Posted on 02/02/2026 2:54:40 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
Our town on the San Francisco Peninsula has had a string of auto burglaries in recent months. The Police Department sent a message to our neighborhood group saying:
"We encourage everyone to lock their vehicles and to take out all personal belongings, electronics and valuables. The thieves have electronic devices that detect devices with Bluetooth, so they can use the device outside a vehicle and they will know if there is a device inside with Bluetooth (i.e. laptop, iPad, AirPods, etc) and they will then break into the trunk, even if nothing is visible in the interior of the car. This is why it’s so important to lock the car and take things out. They don’t typically break into a car if there isn’t anything visible AND there doesn’t appear to be a Bluetooth signal emitting from the vehicle (meaning the item is either hidden or in the trunk). They typically move on to another vehicle.
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
I asked Grok if this was true and here is its reply:
Yes, it is true that thieves in some areas, particularly the San Francisco Bay Area, have been using Bluetooth scanning tools or apps to detect electronic devices left in vehicles, including those hidden in trunks.This tactic has been reported by multiple police departments and news outlets since at least 2019, with a notable increase in warnings around 2023 amid high rates of car break-ins in the region.I thought everybody should be aware of this.Many Bluetooth-enabled devices (like laptops, tablets, phones, and AirPods) continue to emit discoverable signals even when in sleep mode or powered on but idle. Thieves can use free or cheap smartphone apps (or dedicated scanners) to detect these signals, measure signal strength, and triangulate which cars likely contain valuables—even if nothing is visible through the windows or the items are in the trunk or glovebox.
Police in cities like San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Vallejo, Livermore, and Folsom have issued public warnings about this exact method, noting that thieves walk through parking areas scanning for signals to target vehicles efficiently rather than breaking in randomly.
The advice from your police department matches these official recommendations: lock your car, remove valuables when possible, and ensure devices are fully powered off (not just asleep) to stop Bluetooth signals. If no visible items and no detectable signals, thieves often move on to easier targets.
While some skepticism exists (e.g., thieves might simply watch people hide items or break in opportunistically), law enforcement and security experts confirm this Bluetooth scanning is a real and observed trend, not just an urban legend.
This appears most common in high-crime areas like the Bay Area, but similar reports have surfaced elsewhere. The best prevention is to take valuables with you or fully power down devices if they must stay in the car.
I wonder if anybody told the Somalis about this new revenue opportunity.
A few articles on this...
How Thieves Can Detect Laptops, Phones, and Other Electronics Left in Your Car
Tech-Savvy Thieves Are Using Bluetooth to Steal Pricey Devices from Cars in New Burglary Trend
Tech-savvy thieves using Bluetooth to decide which cars are worth breaking into
Burglars Really Do Use Bluetooth Scanners to Find Laptops and Phones
Just another thing to worry about in this fallen world we live in.
I had thieves break the window on an obviously unlocked car to steal the windbreaker in the back seat.
When our daughter lived in the Kitslano district of Vancouver, BC, Canada, the bums would break into your car if a few PENNIES were visible in your console! You had to make sure absolutely NOTHING was visible.
Now you can have nothing visible and the bastards use electronics to sniff out hidden valuables.
OS updates for all devices should have had “No bluetooth emissions when off” features built in.
My son’s vehicle was stolen last week in Dallas this way.
GMC Yukon. Not encrypted. Stripped for parts and left on the side of the road.
San Francisco has many, many areas with large, bright red signs:
WARNING
SMASH & GRAB AREA
DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING VALUABLE IN YOUR AUTO
I have also read about areas in San Francisco where the residents leave their car windows down, and their trunks open. This is too avoid broken glass and broken trunks.
No word on how many of the homeless and street zombies use these open cars for a nighttime nap.
Easy peasy with an arduino and a bluetooth module. program it to dump all the stuff looking to connect to ya.
https://projecthub.arduino.cc/NeilChaudhary/arduino-bluetooth-basic-tutorial-9cff12
Seems like it would be easy for the police to set a trap for this. Or an enterprising content creator.
This is simply the fruit of the soft on crime democrat stance.
Need a trunk monkey. Better yet, just don’t go to those places.
Better yet, some trunk zombies.
Or maybe a trunk fougasse.
This why the mideast ,etc.home compounds have tall walls to create a safe space for the family.
Western lieberals ignore reality that failure to punish theft and murder guarantee more crime.
Bump
Faraday bag or box for it?
We took our kids to San Fran about 30 years ago. We saw two guys smashing into a car and cleaning it out right on a busy street. Couldn’t believe my eyes. I called the cops and got a “ho hum” response.
My son lived in the city for a while out at the edge of the Haight by GG Park. His motorcycle got stolen. It had a loud muffler. The cops showed up and my son could hear it a couple blocks away. They actually nabbed the guy and he got his bike back!
My hearing aids will occasionally connect to random cellphones via Bluetooth.
did he get any relief from insurance?
Yes. They will give him the value of the vehicle. He was also upside down on the loan but he has some sort of policy that pays that off.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.