# Stolen Gas And Gpss



## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Just a quick note to brighten your day

Today I was going over our monthly stats of criminal activities affecting the South Texas area..

The top two things which has seen a significant increase in criminal activities:

1.	Theft of Gas
2.	Theft of Navigation systems.

I guess with gas nearing 3.75 a gallon - stealing 10 gallons of gas is a quick way for the bad guys to save almost 40.00. The State Troopers that we work with state that the bad guys are getting pretty creative. In parking lots (SEARS, WALMART, MALLs, Schools) the bad guys will pull up next to a parked truck and park literally gas cap to gas cap with each other - then simply either run a piece of flexible tubing from one truck gas tank to the other or some in fact have a battery powered vacuum to get the suction going&#8230; but normally 5 minutes later - their tank is full - yours is empty&#8230; With the trucks being parked so close to each other a person can stand in between the trucks at the rear of the truck blocking view of the hose and its very hard for anyone to realize what the bad guy is doing.

And for those of you - like mswalt - with those large auxiliary tanks - man - that's a gold mine&#8230;

Easiest way to over come it -- $15.00 locking gas cap.

For the navigation system (like Tom Tom) the bad guys are walking around until they see a car with one in it and then just busting out the window - grabbing the unit .. and are gone&#8230; In fact the bad guys today would rather steal a Tom Tom and put it on Ebay then a radio. A Tom Tom (or like) will fetch well over a 100 dollars on Ebay -- a stolen car radio perhaps 10.00

In fact the Troopers in their report were also saying that the bad guys were actually looking for not only the actual unit but also any suction cup marks on the windshield - that means that there is a GPS unit in the car - its just taken down and simply hidden probably in the console or under the seat-

The Troopers recommendations were to mount the GPS in such a way that it did not use the windshield and to remove it each time you park your car. Avg "smash-n-grab" for the GPS took 17 seconds&#8230; (That means from the time they see it in your car to the time its in their hands)


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I would hate to lose my GPS but you need a password to power it up so it is worthless when stolen.


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

CamperAndy said:


> I would hate to lose my GPS but you need a password to power it up so it is worthless when stolen.


Well almost -- there are several websites out there that shows you how to short out many of the new GPS memory circuits which does no harm to the system but simply resets it to the factory conditions ... (aka - NO PASSWORD!!) ... all it requires is a phillips screwdriver and a paperclip...

Not all models are listed -- but man allot are ...


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## 'Ohana (May 20, 2007)

I heard somewhere that the with GPS and other gadgets, the thiefs will look at your windshield to see the tell tell mark left by the suction cup thingy and if it's visible they know it just might be in the vehicial somewhere. After hearing that I swiched to the sand bag holder for my GPS unit that sits on the dash.

ED


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

My gps had a bracket on the dash that looks nothing like a gps bracket. I hope its safe to say they wont steal my CB, I cant see a big market for that.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

My Garmin gets removed from the truck when I leave. No reason to leave it in there. I also us the sand bag holder vs. the suction cup on the windshield.

Perhaps we can come up with a safe for our trucks, that give a nice SHOCK to anyone that touches it, without disarming it first.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Ghosty said:


> I would hate to lose my GPS but you need a password to power it up so it is worthless when stolen.


Well almost -- there are several websites out there that shows you how to short out many of the new GPS memory circuits which does no harm to the system but simply resets it to the factory conditions ... (aka - NO PASSWORD!!) ... all it requires is a phillips screwdriver and a paperclip...

Not all models are listed -- but man allot are ...
[/quote]

Good news for me is the only way to unlock it is to send it back to Garmin.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

CamperAndy said:


> Good news for me is the only way to unlock it is to send it back to Garmin.


If your Garmin is like mine, it will also unlock itself if it detects it is within 50 feet of the location where is was when then security code was entered.

Knowing this, a lot of thieves also grab your registration and simply drive to your house....GPS unlocks.

To resolve this, go to your local police department....park in their driveway and reenter your PIN number. How many thieves are going to head over to the police department to unlock a stolen GPS?


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Oregon_Camper said:


> Good news for me is the only way to unlock it is to send it back to Garmin.


