4 Corners & stollen car racket

[ebxr8240]

Anyone see 4 corners on ABC tonight..
Hmmm ?? I wish they didn't show so much on WSID ..
If your late model car goes missing, don’t expect to see it again soon.

Chances are it’s being rapidly dissected by swarming thieves, the parts packed into containers destined for ports in the far off Middle East. There, the stolen pieces will be unpacked and assembled like a mosaic, then rebirthed as a shining "new" vehicle.

Or maybe it’s only headed interstate, to start a new life as a "clone" of another vehicle, with stolen identity and forged plates.

The inventiveness of Australia’s stolen car industry seems limited only by its imagination. Its practitioners are becoming more brazen and more artful. At one end there are the scammers who inhabit the smash repair game or who swipe old cars and sell them for scrap. At the other are the balaclava-clad thugs who use axes and baseball bats and terror to force drivers from luxury vehicles.

While police can take credit for a recent dip in total car thefts, still about 85,000 cars are stolen every year – one every six minutes - and many are never recovered.

Authorities can only check a small percentage of containers so they can only guess at the number that end up overseas. Their suspicions were first aroused by a spike in exports of apparently legal parts to the Middle East. A huge police operation then uncovered a virtual Aladdin’s Cave of stolen vehicles and parts, bound for the Middle East. Now police believe that Middle Eastern crime groups, centred on south-western Sydney, have captured the biggest share of this lucrative market.

As Four Corners reports, cars are stolen to order: make, colour, model, year; a wreck is bought legally in Brisbane and a vehicle of the same type is stolen in Sydney so that it can be rebirthed and sold in Melbourne; gangs fight at auction rooms over who will buy the wrecks that can be used for rebirthing.

Chris Masters reveals the various tricks of the stolen car trade and traces the spectacular crash of one big syndicate following an investigation that ran for six months and involved 450 police and extensive phone taps.

While insurers and smash repairers blame each other for encouraging crooks, technology may hold the key to beating them. Masters looks at an Australian proven anti-theft invention – the spraying of thousands of uniquely coded microdots on the car’s underbody – and asks why manufacturers have been slow to take it up.

"Car Wars" – on Four Corners, 8.30 pm Monday 26 June, ABC TV.

This program wil be repeated about 11 pm Wednesday 28 June; also on ABC2 digital channel at 7 pm and 9.30 pm Wednesday.

Program Transcript
Read the program transcript of Chris Masters' report "Cars Wars."

Interviews and Resources
Read extended interview transcripts, relevant reports and articles, and access links to key bodies in relation to car theft and vehicle rebirthing in Australia.

Feedback
Have your say in the Four Corners guestbook.

Tip Offs
If you have information relevant to this story, we'd like to hear about it.

[rag top]

Transcript now available here:
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/conte...6/s1672334.htm

[Boza]

i had an ea ghia pinched form out the front of my house some years back worst feeling like someone died i loved that car and spent my hard earned 2nd year apprentice wages on it.
on another note at least car jacking is not as bad in australia as someother parts of the world.

[xd5.8l]

The guy that they jailed and suspended from trading in victoria is actually someone I had bought many parts from. They operate from a small yellow workshop in cambellfield. HOW IRONIC!!!!!!!!!!!

[ronwest]

Originally Posted by ebxr8240

Anyone see 4 corners on ABC tonight..

yep, saw that. Very interesting.

What is also interesting is your lucid review of the program. Is that all your own work? (Serious question).

If so, please post more often

[MITCHAY]

Yeah I seen it. Pretty crazy stuff. I didn't know it that was that easy until after watching that.

[LTDHO]

If anyone is a member of CAA they eill know Damon! he was car jacked last year. He also writes for Autosalon magasine and they did a write up on same incident!

Cars are too easy to take and I do not have any pity for those without alarms!

[4.9 EF Futura]

It was an interesting watch, that's for sure.

[Work Horse]

I saw the program on Four Corners. Not a good news story! No suprise organised crime is involved, but the level of theft is worrying. Australia rates highly in the number of cars nicked per capita, is there nothing we are not good at?

