In the tech race against criminals you don’t want second place

Second place in this industry can mean the difference between life and death, and that’s a risk no one should be willing to take. From crude rudimental means, to advanced tech that confuses cars into thinking that they’re being driven by their owners keys, criminals have a laundry list of tools they can use to steal, from spark plugs and coat hangers, to signal jammers and handheld computers. As the criminal’s tools get better, as does ours, it’s through this that we may still boast about our independently audited recovery rate.

Recently we have seen a large surge in signal jamming thefts and robberies, most of these jammers are used in close proximity to vehicles and the MO is usually not to steal the car but the possessions inside.

On the issue of signal jammers, Jerry Pierce (operational manager for Cartrack’s recovery’s) says that while they do exist and to a degree they may work on GSM (cellular) signals, in Cartrack’s experience they have yet to find any of these devices during the course of their recovery operations. Backing up our experience that such devices are not prevalent and/or are not a thief’s solution to combat tracking systems, this would not be achievable if jammers were a successful tool being used against us.

These units are not very powerful and would work for a limited radius only. However, a criminal who has just stolen a vehicle needs to stay in contact with his accomplices in terms of their movements, potential road blocks or approaching tracking and SAPS vehicles, so it would be absurd for them to cut themselves
off from using their only form of communication in this regard, which is a cell phone.

Another important factor which was not mentioned, is the fact that quality tracking devices make use of a combination of technologies from GSM, Radio frequency (RF) and GPS for tracking.
It’s important to remind motorists that most quality stolen vehicle recovery solutions don’t rely on a single technology platform such as GPS , GSM or RF technology alone, and would use a combination of technologies. We advise consumers to choose a system that provides a more resilient and robust solution and, better still, one that delivers multiple means of tracking and communication.

Cartrack has an experienced, dedicated and professional research and development centre, where all new manners of getting you back in control are experimented with and created. Employing — of the country’s brightest engineers and IT professionals to ensure that our systems are ahead of the curve, rest easy knowing that no matter how your vehicle is taken from you, you can rely on Cartrack’s expertise to put you Back in Control.