If your Garmin is like mine, it will also unlock itself if it detects it is within 50 feet of the location where is was when then security code was entered.

Knowing this, a lot of thieves also grab your registration and simply drive to your house....GPS unlocks.

To resolve this, go to your local police department....park in their driveway and reenter your PIN number. How many thieves are going to head over to the police department to unlock a stolen GPS?
[/quote]

But can they reset the lock if they use the home location to unlock it?

ON EDIT******************
Had to pull out the Nuvi and play with it and you have to have the old pin number to reset to a new number even if you use the pin to unlock it to start with. So even if you had the home location unlock you would still need the number. This does not help your window from being broken but at least the thieves don't get much for the effort.


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## Outback Steve (Mar 29, 2007)

Where do you get the sandbag holder?


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## Camping Fan (Dec 18, 2005)

Outback Steve said:


> Where do you get the sandbag holder?


I got mine from Amazon.com, along with my Nuvi. The friction pad/bean bag mounts are available for other brands as well. Clicky thingy


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

CamperAndy said:


> Good news for me is the only way to unlock it is to send it back to Garmin.


If your Garmin is like mine, it will also unlock itself if it detects it is within 50 feet of the location where is was when then security code was entered.

Knowing this, a lot of thieves also grab your registration and simply drive to your house....GPS unlocks.

To resolve this, go to your local police department....park in their driveway and reenter your PIN number. How many thieves are going to head over to the police department to unlock a stolen GPS?
[/quote]

But can they reset the lock if they use the home location to unlock it?

ON EDIT******************
Had to pull out the Nuvi and play with it and you have to have the old pin number to reset to a new number even if you use the pin to unlock it to start with. So even if you had the home location unlock you would still need the number. This does not help your window from being broken but at least the thieves don't get much for the effort.
[/quote]

So the "home" feature just allows you to bypass the PIN when you're starting from your home location? That does make more sense....not sure where I read/heard that it would unlock the GPS and allow a new PIN.


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## ember (Jan 17, 2008)

Thanks for the heads up Ghosty, and the clicky link Camping Fan.








Ember


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## fl_diesel (Feb 15, 2006)

Here is the solution I came up with to keep my GPS mount concealed, I copied this from an old post:


fl_diesel said:


> As I was reviewing mounting locations I made up my mind I was NOT going to suction cup it to the window. I am concerned about attracting the wrong kind of attention with the mount. I bought this mount . After a little trimming with a razor blade, I mounted the 3m self adhesive mount under the dash. I am left handed so the location is out of the way and very functional for me.
> 
> Pictures:


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## materialgirl (Mar 30, 2008)

I'd rather leave the door unlocked so they can have the gps.... rather than break my windows..... My windows are a whole lot more money than my gps. Same goes for my cover on my bed of truck.... I tend to not lock the tailgate... they might think there is something worth while in my truck bed and slice through my cover.... ahhh.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

materialgirl said:


> I'd rather leave the door unlocked so they can have the gps.... rather than break my windows..... My windows are a whole lot more money than my gps. Same goes for my cover on my bed of truck.... I tend to not lock the tailgate... they might think there is something worth while in my truck bed and slice through my cover.... ahhh.


Of course they might be after the tailgate, not the contents. Just ask Sayonara...


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## Calvin&Hobbes (May 24, 2006)

Not to wig anyone out, but if you have the Garmin system, and you have "home" set for your home address, all a bad guy has to do is hit "go Home" from favorites, and they are sitting in your driveway. The newer sytems may have a safety PIN number installed, mine is from 2006.

There's an old saying... locks, doors and windows only keep the honest people out.


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## fspieg (Jul 31, 2006)

CamperAndy said:


> I would hate to lose my GPS but you need a password to power it up so it is worthless when stolen.


Yes it can be locked but you are still the looser. They may well do significant damage to your vehicle to get it. There is a young man that lives not far from me that can unlock your Garmin faster than you can lock it. No you do not need to return to Garmin.


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

Sure all of this bad stuff is entirely possible. But the question should be, "How likely is it?"