I had my first car stolen many years ago, a much modified EH Holden(I was young). Got it back the next day stripped :

Car theives are fleas on rats, and one of the reasons my daily driver is a POS

[PH47]

How long till we have guns in our gloveboxes like in the US..

I have no pity for car thiefs, the unmentionable things i'd like to do to them aren't printable on this site..

[OED666]

i think there is a repeat tomorrow night at 11:10... will be watching it. i missed it.

[blownvn]

An interesting read, did anyone tape it?

[OED666]

Originally Posted by blownvn

An interesting read, did anyone tape it?

i will be tomorrow night...

[exrtnz]

Yeah those arabs in the middle east love high powered cars. And petrol at 8c a gallon in Dubai and 30cAus in kuwait you can drive any big block classic cars around all day for next to nothing. They import chev lumina,s from the states which are holdens vz,s , but i saw a holden badged vehicle one here a few weeks back.

Originally Posted by exrtnz

Yeah those arabs in the middle east love high powered cars. And petrol at 8c a gallon in Dubai and 30cAus in kuwait you can drive any big block classic cars around all day for next to nothing. They import chev lumina,s from the states which are holdens vz,s , but i saw a holden badged vehicle one here a few weeks back.

There actually exported from Australia to the middle east.

[[Tonko]]

yeah my daily driver has been stolen twice in 3 years, first time i got it back it had all the windows smashed, second time they threw bricks at it, and took the standard radio (it didnt work anyway) but its the worst kicked-in-the-guts feeling, now i have an alarm, 2 immobilisers, and 3 dummy switches...

great show, really enjoyed it, ABC do high quality reports IMHO. was a shame, but understandable view from the manufactures about the microdot not being used on cars off the production line... only HSV, FPV Subaru etc etc.. wonder if you could order this off the line. or have it installed at a later date... very interesting and well done to the guy the invented it (Another Australian I think)... clever bloke.

[Zed7fiddy]

The show certainly opened my eyes to the stolen car market, and i will be paying a little more attention to what i buy for my next car, i didnt realize so many newer cars were getting stolen

[Feathers]

I get cars dumped outside my bedroom window all the time. You can tell they are stolen to order.
Roofs cut off, everything else missing... gotta be the same people doing it, as they dump them in the same spot regularly.

[blownvn]

Originally Posted by Feathers

I get cars dumped outside my bedroom window all the time. You can tell they are stolen to order.
Roofs cut off, everything else missing... gotta be the same people doing it, as they dump them in the same spot regularly.

Set up a motion detector and a video camera, or better still get the cops to do it.

[Falchoon]

Originally Posted by ziggee

great show, really enjoyed it, ABC do high quality reports IMHO. was a shame, but understandable view from the manufactures about the microdot not being used on cars off the production line... only HSV, FPV Subaru etc etc.. wonder if you could order this off the line. or have it installed at a later date... very interesting and well done to the guy the invented it (Another Australian I think)... clever bloke.

I missed the show unfortunately. DataDots add onlyabout $20 to the cost of a new vehicle but costs between $450 to $700 to get it done retrospectively. Not sure why the big difference in price.

A cynical person would say that car manufacturers are hesitant to include it from the factory with all cars (not just high end and performance cars) because that would mean a dramatic decrease in theft and therefore a dramatic decrease in sales. 80,000+ car sales a year is nothing to sneeze at.

Some links:
http://www.nrma.com.au/pub/nrma/moto...aluables.shtml
http://www.innovated.gov.au/Innovate...Technology.pdf
http://redbook.goauto.com.au/mellor/...257177000EF3EE

[Fairlane]

Great program. They did spend a bit too much time linking car enthuasists to car thefts though.

Man the guy in the Skyline was pretty intense- cant exactly blame him for selling the car. The guy who bought the 'duplicated' landcruiser got duped pretty damn as well.

Originally Posted by Falchoon

I missed the show unfortunately. DataDots add onlyabout $20 to the cost of a new vehicle but costs between $450 to $700 to get it done retrospectively. Not sure why the big difference in price.

