Residents are warned after thieves have launched a flood of car break-ins using a signal jammer.
The device works by breaking signals from the key fobs, which means that drivers think their car is locked when it isn’t, and then thieves can easily access the vehicle.
David Brannigan lives on Somerton Road in Breightmet and discovered Wednesday morning that a number of items had been stolen from his car.
His cell phone charger, CDs, and sunglasses had all been stolen, as had his laptop, which was valued at around £ 2,000.
Mr. Brannigan, 45, was convinced that he had locked his vehicle when he got home from work on Tuesday and there was no evidence of violent access to the car.
He called the police to report the theft on Wednesday morning. Similar incidents were reported to have been reported.
Throughout the day he spoke to three neighbors, all of whom lived in the Somerton settlement, in whose cars items had been stolen without a physical break-in.
When he drove his car to the dealership to change his locks, they told him that his key was unique to him and was unlikely to be cloned and a signal interferer was the most likely explanation.
Low-performance jammers can have a range of around 75 meters, which means thieves can target a number of vehicles at the same time, making them vulnerable.
Mr. Brannigan said, “My work laptop, which I never left in the car, was there. The police said there were several phone calls from the same area of the zip code that morning reporting the thefts of other cars.
“The car is not locked and they come later and take everything. I always make sure that I lock my things.
“The irony is that I’ve never left the laptop in the car.”
Mr. Brannigan added that he had made sure the car was locked to ensure that all front doors were locked on Tuesday evening, so the thieves must have gone home and to bed between him.
One of his neighbors he had spoken to had found paper all over the street and when she looked at him she discovered that it was her paper that had been in the car at the time.
Another neighbor had an iPad in her vehicle that she left in the back for her children to play in and that was also taken.
Mr Brannigan found his coat, which was in the car at the time, in a nearby alley on Wednesday.
He said, “I just want to be aware. When people know that they may be checking that their car is locked.
“It’s just frustrating.”
A police spokesman confirmed that theft of a car on Somerton Road was reported at 6.40 am on Wednesday.
Perpetrators went to a car and entered by unknown means and stole several objects.
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