Last Friday we had a gentleman killed by a great white shark about four miles from where I work (our lifeguards assisted). You always hear about shark attacks, and there have been scary movies that brought this home, but in actuality there are an average of only four fatal shark attacks a year worldwide! Just four! Your odds of winning the lotto are hundreds of times better than that....even though I had a statistics professor in college who claimed that the odds of winning the lotto are the same whether you entered or not.

Let's not work ourselves into a tizzy over these "Tales from the 'net". Common sense should dictate this. Women (and some men) have learned never to keep their purses in open view inside a car when they leave it. But the problem with common sense is that it isn't always that common.

Don't live your life in a manner that is totally influenced by the lowest common denominator of the population.


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## ColoradoChip (Jan 21, 2008)

Thieves around here have been driving down alleys, and actually getting under cars and trucks and drilling holes in gas tanks to drain the gas! I'm glad I live in suburbia and have a garage big enough for both of our vehicles! No alleys either!


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

raynardo, I agree with you - to a point. There's an enormous amount (wayyyyyy too much) of fear mongering out there and its about things ALOT more serious than car damage or losing a GPS, BUT the advice generously offered to us here by Ghosty and Calvin&Hobbes is not "tales from the 'net". They live with this stuff daily - in their professional lives - and I think it behooves us all to listen and benefit from them....even if only to trigger some of that sometimes-not-so-common common sense.


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

I've had my purse stolen out of my cars 3 times over the years...you think I'd learn after the first time wouldn't you??









I have a sandbag for my gps and always take it in the house after using it. If I leave it in the car for a short time, I make sure to unplug the cord and hide it out of sight.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

wolfwood said:


> raynardo, I agree with you - to a point. There's an enormous amount (wayyyyyy too much) of fear mongering out there and its about things ALOT more serious than car damage or losing a GPS, BUT the advice generously offered to us here by Ghosty and Calvin&Hobbes is not "tales from the 'net". They live with this stuff daily - in their professional lives - and I think it behooves us all to listen and benefit from them....even if only to trigger some of that sometimes-not-so-common common sense.


x2


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

The difference is this is not stories from the net, its real life coming from a State Police. In most areas where we all live, we rarely hear about the repetative small time thefts that happen and belive me, there are alot of them.

Gas thefts like that happen in truck stops often, trucker parks alongside a rv or another truck and begins transfer as Ghosty says. With a generator running in the rv or a truck idling, no one hears a sound.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

tdvffjohn said:


> The difference is this is not stories from the net, its real life coming from a State Police. In most areas where we all live, we rarely hear about the repetative small time thefts that happen and belive me, there are alot of them.
> 
> Gas thefts like that happen in truck stops often, trucker parks alongside a rv or another truck and begins transfer as Ghosty says. With a generator running in the rv or a truck idling, no one hears a sound.


Sounds like a man speaking from experience...


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## Calvin&Hobbes (May 24, 2006)

wolfwood said:


> raynardo, I agree with you - to a point. There's an enormous amount (wayyyyyy too much) of fear mongering out there and its about things ALOT more serious than car damage or losing a GPS, BUT the advice generously offered to us here by Ghosty and Calvin&Hobbes is not "tales from the 'net". They live with this stuff daily - in their professional lives - and I think it behooves us all to listen and benefit from them....even if only to trigger some of that sometimes-not-so-common common sense.


 Thanks Wolfie-
I really wasn't trying to scare anyone, but these thoughts go through one's mind at 2:00 AM after your GPS is swiped... "they can get my home address...!"
I have since changed my "Home" on our Garmin to the center of town. That way, I can hit "go Home" while in the middle of New Hampshire, and get a good estimate of when we'll be home. And if it gets stolen, the bad guys are going to think that home is the intersection of Main and Route 6A.
And besides, if I cant find my way home, from the borders of the town, then I probably shouldnt be driving anyway....


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

fspieg said:


> I would hate to lose my GPS but you need a password to power it up so it is worthless when stolen.


Yes it can be locked but you are still the looser. They may well do significant damage to your vehicle to get it. *There is a young man that lives not far from me that can unlock your Garmin faster than you can lock it. No you do not need to return to Garmin.*[/quote]

I'll give him a $100 to show me! So please ask you young freind if he wants an easy $100. Nuvi 680.


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