Mary Anne Cobbin and her partner were left shocked when doorbell footage captured two men lingering outside their Bournemouth home at around 4am.
During the incident, on Monday, January 13, thieves attempted to access the signal of the keyless car through a device outside the house, near Ensbury Park.
“We were alerted in the morning,” said Mary.
“[The doorbell] let us know it had detected motion on the property and luckily we saw it in the morning, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to sleep for the rest of the night.”
Mary said she has owned keyless cars for years and was aware of the risks of thieves using a device to access the key from outside the house, but never thought she would be a victim.
She said: “You think it’s never going to happen to you, but since then I’ve bought a box that can fit my whole set of keys in.”
Signal blocking pouches or boxes, such as Faraday Bags, can be used to protect keyless cars.
Mary said she was lucky the thieves were unsuccessful in their attempt due to her keys being too deep in the house but is now looking to warn others.
“I want to spread awareness for the people that don’t know how keyless car works, and getting the knowledge that your key distributes a signal, and you need to stop that signal from being read.”
A spokesperson said: “Dorset Police received a report at around 9.30am on Monday 13 January 2025 of the attempted theft of a vehicle [near Ensbury Park] in Bournemouth.
“The incident is reported to have occurred at approximately 4.05am earlier on the same day.
“Enquiries are ongoing into the incident.
“No arrests have been made.”
Police recommend owners of keyless cars keep both their main and spare keys far away from the car.
Owners should keep keys in signal blocking pouches, and check they are still working every few months.
Keys from second-hand cars should be re-programmed and all fobs should have wireless signals turned off when not being used.