start ignitions that are being increasingly targeted.<\/p>\n

They include Toyota Landcruiser, Corolla, Hilux and Rav 4 as well as Holden Commodore and Suburu Impreza.<\/p>\n

Police say cars are disappearing from residential streets and community locations without a robbery, burglary or carjacking.<\/p>\n

In many cases, the owner reportedly retained the keys.<\/p>\n

The most hard-hit suburbs for technology-driven car thefts were Melbourne, Dandenong, Tarneit, Narre Warren, St Albans, Craigieburn, Southbank, Reservoir, Truganina and Epping.<\/p>\n

Other hotspots in early 2026 include Berwick, Malvern East, Clayton and Glen Waverley.<\/p>\n

Last year, police seized 800 key cloning or reprogramming devices from prolific car thieves.<\/p>\n

\u201cKey cloning devices are showing up more and more frequently at search warrants and during intercepts of suspicious vehicles,\u201d Deputy Commissioner of Regional Operations, Bob Hill said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no doubt this methodology is rife in the criminal world and as a community, we need to work together to reduce car theft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police recovered about 80 per cent of stolen vehicles each year.<\/p>\n

Deputy Comm Hill advised owners to park their car off the street, always lock the vehicle and install anti-theft devices such as an on-board diagnostic port lock.<\/p>\n

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… using key mimicking or cloning technology<\/span> to override car security systems … . The most hard-hit suburbs for technology<\/span>-driven car thefts were Melbourne …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}