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My keyfob was hacked burglarized my Ram 2500

15K views 63 replies 28 participants last post by  pcisme 
#1 ·
If you have the keyless entry key-fob system you might have heard of this or not but I saw someone use a device on my video system to unlock my truck and gain access to it. The device amplifies the signal between your key-fob and the truck so it thinks your standing next to it all the thief has to do is grab the door handle it will unlock. My truck was only broken into and some small items stolen. The amplifier device is sold on eBay and other websites. To protect this from happening keep your key-fob in a metal box which will block the signal copper or aluminum work best. In the link they talk about putting them in a the freezer but I used a pressure cooker instead for the time being until I get a copper box to keep them in.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/style/keeping-your-car-safe-from-electronic-thieves.html
 
#3 ·
Sounds like that option on your truck isn't worth having and Ram needs to reimburse you for a faulty security system. No much in the way of feeling your truck is locked or that everyone has a key to it.
 
#4 ·
This is not a new thing. The device they use is called RollJam. In order for it to work it has to capture a rolling code from your actual key fob to unlock the door. The amplification of the signals talked about in the article is the proximity sensor to detect that the FOB is in the car. Essentially it is a two part process. The vulnerability exploits the fact that most manufacturers use a base level of security by using a rolling pin code system to unlock the doors. The problem is that if a code is sent but the vehicle doesn't receive it, that code can still be used. You can make one of these devices pretty easily yourself with a $25 SDR (software defined radio). This video explains more in detail of how they do it.
 
#5 ·
Reminds me of the 70s & 80s Ford cars that only used 17 diffferent keys. So your key would fit every 17th car out there...

You could just try them til it fit and there ya go.
 
#19 ·
Had a 1998 Ranger for a few years. The key from it would unlock and crank my 2000 crown vic work car and vise versa.
 
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#6 ·
This isn't just Ram's it's many cars watching videos about it I found police said car manufactures know about it, but refuse to do much because the cost to fix the problem is too much for them. I knew about rolling code interceptors where it jams the transmitter but records the code then replays it to the vehicle, but there is no way I had used the remote to open the door when this guy was around.

The box he had I think it just had an on off switch he wasn't too bright because he went to open an 99 F-150 the same way I saw him lift the handle look down at his box had a red light on it he did it 3 times and didn't open he left.
 
#7 ·
This is one reason I liked driving older trucks. Not that their harder to break into, I know they are easier.... but no one would bother trying to break into an old turd. :)
 
#10 ·
Dang! Your 13 is "an old turd"??? That means my '14 is only one year off being old? I better rush out and buy a '17!:crying:
 
#8 ·
If they want it that bad they're going to get it...

And there's no sense in installing a $2000 security system when it takes 4 seconds to shatter the window and grab the wallet your idiot self left on the console. A lock serves only to keep the straight and narrow on the path...
 
#11 ·
This is my thinking....if a thief wants it bad enough they will get it.....I have little yapping dogs and have a pistol and a shotgun handy in the house.

With the truck the pistol and the wallet come inside when I exit the vehicle. I lock the doors most of the time, but what are they going to steal, my work boots a $200 sub, chain and some jumper cables......

Now the thing is with the transponder, how far can you get without the key, I guess that's why I pay insurance....even though my insurance company hates me. :stirpot:
 
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#9 ·
That's why I don't keep anything of value the guy only got some old flash drives I had music on, lose change, and my employee badge which I already disabled. One thing I don't like about the ram home-link is it can open the garage with out the truck being powered so he could have opened our garage where my Subaru homelink you have to have the vehicle running to use the home-link garage door opener.
 
#15 ·
First, you live in Phoenix, so should just budget/schedule for at least one theft/burglary a year.......
In my 44 years on this planet I've been burglarized once and truck stolen once. Happened in the 21months I lived in suburban Phoenix.
Also about 3-4x more construction tools/equipment theft than other cities I've lived and worked in.

Regardless, keyless ignition fob or not. If the rool jam whatever didn't open your truck to get burglarized then there's no shortage of rocks in AZ to accomplish the same entry to any vehicle.

My question is HOW did you see this guy break into your truck and attempt another? And if you saw him, was he just faster then you and got away or what?

On a separate note, some tweeker busted a window out of one of my job trucks this past weekend parked at a jobsite.
His tool of choice was a chunk of broken concrete. Didn't take anything except a $19.99 plug in blinky light. Didn't try to jack the truck or anything....
 
#17 ·
If FCA knows this is going on and there is a way they can fix it and don't, I see them as a little liable here. Example,,, someone easily steals a gun out of a truck this way and shoots someone with it. FCA could have prevented an easy theft and did nothing.
 
#21 ·
rolling codes with 4 digits have 10,000 possibilities

add in 26 letters to the 10 numbers and there's over 1.6 million possible combinations

so, you may well be able to steal one pin number, but it would take a damn while for the truck to want that one again

and that's if they only use 4 digits...i'd be surprised if they didn't use 6 or 8
 
#22 ·
We had a 2015 Grand Cherokee and if we were at a Motel I could walk out
to the jeep about 200 feet from the room and touch the door handle
and it would unlock the jeep. This was with the fob in the room still.

We then started using the credit card sleeves that they sell on Amazon for
the new cards with the chips. With the remote in the sleeve it could not unlock
the jeep or remote start it.

On our 2016 Ram's we went into the radio settings and turned off the "passive entry"
so we have to use our remotes to unlock the doors.

I tried the credit card sleeves on our new remotes and it kills the signals on them also.

Hope this helps.
 
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#23 ·
That's surprising, all the chryslers (err FCA) vehicles we had had, the key had to be within a couple feet, on the same side you were trying to unlock.
 
#24 · (Edited)
I'd like to know why our key fabs are so large anyway they don't need to be so big. As far as them stealing the truck, if they want it they will get it. Glad my tail gate locks when I lock my doors though that really makes me feel more secure. LOL. I guess if it's lock they can't steal my ladder out of it.
 
#27 ·
Glad my tail gate locks when I lock my doors though that really makes me feel more secure. LOL.
Makes it harder to steal the tailgate itself. Dissuades the casual thief from stealing things from a bed with a cap on it. But unable to open the tailgate makes it more likely they will knife open my roll-up tonneau cover to see what is in the bed (usually little to nothing).
 
#26 ·
If they built the FOB with a "on-off" button on it that should fix it.
 
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#28 ·
I think what I'll do is disable the passive entry through the radio if I'm traveling to an area that I don't feel comfortable leaving the truck 'out of site'. That way I'll still have the convenience of passive entry locally but have the peace of mind when out of town. Thanks for the heads up on this OP.
 
#29 ·
fwiw

i was just working on a 2500...just put a battery in it(put three in two trucks today...first real cold morning after a week or so not cold...gonna start happening more soon) and anyway, i had the fob in my roll cart about 5 feet in front of the truck, and it said "key fob not detected", when i tried to start it

my point is...if it ain't in your pocket, hand, in the truck, etc, the thing won't start, or open at all
 
#30 ·
I can stand outside my truck with the fob in my pocket and my truck won't start for anybody.My fob has to be inside the cab before it is detected and the truck will start.
 
#34 ·
Yeah, that is how it works unless someone is using an amplifier/hacking device (which is what this thread is about), then what matters is the location of the device, not the fob.
 
#37 ·
Keyless remotes...

For the contributors here stating that their vehicles won't start unless the FOB is physically inside the vehicle, they must have the FOB type that doesn't have remote start. I can start my truck from some distance away (tested at 75 yards and also works well from inside my house, about 75 feet away from the vehicle) so I suggest storing the FOB inside some type of Faraday-like signal blocking device (mentioned previously in this thread as 'credit card sleeves' as well as other suggestions). I can tell you that if I lived in an area that I considered at risk for this type of activity I would certainly store my FOBS inside a signal-blocking package of some sort. I have several 'foil' packaging bags inside which hard drives were delivered; also have similar bags inside which toll transponders were delivered; these should suffice as signal-blockers to protect the security system from FOB signal amplifiers. Easy to carry inside the console storage for use while traveling too! :thumbup:
 
#39 ·
For the contributors here stating that their vehicles won't start unless the FOB is physically inside the vehicle, they must have the FOB type that doesn't have remote start. I can start my truck from some distance away (tested at 75 yards and also works well from inside my house, about 75 feet away from the vehicle) so I suggest storing the FOB inside some type of Faraday-like signal blocking device (mentioned previously in this thread as 'credit card sleeves' as well as other suggestions). I can tell you that if I lived in an area that I considered at risk for this type of activity I would certainly store my FOBS inside a signal-blocking package of some sort. I have several 'foil' packaging bags inside which hard drives were delivered; also have similar bags inside which toll transponders were delivered; these should suffice as signal-blockers to protect the security system from FOB signal amplifiers. Easy to carry inside the console storage for use while traveling too! :thumbup:
I have remote start on my FOB and I can start my truck while i'm sitting in my chair inside my house.But i'm sending a signal via my FOB to my truck to start it.I have stood standing beside my truck with a few friends on different occasions and they were in the drivers seat admiring my truck.I have told every one of them each time to start it up and it would not start until I handed them the FOB inside the truck !.

What most people don't realize is when you lock your doors with your FOB is when it sends a signal that thiefs are looking for,or used to.Now all or most all vehicles use rolling codes but technology is always changing.
I don't live in a glass house and if it happens it happens but i'm not going to sit here and worry about it ...

Merry Christmas ...
 
#40 ·
What if you use the lock button on the door? Is there a way to shut down the entire system so that a key must be used to open the door, or a slim jim.
 
#42 ·
The problem is with the passive key entry system where you touch the door handle and it unlocks from what I have found is the receive power is a lot lower to start the truck, but the passive entry receive power is lot higher so it can detect the key-fob outside the truck. I have disabled the passive key entry system now I either use the key or the button on my key fob to open it but touching the handle of the door does not open the door any longer. It seems from what I have found on the internet thief's have not been able to start the vehicle only unlock it by touching the door handle with these devices.
 
#45 ·
Saw a special on NBC news the other night on this very subject. They showed exactly how it was done and they were not using a car with the passive entry system where you simply have to touch the door handle to unlock the car. It was a standard keyless entry system where you use the key fob to lock/unlock the door. Not only were they able to unlock the door, they were able to use the push button start to start the car and drive off.

Here is a link to the video:

Mystery Device Could Let Thieves Get In Your Car in Seconds - NBC News
 
#43 ·
Proximity!!

My 'touch door handle unlock' only works if I have the FOB in my pocket, within an arms reach of the truck as I touch the handle. My suggestion for a Faraday-type signal blocker is intended to defeat FOB 'signal amplifiers' which seem to trick the truck into thinking that the FOB is within the correct proximity for the touch-unlock to work. I'm no electronics expert but I believe, in theory, that this is the situation with the burglaries described earlier in this thread. :|
 
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