Wilshire-area neighborhoods were told to be particularly vigilant.

The Los Angeles Police Department has warned residents to be wary of thieves using technology to break into homes undetected. High-tech burglars have apparently knocked out their victims’ wireless cameras and alarms in the Los Angeles Wilshire-area neighborhoods before getting away with swag bags full of valuables. An LAPD social media post highlights the Wi-Fi jammer-supported burglaries and provides a helpful checklist of precautions residents can take.

Criminals can easily find the hardware for Wi-Fi jamming online. It can also be cheap, with prices starting from $40. However, jammers are illegal to use in the U.S.

We have previously reported on Wi-Fi jammer-assisted burglaries in Edina, Minnesota. Criminals deployed Wi-Fi jammer(s) to ensure homeowners weren’t alerted of intrusions and that incriminating video evidence wasn’t available to investigators.

  • @[email protected]English
    10•4 months ago

    Its also to help police with investigations. POE cameras and doorbells won’t have this specific weakness, they’ll probably still get in and steal all your valuables, but if they think thier wifi jammer is working you might get some footage thats useful for the cops…

    • @[email protected]English
      4•4 months ago

      Then the burglars will just upgrade to a device that sends an EMP to disable everything. If it’s worth it.

      • ✺roguetrick✺English
        1•4 months ago

        My go to method for stealing people’s stuff is actually a neutron bomb. It keeps the property intact and all you gotta do is wait for a few months for the big gamma emitting neutron activated materials to cool off.

    • @[email protected]English
      0•4 months ago

      But then if they do realise you’ve got POE devices I guess they could use a laser to overheat the external cameras I guess, or nock out your power if you don’t have them on a UPS…

      • @[email protected]English
        2•4 months ago

        I highly doubt they’ll go through that much effort. If they do notice you have POE devices, they’ll probably just go to your neighbor’s house. And that’s the whole point of this type of security, be just a bit more secure than the next person.