Saturday, August 14, 2010

You Locked Your Car, Right? Well, Maybe Not. A New Scam

I always use the keychain remote to lock my car.  Smart, right?  Maybe not!

How to lock your car and why!

Please forward this important information
to everyone in your address book!

I locked my car. As I walked away I heard my car unlock. I went back and locked my car again three times.
Each time, as soon as I started to walk away, I would hear it unlock again! Naturally alarmed, I looked around and there were two guys sitting in a car in the fire lane next to the store.They were obviously watching me intently, and there was no doubt they were somehow involved in this very weird situation.

I quickly chucked the errand I was on, jumped in my car and sped away.

I went straight to the police station, told them what had happened, and found out I was part of a new, and very successful, scheme being used to gain entry into cars.

Two weeks later, my friend's son had a similar happen.
While traveling, my friend's son stopped at a roadside rest to use the bathroom. When he came out to his car less than 4-5 minutes later, someone had gotten into his car and stolen his cell phone, laptop computer, GPS
navigator, briefcase .... you name it.

He called the police and since there were no signs of his car being broken into, the police told him he had been a victim of the latest robbery tactic -- there is a device that robbers are using now to clone your security
code when you lock your doors on your car using your key-chain locking device.

They sit a distance away and watch for their next victim. They know you are going inside of the store, restaurant, or bathroom and that they now have a few minutes to steal and run.

The police officer said to manually lock your car door-by hitting the lock button inside the car -- that way if there is someone sitting in a parking lot watching for their next victim, it will not be you.

When you hit the lock button on your car upon exiting, it does not send the security code, but if you walk away and use the door lock on your key chain, it sends the code through the airwaves where it can be instantly stolen.

This is very real. Be wisely aware of what you just read and please pass this note on.

Look how many times we all lock our doors with our remote just to be sure we remembered to lock them -- and bingo, someone has our code...and whatever was in our car.

Please share with everyone you know! Thanks to Barb R. for sending this.

A Special Read: DWELLING IN POSSIBILITIES

Our own Barbara Grippe Reese and Edinboro resident Barbara Tan Reinig have had their poetry published in a new collection of Erie County voices.  The collection has been edited by Berywn Moore who is Erie County's first Poet Laureate.

The collection has been published by Gannon University Press as Dwelling in Possibilities:  Voices of Erie County.  The new release is a collection of art work, photography and poetry by residents of Erie County, and Barbara Grippe Reese's "Raspberry Reflections" is a very special read.

The book  is available for $7.00 at the Erie Book Store or at the Gannon University Bookstore. 

Of the purchase price, $2.00 from each $7.00 price will be donated to "Hooked on Books."  Those of us who have been Delta Kappa Gamma members will recall that Dr. Delores Serafinski started the program for Erie area children approximately 2 decades ago.
A perfect way to wind down the summer!  Pick up a copy of Dwelling in Possibilities: Voices of Erie County.
 
Thanks to Barbara for sharing her writing talent with us.