A cynical person would say that car manufacturers are hesitant to include it from the factory with all cars (not just high end and performance cars) because that would mean a dramatic decrease in theft and therefore a dramatic decrease in sales. 80,000+ car sales a year is nothing to sneeze at.

Some links:
http://www.nrma.com.au/pub/nrma/moto...aluables.shtml
http://www.innovated.gov.au/Innovate...Technology.pdf
http://redbook.goauto.com.au/mellor/...257177000EF3EE

really that much, hmmmm i think if i had something worth protecting, I'd do it, small price to pay considering some of the car freaks, spend that on a stereo ;) I'm with you, perhaps the auto market indeed likes the idea of theft.. good turn over... if only i was cynical ;) (looks in the mirror, yep I am)...

they did offer hope, when they said that a robotic soloution has been found that can do it, in 40sec's to each car...

this happened to my uncle, up queensland, bought a holden (yes he is one) and then got a knock on the door.... lost it

[OLDFORDNUT]

Originally Posted by Feathers

I get cars dumped outside my bedroom window all the time. You can tell they are stolen to order.
Roofs cut off, everything else missing... gotta be the same people doing it, as they dump them in the same spot regularly.

well there you go, police out looking for speeders instead of setting up a watch under your window and catching real crims. :eclipsee_

[Miss_XR6]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

Great program. They did spend a bit too much time linking car enthuasists to car thefts though.

Man the guy in the Skyline was pretty intense- cant exactly blame him for selling the car. The guy who bought the 'duplicated' landcruiser got duped pretty damn as well.

if u knew the guys involved who are big time car enthuasists u would know that they deserved everything they got off that program Brian has always been dodgy and everyone who knew of him knew he was a thief its about time it got out in the open and opened peoples eyes out there of what really goes on

[gbright]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

Cars are too easy to take and I do not have any pity for those without alarms!

i agree but alarm's dont make it any harder if you know what your doin (witch these guy's obviously do) there is a 100 way's to get around any alarm without it causing to much grief. and as a by the by how many time's do you actually see people taking notice of an alarm going off neways. i locked my keys in my car on franklin st in melb the other day at about 8.45am. in the time it took me to break in (bout 2 min's) about 50 people had walked past not even giving a second glance to this guy standing on the side of the road breaking into a car!!!!!

[Miss_XR6]

most of the cars that the guys were involved in stealing did have top alarms they just knew there way around it having the best alarm doesnt stop a good theif

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by gbright

i agree but alarm's dont make it any harder if you know what your doin (witch these guy's obviously do) there is a 100 way's to get around any alarm without it causing to much grief. and as a by the by how many time's do you actually see people taking notice of an alarm going off neways. i locked my keys in my car on franklin st in melb the other day at about 8.45am. in the time it took me to break in (bout 2 min's) about 50 people had walked past not even giving a second glance to this guy standing on the side of the road breaking into a car!!!!!

Let me explain something.

Alarms do work and do prevent motor vehicle theft. This is an ignored fact.
Now before you think I am nieve, look at what cars are stolen, by who and what security device (if any) was used.
THe alarm needs to be more than a siren with remote start, it needs to have (and be installed) adequate immobilisation. This is what stops the car going missing. No the siren.

[Feathers]

Originally Posted by blownvn

Set up a motion detector and a video camera, or better still get the cops to do it.

They don't care. Takes them a day or so to arrive and look at it. They ask us for the plates if they are still on it, or ID off the compliance plate.

It really creeps me out to know that these scum are only metres away from me and my car.

[chich]

Absolute scum. I'm of the opinion that any thief should be chained to a pole and belted within inches of his life by the victim. Then they should be carted to jail without medical attention. Better still, we should deal with theft the same way they do in the middle east - you take something that isn't yours you loose your hand.

This is the exact reason why my car stays locked up on the weekends - I was lucky to get it back the first time and i'm not prepared to go through that heartache again. Its because of these sons of b**ches that i, and many other can't fully enjoy something we've worked hard for. ******en Lebo scum

: