How did thieves steal your car? Maybe with a device they ordered online

This is part one of a three-part investigative series by CTV W5 into how car thieves are able to drive off with modern vehicles so easily. W5 correspondent Jon Woodward explored how some devices flagged by police are still available for purchase online.

Digital devices that a Toronto-area police department warns are used in the most common method of stealing cars are for sale online for anyone to buy, a W5 investigation has found.

Those devices can be seen in multiple surveillance videos, with thieves seen plugging them in to access a car’s onboard computer, and then using them to program a fully functional key fob for themselves, within minutes.

And while the devices, which resemble tablet computers, are designed for hobbyists and car owners to clone keys for their own use, in the wrong hands they can be used again and again, without limits – something that has to change, says Hamilton-area engineer and locksmith Yaser Jafar.

“There are no tokens. There are no subscription fees. There is no limitation to this tool,” Jafar said in an interview at Auto Key Pro, a business where he and his brother Mustafa use those tools to help customers locked out of their cars.

“There has to be regulation for companies selling these specific tools,” Jafar said, saying there’s no reason for anyone who is not a licensed locksmith to have ones that are capable of stealing a car.

Mustafa Jafar uses a tablet device to clone a key of a CTV vehicle.

Auto theft crisis

Canada’s auto theft crisis that has seen more than 70,000 vehicles stolen across the country in 2023 according to Equite Association, with total theft claims coming in at some $1.5 billion, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

A national auto summit earlier this year prompted several measures, including additions to the criminal code and a new focus on stopping stolen cars headed for export at Canada’s ports. Since then , another Equite Association report found a 17 per cent drop in theft in the first half of 2024, compared to the same period last year.

The next challenge, the report found, is preventing cars from being stolen in the first place.

The federal government launched a consultation this year to determine how to regulate the sale, distribution and importation of radio devices that intercept communications for criminal activity, and made amendments to its rules in August.

A spokesperson for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) told W5 it’s working with online retailers to remove illegal devices.

The spokeperson also said there have been changes to the Criminal Code providing more tools for law enforcement and prosecutors to address auto theft, including offences for the possession or distribution of electronic tools used to commit auto theft.

“These changes strengthen an already robust framework to address organized crime and auto theft,” the spokesperson, Andrea Daigle, said.

In a letter submitted as part of that consultation, the York Regional Police identified several devices as ones “it should consider as being of the greatest or most common concern in regards to facilitating auto theft.”

W5 isn’t naming those devices. But when we looked on popular retailer Amazon’s Canadian website, many appeared to be for sale, from about $700 to as much as $1,500.

There are also a host of online instructional videos that, when combined with the devices’ own user-friendly operating systems, make the instructions easy to follow, said Jafar.

Yaser and Mustafa demonstrated how one of these devices, which retail for about $700, could be used on an SUV from the year 2020 with a push-button ignition in CTV’s fleet.

The devices, which resemble tablet computers, are designed for hobbyists and car owners to clone keys for their own use and are legally available for sale.

12 minutes to program key fob

With the car’s key fob nowhere nearby, it took about 12 minutes to program another key fob that could unlock and lock the car as well as allow the car to start – all of the things necessary to steal a vehicle.

“She’s all yours,” Mustafa Jafar said to us as he started the ignition.

An Amazon spokesperson said that the devices on their site are legal in Canada under rules from the federal department, ISED.

“Safety is a top priority at Amazon, and we require all wireless products offered for sale in our store to comply with applicable laws and regulations. Amazon only permits wireless products that are certified for sale in Canada and listed on ISED’s Radio Equipment List to be offered for sale in its store,” the spokesperson, Octavia Roufogalis, said.

“Unfortunately, like many products, even these legal products can be misused. Amazon will continue to monitor the situation and adapt to any developments on regulation and compliance of these items,” the spokesperson said.

The York Regional Police submission points out that there are legitimate uses for these devices, including to diagnose mechanical faults with a vehicle through an on-board diagnostic port.

But the letter says the devices could offer a version for sale “that accomplishes the same diagnostic functions without the reprogramming keys for the average consumer.”

Meanwhile, the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) warned against overbroad limits on the devices.

“RAC’s concern is that any legislation, regulations or policy intended to restrict access to equipment used for automobile theft could inadvertently restrict amateur’s access to commercial products that could be adapted for the legitimate purposes of radio amateurs,” their submission says.

Thieves scope out Raul Apablaza's truck in surveillance video from earlier this year.

One of those devices might be the reason Pickering, Ont. driver Raul Apablaza lost his pride and joy, his Ford pickup truck.

Surveillance video shows it happen one night earlier this year: thieves in dark clothes scope his truck out. Then they get the door open and climb inside.

The car’s lights flash as one of them sits in the driver’s seat, huddled over something.

“Once they get in, on the camera, you could see that they have some sort of portable device, either a laptop or a tablet,” he said.

Exactly what they had, Apablaza thinks he’ll never know. It left with his truck.

He said he knows the thieves are out there – and so has outfitted his replacement truck with extra security, including a device called an Igla, which can be installed in a car and then requires a password entered into steering wheel buttons to start the car.

He’s also got a low-tech system too: a steering wheel lock.

For tips on car theft, or any other story, please email Jon Woodward.