Motorists in the US are being urged to be increasingly careful about where they park their cars, given the alarming nationwide rise in car thefts.
The number of car thefts has increased sharply since 2019 and reached a level new peak of 1,020,729 cases last year, says the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), a watchdog.
Kia and Hyundai vehicles are the most often targeted models, thanks in part to a security vulnerability that thieves cracked and shared widely on social media.
NIB president and CEO David Glawe said crooks are “becoming increasingly sophisticated” and routinely use “sophisticated technology to bypass security systems.”
“From keyless entry hacks to key fob relay attacks, perpetrators are exploiting vulnerabilities in modern vehicle security measures with alarming success,” Glawe said.
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Washington DC, Maryland and Connecticut saw the biggest increases in car theft last year
The Mail’s interactive map presents America’s car crime hotspots in graphic detail.
It shows the ten states with the largest increases in car thefts between 2022 and 2023, as well as the metropolitan areas where car thieves have been most active.
Washington DC saw a massive 64 percent increase in car thefts last year,
For every 100,000 people in the capital, 1,150 vehicles were seized, more than three times the U.S. average.
David Glawe says thieves are getting better at hacking into car access systems
Maryland and Connecticut were also hit hard.
Los Angeles was the hardest hit metropolitan area, with a whopping 72,460 car thefts in just twelve months.
Tens of thousands of thefts were also committed in the San Francisco-Oakland region and Chicago.
California saw more car thefts than any other state, with 208,668 vehicles reported stolen.
More recent data from the The FBI’s new crime database is in line with the NIB’s findings.
From 2019 to 2023, the national rate of auto theft incidents increased from 199.4 incidents per 100,000 people to 283.5 incidents, the FBI says.
Thieves took cars in 78 percent of cases, but trucks were also popular, accounting for 12 percent of incidents.
The FBI data covers only four-fifths of the US population.
The number of car thefts breaks the downward trend of other types of crime, which are returning to more normal levels after the peak in the pandemic.
The increase is partly due to young offenders posting “how-to” videos of themselves on TikTok using screwdrivers and cables to start engines and take joyrides.
A sheriff’s deputy arrests a suspect for attempted carjacking from a truck in Denver, Colorado
In a widely shared video, a juvenile offender explains how to plug in a car using just a screwdriver and a USB cable
Some called themselves the “Kia Boyz,” after one of the makers who was targeted for security issues that were easily exploitable.
Hyundais and Kias are among the most stolen vehicles in the U.S., the NIB says.
They account for six of the ten most stolen vehicles nationwide.
Topping the list is Hyundai’s Elantra model, from which 48,445 vehicles were stolen last year.
It was followed by the Hyundai Sonata (42,813 incidents), the Kia Optima (30,204 incidents) and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (23,721 incidents).
Hybrid vehicles are often targeted by thieves, thanks to the precious metals in their catalytic converters that sell for hundreds of dollars on the black market.
Washington DC saw the sharpest increase last year, part of a citywide crime wave that saw 64 percent more vehicles stolen than in 2022.
Maryland saw a 63 percent increase.
Connecticut (33 percent), Nevada (18 percent) and Massachusetts (16 percent) rounded out the top five.
The figures come after another week of multiple cases of car thefts across the country.
Minneapolis police have arrested a 10-year-old boy accused of driving a stolen car recklessly through a schoolyard full of children.
Surveillance video shows a car zigzagging through the playground and school staff rushing to get the children out of harm’s way. No one was hurt or injured in the incident late last month.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara called the incident “unfathomable” and said officers had to repeatedly “arrest and re-arrest the same youth for auto theft and other violent crimes.”
Moment four teens crash a stolen Kia and run off down busy Minnesota highway as the TikTok-fueled ‘Kia Boyz’ craze swept the country
Car thieves nowadays hack keyless entry systems and use old-fashioned screwdrivers
Meanwhile, police in Clark County, Washington, said they broke up a multi-state car theft ring, arresting five men.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office said late last month they recovered 11 stolen cars, $42,000 in cash and nine guns.
The thieves had been eyeing local car dealerships and then breaking into them, taking Corvettes and other muscle cars.
The NIB recently worked with port operators to prevent stolen luxury vehicles from being loaded into shipping containers and sold abroad.
“While many stolen vehicles are being recovered, there is increasing global demand, especially in regions where regulations are lax,” Glawe said.
‘Stolen goods can easily be laundered or resold on the black market.’
To prevent vehicles from being stolen, owners are advised to park in well-lit, busy areas, especially garages, parking lots and behind locked gates.
They must also lock their vehicles, hide valuables out of sight and use security devices such as steering wheel locks, alarms, kill switches, trackers and other methods.