Nairobi thieves are getting high tech. First the story appeared on Standard and I dismissed it as some imagination. But my friend recently found things stolen from his car without any forced entry. The same happened to another car parked at the big parking lot opposite the Laico Regency. Through investigations, I think that I now know what really happens.
The tech savvy thieves have discovered that the remote car and gate lock systems uses the 433MHz frequency. Meaning that activation of the two simultaneously might have one interfere with the other resulting in either the gate or the car not being locked. So what the thieves need is not the physical gate but the remote of the same so that they can have the remote interfere with the car lock remote when someone tries to lock his/her car.
So the next time you walk away thinking that you have locked your car, you might not have. You need to physically check that the door is locked and the blinking alarm activated to be sure.
Reading through the insurance fine print, you might find that your insurer does not cover car thefts where there was no forced entry or it might cover only things stored in the car trunk (boot).
This type of technology has been borrowed from South African thieves who first discovered the technology in the continent. Remote controlled gates are a common feature in many South African neighbourhoods.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
