[gischethans]

On Monday, Kasaragod woke up to a daring heist in a jewellery store at Hosangadi in Manjeshwar. Seven robbers wearing masks, bandana and gloves bashed up the watchman, tied and gagged him, and scooted with 15kg of silver ornaments, Rs 4.5 lakh in cash, and expensive watches.

The thieves had hired an Innova from a car rental service. The bad time for thieves started when the car rental owner, Musthafa got suspicious of receiving an overspeeding alert with the car moving in a different direction than it was hired for. Little did the thieves know that the car was with a telematics box with a SIM card. It had a real-time tracking device and sends all the vital parameters of the car - such as RPM and engine oil level and temperature - to his mobile phone. If needed, a microphone embedded in the box could be silently turned on.

When the Innova was idling at Kankanady for a long time, Musthafa decided to turn on the microphone inside the car. What he heard confirmed his suspicion. There were several persons inside the car speaking Kannada and Tulu. There was no mention of breaking into a jewellery shop. "But they talked about a deal, covering the brake lights, and changing the number plate of the car," he said.

He immediately alerted officers in the Crime Branch of Dakshina Kannada police.

While we should whole-heartedly appreciate the car owner for his alert behaviour, future thieves will now look for such devices when hiring cars. Common people would (should?) be wary of hidden microphones (and cameras?) causing privacy invasion as these technologies are prone to misuse in the wrong hands.

Source

[mathewspaul]

Originally Posted by gischethans

Common people would (should?) be wary of hidden microphones (and cameras?) causing privacy invasion as these technologies are prone to misuse in the wrong hands.

The news article says that the owner gave his personal car, as the thieves asked specifically for a 7 seater MPV. So the car in question is not a regular rental vehicle.

[RedTerrano]

Originally Posted by mathewspaul

The news article says that the owner gave his personal car, as the thieves asked specifically for a 7 seater MPV. So the car in question is not a regular rental vehicle.

Perhaps he has teenage kids and that's why he installed all the telemetry and monitoring gadgets. I can think of no other reason to install microphones inside the car

[Lalvaz]

Very useful device to have, especially for rental cars. Any idea which brand was this?
Also shows how attentive the gentleman was to immediately notice the deviation and take prompt follow up action. A very positive side of snooping, which is such a maligned word in these days.

[ankan.m.blr]

Even I have a telematics device connected to the OBD2 port via cable and kept 'relatively' hidden. Just for those times when I drive to unknown places and park overnight in a public area. Curious to know this telematics device brand/model which has an in-built microphone and can be turned on/off remotely if needed.