Thieves use laptop to hack into estate agent's car keys and steal her Mercedes from outside her home
Thieves hack into an estate agent's car keys and drive off in her Mercedes
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An estate agent says thieves hacked into her car keys from outside her home and stole her £35,000 Mercedes.
Paige Foster claims two men used a latptop gain access to her keys - sat on her kitchen table - and the opened the doors to her car.
Paige first noticed the car was missing from outside her home in Grays, Essex when she went to the gym at 9.30am last Tuesday.
Horrified Paige, 23, rang police while looking through CCTV footage and spotted two men walk onto her driveway.
One hooded figure can be seen walking round to the driver's side of the Mercedes while another holds a leather satchel, believed to contain a laptop, up against the wall.
(Photo: Mercury Press & Media Ltd)
Within minutes the car door opens and one drives it away while the other walks off - despite the keys remaining sat in her kitchen.
Paige believes the theft of her and partner Richard Haydon's car was done to order and says the incident has left her fearing for her safety.
Paige said: "When I saw the video it made me feel sick - these people know where I live, they have obviously followed me or looked me up to find the car.
"The CCTV shows them walk round the back so they can't be seen by the cameras - they just pop up at my car.
(Photo: Mercury Press and Media Ltd)
"It looks like the guy up against the house has an iPad or a laptop in the leather satchel which contains the device that picks up the signal - it looks like they can decode the key to open the car.
"We have been told it's some sort of Russian military software.
"When I saw the footage I burst into tears. The fact that someone was watching me and took it not even a metre away from the front of the house is awful.
"One of the men drove off in the car while the other, the one with the satchel, walked off - he might have been walking to his own car which could have been parked up on the estate."
(Photo: Mercury Press and Media Ltd)
Paige reported the incident to the police and contacted her insurance company who flagged that a HPI vehicle background check had been run on the car on April 5 - six days before the Mercedes vanished.
Paige said: "I feel awful - I don't feel safe in my home or in the area we've lived in for three years and I've told my partner I want to move.
"I've heard that other vehicles have been taken from the area - two weeks ago another Mercedes and a Range Rover was taken."
Paige says the incident might leave the pair £5,000 out of pocket as she claims the insurers are only willing to pay the book value of the car, not the price they paid.
Paige is now sharing the CCTV footage in a bid to catch the culprits and also to warn others.
(Photo: Mercury Press & Media Ltd)
Paige said: "Cars that have the Keyless Go system don't need the key to start the engine - it just needs to be within a certain distance, it's usually in my pocket.
"The night the car was taken the key was stored in the back of the house, not in the hallway near the front door.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I looked through the CCTV footage.
"I would try to avoid the keyless system in future and would strongly recommend people to look into the fob guard which protects the car's wireless system.
"Mercedes have been really helpful, they've tried to track the car down using the tracker but it looks like it's been deactivated."
(Photo: Mercury Press & Media Ltd)
A Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said: "We're sorry to learn about this customer's experience but we're not aware of any complaints resulting from theft related to keyless entry/start systems on Mercedes-Benz cars.
"All Mercedes-Benz vehicles have extensive security and anti-theft protection systems. Data security, data protection and anti-theft protection are important elements in our research and development activities.
"The development of protection and safety mechanisms is continued over the entire life cycle of a vehicle.
"When enhancing our protective mechanisms we take into account the latest knowledge about criminal methods and about attacks on security systems.
"We also offer our customers the option of deactivating the radio signal with two clicks of the key in order to prevent abuse."
Essex Police confirmed they were looking into the incident.
An Essex Police spokesman said: "Police are investigating the theft of a car from an address in Grays.
"A black Mercedes Benz C220 was taken by two men between 10pm, Monday, April 10 and 9am Tuesday, April 11.
"The first suspect is described as being of large build and between 5ft5in and 6ft.
"He was wearing jeans and a black hooded top. The second suspect is described as being of skinny build and around 5ft5in tall.
"He was wearing jeans with a grey body warmer jacket."