Car Key Theft in Australia: What Actually Stops Relay Attacks
CarMoods TeamPull up outside your own house at night and a modern keyless car will unlock itself and start with the fob still in your pocket. That same convenience is exactly what a relay theft exploits: no smashed window, no hot-wiring, just two people with signal relay devices standing either side of your front door for about thirty seconds. The gear involved is cheap and easy to find online, and it's genuinely effective against a passive keyless entry system that was never designed with this attack in mind. The good news is that the countermeasures are just as simple, and most of them live in the same keychains and key accessories range you'd browse for an ordinary key case.
How Relay Attacks Actually Work
Passive keyless entry works by constantly listening. Your fob emits a low-power radio signal, and when you walk close enough to the car, the receiver picks it up, confirms the code, and unlocks. It's designed for proximity in the metre-or-two sense, not room-to-room in a house. A relay attack cheats that check: one thief stands near your front door with a signal amplifier that "reaches into" the house and wakes the fob through the wall, while a second stands at the car with a receiver that rebroadcasts the amplified signal to the door handle. The car thinks the real key is close by and unlocks. On push-to-start models, the same trick can start the engine and let the thief simply drive off.
The attack doesn't crack any encryption or guess a code — it just relays the real signal over a longer distance than the system was built to handle. That's why it mostly affects passive fobs rather than older remote-button keys, which only transmit when physically pressed. If your car has a proximity sensor in the door handle and a push-to-start button on the dash, you're the target market for this particular trick.
Faraday Pouches: Blocking the Signal at the Source
A Faraday pouch works on straightforward physics. It's a small case lined with a conductive metal mesh or foil that forms a continuous shield around the fob — any radio signal trying to get in or out passes through that layer and dissipates as a tiny electrical current instead of continuing on as a usable signal. Properly made, it needs no batteries or maintenance; it simply blocks RF transmission the moment the fob goes inside and the pouch is closed.
Shielding continuity is what separates a pouch that works from one that doesn't. A seam, a worn fold, or a flap that doesn't fully close leaves a gap the signal can leak through, so a double-layer weave with a proper closure (velcro or a zip, not just a fold-over flap) is worth checking for. Test your own pouch occasionally: fob inside, pouch closed, then try to unlock the car standing right at the door. If it unlocks, the shielding has failed.
RFID Signal Blocking Faraday Cage Pouch
Faraday Box Signal Blocker — Key & Phone
Faraday Key Fob Pouch — RFID Blocking Bag
Keep the pouch away from the hallway table or kitchen bench nearest the front door — the closer the fob sits to an external wall, the easier it is to reach with an amplifier in the first place, pouch or no pouch.
Steering Wheel Locks: The Low-Tech Deterrent That Still Works
A steering wheel lock doesn't stop a relay attack unlocking the doors, but it stops the car being driven away afterwards, which is the part that actually matters on a tight timeline. Most thefts are built around speed — in, moving, gone before anyone notices. A visible steel bar clamped across the wheel turns a thirty-second job into one that needs bolt cutters or an angle grinder, loud tools that draw attention in a driveway at 2am. Thieves scouting for an easy target generally move on rather than commit to that.
Visibility matters almost as much as the lock itself — a bar left where it's obvious through the windscreen does deterrent work before anyone even tries the door. Look for a hardened steel shaft rather than coated aluminium that can be cut with ordinary tools, and a mechanism that clamps the wheel rim itself rather than just hooking over one spoke, which can sometimes be levered off.
Steel Steering Wheel & Seat Belt Lock — 2 Keys
Adjustable Double-Hook Anti-Theft Clamp
The OBD Port Risk Few Owners Know About
There's a second, less publicised angle that skips the fob entirely. Most cars built in the last fifteen years have an OBD (on-board diagnostics) port under the dashboard, usually near the steering column, meant for mechanics' diagnostic scanners. A programming device plugged into that same port can, on some vehicles, register a brand-new key to the immobiliser from scratch — no original key required. It's slower and noisier than a relay attack and needs the thief inside the cabin first, commonly via a wedge-and-slide-bar on the door or a weak lock, but it explains why some keyless thefts happen to owners certain their fob never left the house.
