Criminals using high-tech key cloning devices are now responsible for at least a third of all car thefts in Victoria.<\/p>\n
The key cloning devices, which police say are readily available to purchase online, are legitimately used by mechanics to gain access to locked vehicles.<\/p>\n
But police say about 30 to 40 per cent of the 33,000 cars stolen in Victoria in the 12 months to September 2025 were stolen using key cloning devices.<\/p>\n
Deputy Commissioner of Regional Operations Robert Hill said culprits will walk the streets until they find a suitable car with push-button ignition.<\/p>\n
“It would be less than a minute. It would be a matter of 10, 15 seconds,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The onboard diagnostic tool plugs into a port that is beneath the dashboard, and that will override the security system and allow the ignition to come on.”<\/p>\n
Deputy Commissioner Hill said the majority of criminals stealing cars in Victoria were adult repeat offenders who shared their methods with each other.<\/p>\n
Last month, four men were charged with stealing more than 20 vehicles<\/a>, with police alleging the men were part of a syndicate that used third-party electronic key reprogramming devices.<\/p>\n In the past year, more than 800 key reprogramming devices have been seized by police.<\/p>\n “It’s illegal to possess those items of technology if you’re out and about in the middle of the night, where we believe you might be looking for a potential vehicle to be stolen,” Deputy Commissioner Hill said.<\/p>\n Melbourne’s eastern suburbs see rise in car thefts<\/p>\n In Victoria, Melbourne’s CBD historically sees the most car thefts, but police say Melbourne’s inner-eastern suburbs are now seeing more offending.<\/p>\n The hardest-hit suburbs for technology-driven car thefts last year were Melbourne’s CBD, Dandenong, Tarneit, Narre Warren, St Albans, Craigieburn, Southbank, Reservoir, Truganina and Epping.<\/p>\n Deputy Commissioner Hill said the majority of vehicles were recovered by police, but often after they had been used to conduct another crime.<\/p>\n “We would recover approximately 80 per cent of those vehicles,” he said.<\/p>\n He said some unrecovered vehicles were “exported, whether in entire body or cut up for parts”.<\/p>\n