By ZAIHAN MOHAMED YUSOF

HE'S the sort of driver who would "go the extra mile" to keep his car safe and secure.

Whenever Mr Abdul Rahman Majid, 49, parks his car, he makes sure that it's in an area with human traffic.

He also parks his car "head in" and turns the front wheels to one side.

This is to make it difficult for thieves to tow away his $120,000 Honda Odyssey.

He also uses steering and brake pedal locks.

The Singaporean real estate agent did all these when he visited Tebrau City in Johor Baruon24 Jan.

Before leaving his car, he also made sure that his central locking and alarm system were on.

Yet, 25 minutes later, he was shocked to find that his car had been broken into.

And Mr Abdul Rahman has no idea how the thieves did it because there were no signs of forced entry.

"I was so confident that nobody could penetrate the car's security system," he said.

Mr Abdul Rahman and his family had gone to the mall, which is about a 20-minute drive from the Causeway, to return a faulty cleaning apparatus.

When they returned to his car, he was surprised to see that its glove compartment was open.

When Mr Abdul Rahman tried to disarm the car's alarm, the windows began moving up and down.

"I knew something was wrong because when I tried to deactivate my car alarm, I didn't hear the usual beeping sound."

His daughter's laptop, which was inside a bag on the back seat, was gone.

His GPS system, which was inside the glove compartment, a haversack and a handphone were also missing.

Mr Abdul Rahman, who estimated his loss at $3,000, made police reports in Johor Baru and Singapore.

When he checked with the carpark security guard, he was surprised to learn that his car alarm had not gone off.

"It's amazing that the thieves were able to get into my car despite me having all these security features. I don't know how they did it,"he said.

So how did the thieves do it?

One possible way is by using an electronic gadget that sends a radio frequency similar to the car's alarm system, said an expert who deals with car theft cases in Malaysia and declined to be named.

This enables thieves to open the car doors without tripping the alarm or by using force.

Those in the car industry will know where to get the device, which he said can even be found on the Internet.

"We've come across the use of this device in Malaysia, but it's not that rampant. It's more commonly used in Europe and Eastern Europe as a favoured method of breaking into a car cleanly," he said.

Car thieves are also known to "neutralise" the alarm system by short-circuiting wires in the signal lights.

Then they enter the car using a master key.

Tell-tale signs

But such a method would usually leave tell-tale signs, such as a damaged signal light or some drilled holes.

In Mr Rahman's case, there were no such indications.

Four Malaysian car accessory shops told The New Paper that they had not heard of the latest method of breaking into cars.

A spokesman for Mega Champion Automart in Johor Baru, who gave her name as Lisa, said: "When a car is broken into, there will always be some clues or sign that the car has been tampered with."

But she added that car thieves are "getting better", so car owners should install better quality alarm systems.

The Malaysian authorities are also seeing another worrying trend.

Last December, Malaysian newspaper The Malay Mail reported the existence of a new device that can override a car's security system, enabling the thief to disconnect the car alarm and drive the car away.

The device is known as TKM (Toyota Key Maker) and is believed to have been used mainly to steal Toyota cars.

The report said the TKM can be bought at some car workshops or online for as little as RM300($124).

Car theft syndicates in Malaysia have been known to steal cars using the TKM in just a few minutes.

According to the report, Toyota is the most popular foreign make targeted by thieves in Malaysia from January to October last year.

Of the 3,600 car theft cases, 1,575 involved the marque, with the most sought-after models being the Camry, Fortuner and Hilux.

As for Mr Abdul Rahman, he believes he didn't lose his car because of the steering lock and brake pedal lock.

He said: "Can you imagine how fast and easy it could have been for the thieves to drive my car off if I didn't have these locks to slow them down?"

And he's not taking anymore chances.

He has installed a $500 alarm system which will alert him via a small pager-sized device if someone is trying to break into his car.

"As long as I'm within a 3km radius of my car, I will instantly know if something happens to my car. This will give me time to dash back."

This article was first published in The New Paper.