How to Protect Your Vehicle from Keyless Theft This Halloween - and Beyond

The night is still. A bitter wind cuts the air. You glance outside, and your driveway is as empty as a graveyard. No sound of breaking glass, no squeal of tyres... just silence.

Yet your beloved vehicle has vanished into the night. This isn’t a ghost story. It’s an all-too-real, modern-day and deeply upsetting tale of keyless vehicle theft.

A Real-World Terror: Relay Attacks

As you may know, thieves have now found a way to ‘summon’ your vehicle without ever touching your keys. Using electronic relay devices, they capture and amplify the signal from your key fob (nestling safe inside your home), tricking your vehicle into unlocking and starting.

It’s as though they’ve possessed the vehicle, commanding it to obey without force and little noise.

The Frightening Facts

Keyless vehicle theft in the UK has surged sharply in recent years, largely due to criminals exploiting weaknesses in remote key-fob and signal relay technology.

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, 58% of vehicle thefts between March 2023 and 2024 involved illegally manipulating keyless access features.

Grove & Dean’s partner, Tracker, tells us that in August 2025, 98% of all thefts reported to them were keyless. Scary enough?!

Keyless theft is fast, quiet, and on the rise across the UK. Victims often only realise in the morning, when they discover their vehicle spirited away without a trace. With no broken locks or shattered windows, the crime feels especially chilling... almost supernatural.

The Cost of Being Cursed

Losing your vehicle to a relay attack is more than an inconvenience. The financial blow of losing a high-value vehicle can be devastating, and insurers may investigate whether proper precautions were taken.

Beyond money, there’s the unsettling feeling of being unsafe in your own home. Despite the seemingly clinical and detached nature of the crime, the human consequences linger long after.

Help is at Hand: Protective Charms Against the Thieves

Fortunately, there are some simple ways to banish these modern phantoms. Think of them as charms to keep the creatures of the night at bay:

• Faraday pouches for key fobs: simple, inexpensive specially lined bags that block the signal and prevent pesky phantoms.
  
  
• Steering wheel or pedal locks: simple but very effective.
  
  
• Motion sensor lights or CCTV: watchful guardians illuminating the shadows.
  
  
• Smart parking choices: keep vehicles close to the house, inside garages, or behind locked gates or barriers.
  
  
• Garlic: well, OK, we’re not sure this works. But you could try it?
  
  
• Check your Insurance: review your policy to confirm you’re covered against keyless theft.

The Insurance Low Down

Comprehensive vehicle insurance usually covers theft, but the details matter. Insurers increasingly expect drivers to take precautions, and failing to do so could complicate a claim.

At Grove & Dean, we’ll help you ensure your cover is fully featured to protect against both traditional risks and modern threats.

A Chilling Warning

So, this October, don’t just beware of ghosts at your door, beware of the silent phantoms that could haunt your driveway. With the right protection and the right cover, you can keep them out.