Car security investigation: How W5 'stole' a car using a device we ordered online

In part two of a three-part series into how thieves are able to drive off with modern vehicles so easily, CTV W5 correspondent Jon Woodward uses a device flagged by police to easily clone a car key.

This is part two of a three-part investigative series by CTV W5 into how car thieves are able to drive off with modern vehicles so easily. W5 correspondent Jon Woodward ordered a device that had been flagged by police and used it to clone a vehicle key.

A device that can be used to clone a car’s key fob and drive it away without the assistance of the owner can be ordered online, delivered within days and put to use in under an hour, a W5 investigation has found.

How do we know? Because we did it.

And the demonstration illustrates what some say is an ongoing security flaw, even as governments, law enforcement agencies and insurance companies rush to block a wave of thefts that totalled some $1.5 billion in value last year.

“I think we have a crisis on our hands in this country,” said the Canadian Automobile Association’s Elliott Silverstein, pointing to figures that show more than 70,000 vehicles were stolen across Canada in 2023.

“You think about a natural disaster, like a flood or a hurricane or a fire, and imagine it happening every day of the year without any end in sight. That’s what the auto theft issue is right now in Canada,” Silverstein said.

The federal government has passed new regulations to restrict some radio devices that could be used for car theft, after a national summit earlier this year. Figures from insurance investigative group Equite Association show auto theft has dropped 17 per cent this year.