There's no simple retrofit that blocks this on most vehicles without an auto-electrician fitting a dedicated OBD lock, so awareness does the work instead: park somewhere visible and well-lit, and treat a steering wheel lock as protection against both methods at once — it stops the car moving regardless of how the doors got opened.
Protecting the Physical Key Itself
Signal security and physical protection are separate problems worth sorting together. A fob dropped on concrete a few times develops hairline cracks around the battery door and button seals, and a cracked case lets in the moisture and grit that eventually causes a dead or unreliable remote. A well-fitted silicone or TPU case adds a grippy, slightly raised edge that cushions drops without blocking the buttons, moulded closely enough to a specific model that it doesn't add bulk to a pocket. Our guide to key fob covers by brand goes into fit and material in more depth, but a few well-matched options are worth featuring here too.
BYD Silicone Key Case with Chain
Chery Jaecoo J7/J5 TPU Key Case
Audi Silicone Smart Key Case
Volvo Silicone Key Cover
A correctly moulded case exists for far more of the Australian new-car market than most shoppers realise, right down to niche badges and recent arrivals.
Jeep & Dodge 4-Button Silicone Key Case
Mercedes-Benz Clear TPU Key Fob Case
Zeekr Zinc Alloy Leather Key Cover
Geely EX2 TPU Smart Key Case
Dash Cams as a Deterrent and a Record
A dash cam won't stop a relay attack in progress, but it helps either side of one. A visible camera on the windscreen is a real deterrent by itself — thieves scouting a street look for the easiest car, and one that's clearly recording is a worse bet than the one two doors down that isn't. If a theft or an attempted one does happen, continuous or motion-triggered footage gives police an actual plate, face or vehicle description to work from rather than a vague account after the fact, and most insurers process a theft claim faster with corroborating footage than without it.
70mai A510 Dash Cam
Look specifically for a model with parking-mode motion detection that keeps watching while the car is stationary and off, since that's the exact window a relay theft happens in. A camera that only records with the ignition on is no help for this particular threat.
Simple Habits That Cost Nothing
A few free changes stack on top of every product above. Keep the fob away from external walls and windows overnight, since a relay amplifier works better the closer it can get to the signal source. If your car supports a motion-sleep setting that puts the fob into a low-power state after inactivity, turn it on — it shrinks the window a relay attack has to work in. Park in a garage where you have one, and somewhere well-lit and visible where you don't; a thief casing a quiet street at night picks the car that's easiest to work on unseen. Finally, check your insurance policy's fine print — some insurers specifically ask whether a steering lock or Faraday pouch is in regular use on keyless vehicles, and a mismatch can complicate a claim later.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does turning my fob off or putting it in flight mode stop a relay attack?
Most passive fobs have no off switch or flight mode — they're always listening by design, which is exactly what makes a relay attack possible. A Faraday pouch is the practical fix because it blocks the signal physically rather than relying on a setting the fob doesn't have.
2. Will a Faraday pouch stop my fob working properly afterwards?
No. Shielding the fob only blocks its signal while it's inside the closed pouch. Take it out and it works exactly as before, with no battery drain or programming risk involved.
3. Are older cars with button-only remote keys at risk from relay theft?
Much less so. A remote that only transmits when physically pressed has nothing for a relay device to pick up and amplify while it's sitting idle. Relay theft specifically targets passive keyless systems that broadcast constantly.
4. Is a steering wheel lock worth it if I already use a Faraday pouch?
Yes — they cover different stages of an attack. The pouch stops the signal being relayed in the first place, while the lock stops the car being driven away if a thief gets in through some other means, including the OBD port method that doesn't involve the fob at all.
5. Do insurers actually ask about anti-theft devices for keyless cars?
Many do, particularly for models with a history of relay theft claims. It's worth checking your policy's wording, since some insurers offer a premium discount for a fitted steering lock or require one as a condition of cover on higher-risk models.
None of this needs an auto-electrician or a big outlay. A Faraday pouch, a visible steering lock and a parking-mode dash cam cover the three stages of a relay theft — listening, relaying and driving away — without needing to understand the electronics behind any of them. Pair that with a well-fitted key case to protect the fob day to day, and a car that looked like an easy target becomes a genuinely awkward one. Browse the full keychains and key accessories range for more fit options by brand, or the broader interior accessories collection for everything else worth adding to the cabin.
