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-   -   New scam - Thieves throw chemical on your car, then try to steal it (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/187045-new-scam-thieves-throw-chemical-your-car-then-try-steal.html)

Hi BHPians,

For last several days, I am receiving a message from my close friends and different whatsapp groups about a newly devised method in Delhi NCR to steal a vehicle or rob a person on road, in broad-day-light. I am posting the original message along with the shared picture of the victim's car. Please throw light on it and the veracity of the fact. If any of you have experienced the same in recent days please let us know in detail.please:

Many thanks for sharing! These rascals come up with new tricks every month and it's hard to keep track of their methods. This one though is dangerous as it forces you to stop & get out of the car :Shockked:.

Your friend sure had presence of mind; kudos and am glad to hear that the petrol pump helped him out.

Hope someone catches these scoundrels on a dashcam, thus helping the cops to ID them.

The goons probably used a mix of acid & grease.

But if one drives around with AC internal circulation switched ON, the chemical fumes will not enter the car right?

IMHO, a small fraction of fresh air is always present in the car irrespective of the fact whether the unit is running in internal circulation mode or not. I believe that I have read this in some article related to CO poisoning.

I also have noticed that outdoor odours, though minimal, make it to the passenger cabin even if the AC is off with windows rolled.

Don't know if this is correct or not as I too have received this message in some groups last week.

Well, if the interiors were so suffocating and blinding that the occupants had to step out, how was it possible for the goons to get into the car right away and drive it? And with mouths only covered with cloth ?
Also, it is much easier to stop a car by faking an accident, instead of this complicated modus operandi which may not be always successful.
This might be a true incident, but I have developed a slightly questioning attitude towards many 'advisories' that come by on social media, mostly with anonymous sources.

Since the plates are clear, may be someone can trace the owner for an accuracy!

Good Point. Also, assuming the car is going at a speed of say 40 Kmph, the bike driver, in order to spray the mixture on grill will have to go with 1-2 KMPH high and very near to the grill. Else, spraying may be a difficult task. And it will be glaringly visible to the car driver. So, deceiving the car driver's eyes and spraying on the front grill seems very difficult to me.

I think the affected person's choice of words might have been misleading. Since he was able to drive for nearly a km to a nearby fuel station, probably the effect is not so bad as you think it is. once the driver steps out, the gang just has to speed away with the car with the windows down.

The narrative clearly mentions that the chemical was sprayed by a passer by who walked past the car. Not the bike in the front

The best solution is, as soon as you start feeling suffocated, just keep moving, roll down all four windows, switch off fan/ac and speed up.

Fresh air coming from all around will give you enough time to reach a safe place.

Perhaps, most of you are well aware of the famous 'Thak-Thak Gangs' scam in Delhi-NCR dated back in 2013-14. Some of my familiar friends experienced them at that time and narrated to me with first hand info. It got descerning national media coverage and the kingpins of the gangs were finally busted. They also tried to draw the attention of the drivers/owners with some frivolous things and used to seize the opportunity to steal valuables from the car. I think it may be a revamped edition of the similar gang with same modus-operandi.

Another reason why fixing front and rear dash cams are very important. In this case the victim could have captured the faces and the bike numbers and reported the same to the cops. Also as suggested above, lowering the glasses would help in air circulation. But not the whole glass. Just a little bit of each pane(remember they may still have the acid handy to spray inside the car cabin).

I have 1 simple rule, never ever stop on a deserted road (day or night), unless of course the car is on fire.

What is an engine rebuild cost compared to one's life, nothing!

Car jackers will continue to come up with new tricks to make you stop the car and get out, all you have to do is to remind yourself that you're not getting out, period.

I think bhpians would be more prone to getting out of car in such cases because they just can't think of continuing to drive a car that's leaking oil or driving with a punctured tyre but a car is after all a machine, replaceable one at that.

Stay safe fellow enthusiasts!

We have experienced such a case on nh24. And so has my brothers brother in law, in this case he lost all his belongings.

I also had the similar experience around mid-2015 near Punjabi Bagh flyover in Delhi. I was going towards Kirti Nagar from Pitampura and had just gotten down from the Punjabi Bagh flyover and had exited the flyover waiting at the traffic light to take a left towards Kirti Nagar.
Just to give a background, I had my father sitting next to me in the front and he was holding his office bag in his lap, containing some office papers etc. but in hindsight, the way my father was holding the bag, gave the impression that it may be containing some valuables or cash.
I was waiting at the light, which had some traffic policeman managing the traffic, the windows were rolled up and AC was on. Just when the light turned green and traffic started to crawl, a heavily built man came in front of my car, hit the bonnet very lightly, acted like he lost balance, regained his balance and moved on. He made a deliberate attempt not to look at us and was just looking ahead of him. When he hit the bonnet, I heard metal clinking with another metal, and just catched a glimpse of aluminium tumbler in one of his hands. The man went away, and I carried on, not thinking about it much.

As I took left and drove some 100 metres, a bike came ahead of me from the left with both the driver and pillion rider wearing helmets but the helmet of pillion rider didn't have the glass on it so that I can see his eyes and little bit of his face. I recognised the man as the same person who had just hit our car at the traffic junction and I grew little suspicious. The pillion was waving at me and pointing at the bonnet of my car, while keeping the bike just near to my car at a steady speed. The bike didn't have a number plate at the back. I just moved my lips to say "get aside" and waved my hand to mention the same and sped past him. Looking in the rear view mirror, no one was following me but I still drove little fast, double checked car windows and locks, and only stopped in the parking of the crowded market some kilometers away. My father was quietly sitting next to me, not noticing the whole episode. Before getting down from the car, I told him that we will find some oil spilled on the bonnet of the car. He was clueless as to what I was saying and we both checked the front of the car.
Without a doubt, some black oil, looking like used engine oil, was spattered on the front grille of my Swift and little bit on the bonnet also. I again checked my surroundings for anybody doubtful, and then got the cleaning cloth from the car and cleaned the oil.

Thanks to god, I got saved from this trap as only a few weeks back, my father had mentioned me a similar story which happened to one of his clients on the Rajouri Garden flyover, when that person was carrying some heavy cash with him on the backseat and the scamsters or thieves, whatever you may call them, got away with the bag.
I understood their modus operandi after this incident. They spill the oil making you fear that the engine has malfunctioned, you stop the car, get out of it, most of the times leaving your belongings inside, open the bonnet, blocking your view of the seats and inside of the car, one person keeps you and your partner, if any, busy at the engine and the other one picks the bag, and suddenly they drive away, you still unable to understand what has just happened. It doesn't click at the time that if the engine oil is leaking due to any problems, it will drip under the engine and not spurt out from the grille.

I was saved as the god gave me the hint, some time back about this trick, and the only way we can save ourselves from these never ending tricks, is by keeping ourselves aware and alert about these all kind of tricks going around.
I was also little surprised by the spot which the scamsters chose to spill the oil. The intersection had heavy traffic, traffic policeman was standing just 5-7 metres away, managing the traffic and anybody can easily spot the man spilling the oil on the bonnet. Still they act brazenly and without much fear of getting caught.