WHEN R. Kaviyarasan purchased a brand new four-wheel-drive truck last October, he installed a second global positioning system (GPS) tracking device for added security. This decision proved invaluable when, four months later, his pickup truck was stolen from his house in Taman Saujana Puchong in the early hours of the morning, according to The Star.
The thief, demonstrating expertise, disabled the pre-installed GPS tracking system in just over three minutes. The monitoring company for this system only notified Kaviyarasan about an hour after the device was deactivated. However, the second GPS device, which was concealed and installed by Kaviyarasan, promptly alerted him to suspicious movements. The vehicle’s location was displayed on a satellite map on his smartphone.
Kaviyarasan asked a family member to lodge a police report while he began tracking the vehicle using the GPS on his phone. Initially, he saw the truck speeding away and then stopping at a gated residential area in USJ12, Subang Jaya. Despite alerting the police and searching the area, the truck was not found.
Later, the GPS tracker indicated the vehicle had moved to a condominium in Kepong. Again, Kaviyarasan, accompanied by the police, searched but did not locate the truck. Around 6 am, his GPS tracker showed the vehicle starting up and speeding along the Duke Highway. The GPS monitoring company managed to trail the truck and remotely disable it, causing it to halt on the highway.
The thief attempted to restart the truck multiple times using a signal jammer to disrupt the GPS commands. However, the company continuously disabled the vehicle remotely, eventually forcing the thief to abandon it. Kaviyarasan arrived shortly after and found his vehicle with false number plates and a damaged dashboard, where the thief had attempted to access and disable the pre-installed GPS system.
Kaviyarasan emphasised the importance of installing a secondary, hidden GPS tracker for added security, especially in vehicles with keyless technology, which criminals can steal in under a minute. He advised vehicle owners not to rely solely on pre-installed GPS trackers to protect their vehicles from theft.
