VIN number car thefts. Can they get a Prius FOB?

[Prius Noir]

Don't know if this applies to the Prius but I read an article that thieves are using the VIN numbers visible in all windshields and getting replacement keys for that car. I did a check on snopes.com to see if it was true.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/vin.asp

What with the long waits and the price of gas, who knows how desparate someone might get. :mrgreen:

[Tideland Prius]

I've heard of this before. I don't think it'll be that much of a threat. For one thing, a certificate isn't usually the necessary requirements needed for a duplicate key. I mean I would ask for a piece of photo ID to match the name on the ID to the person who purchased the vehicle from their dealership. Plus, at least with Toyotas, you need the key number that came with your key (usually a silver tag with numbers on it) to hand to your dealer to make the copy. A copy of the master key from a locksmith probably won't start the car since it doesn't have the embedded chip in it.

[Godiva]

If it were a few bucks to get a duplicate key, that's one thing.

But isn't a fob well over $100 and then you have to have it programed for the car? And I would think the dealership would get suspicious of anyone needing a new fob for more than one or two cars.

Of course, that doesn't mean there can't be someone inside the dealership working with a ring of thieves. Locally here they've just arrested a third postal worker for stealing mail. Three different postal workers in three different mail theft stings. At least one of them was working with an identity theft ring.

I asked about theft at the dealership. I know the Prius is popular (with a certain element) and that would make it desirable to steal. But there is the fob thing. I wanted to know if the code for the fob could be stolen like for a garage door opener. Or there was some sore of generic fob like a master key. I was told the code was unique to my car andn that currently there wasn't technology to steal it. (Someone already pointed out the little silver tag.) But I still passed on the SKS and I'm still glad I did.

But that doesn't mean an enterprising thief won't figure a work around. And in my opinion, when the thieves do crack it...they'll use the SKS and those will be the cars they steal.

Remember....you can't stop them...you can only slow them down.

[NuShrike]

Wireless keyfob codes (RFID) can already be stolen. Stome students demonstrated it a few months ago (for SpeedPass) because many of the fobs in common use still use the easily brute-forced 40-bit security-keys. Google for it.

Problems are it was just a bit difficult to sniff for the codes without some very special hardware to pick it up, still takes some time to crack brute-force the code, and have to be right there to pick up the codes when they are being passed around to get started with the cracking.

Reminds me of the days when it was easy to steal celphone numbers.

I don't know if Toyota's SKS uses 128bit codes, but I really hope it does.

[prberg]

If I remember correctly I think it's a 40-bit code. Not very strong.. If you search on the board there were some other threads about this issue.

-Peter B

[flareak]

i think its unlikely that people who are stealing cars would want to steal a prius but its possible

[DaveG]

It's also worth noting that to get a key made (assuming you're not cracking key codes, which is very, very unlikely outside of a university lab), you need to have the car, the blank FOB, and the toyota dealer scantool all in one location - it's not possible to make a key without all 3 items.

I have absolutely ZERO concern about my Prius getting stolen. I'm a lot more worried about it getting dings in the door, or vandalized by idiots.

Dave

[DanMan32]

You also need a 'master key' which is a fob already registered with the car, so you can add the next fob to it.

It works on the same principle as the rolling code garage door openers. To add a garage opener, you press a button on the opener, then operate the remote and the opener will then learn the remote's sequence.

For the prius, to 'press' the learn button, you need a fob that can already operate the car, and the scantool.

Now if you could find and duplicate the code sequence of one of the registered fobs, then you could get into the car. With SKS, you'd have to be within 3 feet, without, you have to be within inches of the fobslot.

For SKS, from what I am figuring out, the receiver can receive responses from the fob at decent distances, but I believe SKS transmissions are only accepted from the fob if the SKS ocillators on the car initiated that request, and only leaves a brief window of opportunity.