| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
Why does everybody hide their license plate in photos? It's right out there in public view all the time. I'm sure there's a reason; even car manufacturers are doing it in ads. But I don't understand what the danger is. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
people on the internet always say its so people cant track you down and steal it from their house...I think it's silly as hell. Same for the ones that block out their keys thinking someone will make a copy based on the picture, come to their house, and rob them. We live in a scared society | ||
| Aesquire |
The Key thing is actually legit. For some keys. As is Car Licence plate paranoia. Thieves currently cruise the streets, and take a picture of the car's vin. Then come back later, electronically unlock & steal with black market keys ( and programmers/hack software ) Posting your plate gives anyone in the porous database system your vin & address. If the car is desirable, then you just handed them a score on a platter. What are the odds? Dunno. Is it that big a deal? Dunno. I generally don't worry about it, and I also don't usually post pictured on the intra-web of my stuff. YMMV I'm not worried because no one steals old Caravans. Buttercup, my Cyclone has a stock lock. For trips I use a Kryptonite padlock from the insanely heavy Chain set they sell. I just lock it to the front Disc. The trick is not forgetting it and face planting myself. | ||
| Aesquire |
come to their house, and rob them. Ready for a New Level Of Paranoia? The original idea is from a novel, but it's still a serious notion. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C74OY7M/ref=dp-kindle -redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Social media targeting. A Bad Guy picks victims based on desirability ( looks, money, possessions ) and Social Position on self defense, and home security. So, picking the least scary version, possessions. The old guy with the hot car, who thinks the NRA is the Klan, and lives like a recluse, is a prime target. Quick to search for and link to. College student, female, Daddy bought her a new BMW, going to Women's March for three days. Another Easy one. The other motives, looks and money, suggest home invasion robbery, at best, and gang rape & murder at worst. This technique also lets the Bad Guy avoid problem people. For example... ( Are they Badwebbers? Or parodies? ) Hot Cars, good income, retired Marine, personal friends with local Mob Boss and Swat team Leader. Expensive truck, backwoods setting, Off grid expertise & survivalist training. Best vacation this year? Gunsite Academy Counter sniper/Scout course. Classic Bike, Gaming computer, old fart with 20+ years of full contact martial arts. Claims he has no guns, but seems to be a real internet commando on stupid technical details. A wise fellow would avoid those homes. | ||
| Ratbuell |
If people want to use your license plate to track and steal your car...they can do it any time you drive it. You kinda HAVE to display it when you're driving... | ||
| Aesquire |
Point. However, If I was into stealing a particular make of car ( perhaps because I have the key thing for that brand ) my encounter with you on the highway is chance. I can just search for ( Your Car ) pics on the web. Your circle of exposure is now nation wide. Planetary, actually, If a buyer in Beijing wants a copy of (your rare car) he can order it from the thieves locally.... by social media. | ||
| Ratbuell |
If they want it that bad, they'll find a way. No sense being scared of shadows, how will you live your life if you're that afraid of everything and everybody? And if they want it that bad...well...that's what insurance is for. | ||
| Froggy |
While it is true you can get a key made based on a photo, the odds of it being used in a crime are slim. Your typical robbery will be a smash and grab, either breaking a window or a door. Something more stealth like lockpicking takes time and skill, both of which are things common crooks lack. Getting a photo of a key and then getting a copy made is going to be difficult. You would need to have access to it (likely be invited into a home, taking a pic of the keychain hanging near the door), or happen to get lucky with a high enough quality social media post. The TSA approved luggage lock keys were posted online years ago and now you can buy copies of them. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
Key thing might be legit, but if they really want to get in they'll just kick a door in or something. I refuse to live in fear of these things, but you do you and whatever you think is best for you | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I've made keys by hand with little files and a dremel before. It's not rocket science. Smart people don't steal cars/bikes. Morons with poor impulse control steal stuff. "Oceans Eleven" was fiction. Real criminals would rather steal your $12 from breaking a $270 car window. Planning and working together is too much like having a real job. | ||
| Ratbuell |
There are reasonably smart people who steal every day. We elect them to office. We also give them our information freely - Google, Apple, etc. "Theft" applies on many levels, and most sheeple are not bright enough to take proper precautions like not using Alexa or Siri; not having web-based "security" systems; not posting all over facebook that "our whole family is going to be out of town for six weeks" (read: open season on our house and contents). I don't use ApplePay or Wallet or any of that crap because a) I'm perfectly capable of pulling a credit card out of my wallet, and b) I don't want that information stored anywhere I don't have control over. | ||
| Sifo |
I've seen a key made from a photo of the original. Long story as to the why of it, but it worked. Most keys these days are chipped though, and a photo won't help with that. As to the question about license plates... It's information about you. There are crazies out there, and when one gets a hard on to do bad stuff, there's simply no reason to give them information that can help them. Paranoid? Perhaps. Scared? No. It's an easy thing to do though, with no downside. I imagine most of us lock our doors when leaving the house. Paranoid? Scared? | ||
| Airbozo |
Back in the day there was a website called Highway 17 page of shame. The guy would post pictures of people doing bad things on 17 (a very curvy road from San Jose to Santa Cruz, over the mountains). Lots of road boulder Volvo's, beemer drivers zig zagging through slow traffic, VW vans doing 35 in the left lane, etc. The got actually got sued so many times he started blocking out license plates, but not faces. Most of the lawsuits stopped. | ||
| Aesquire |
It is not morons with poor impulse control using key code systems stealing hundreds of cars each week. That's big business. Ditto theft from bank accounts with chip readers. The junkie with a brick is still there, but you don't care who steals your car, it's gone and probably disassembled by dawn. The don't show your plate bit is over cautious for some, like me with a Caravan, but if you have a desirable car? You don't show pictures of your credit card online, do ya? My phone doesn't have bank or credit card numbers onboard. I just don't trust the systems. I know not to trust the people. Every technology gets exploited. Chipped keys just take a key programmer. Car theft gangs got them & use them. Chip readers abound to hit your credit card while it's in your wallet. The guy with the laptop writing his novel at Starbucks or Taco Bell is recording your card numbers as you wave your iToy. Fake ATM faces read your card & take your pin.... But don't dispense money......to you. That last one is real. All are real. Feel free to argue it won't happen to you. That's what all victims think. Seriously, you just have to be reasonably prudent. I need a new wallet, old one is beat. New one will have RF blocking card pockets. Since I now have a chip card I might as well be wearing it on my wrist on display. Wear a condom when having sex with strangers...... Sound advice even if it doesn't apply to you. Honestly, you all aint paranoid enough. But the thread is about not advertising your plate number to the planet. | ||
| Torquehd |
I distort my license plate because at any given point I'm probably guilty of breaking some federal or state law with whatever motor vehicle I'm posting online, and I don't really want to give them an easy reason to fine me. I don't remember the exact quote, but a former Secret Service agent was interviewed on Fox, regarding Mueller's investigation of Trump, and he basically said that federal law is so vast and over-reaching that they can incriminate anyone they want to, which is why they hired Mueller. They can do the same to us lowly peasants. Which is why I support anonymity online as much as possible. Paranoia? Maybe. If it keeps my nose clean just once it's worth all the effort. | ||
| Torquehd |
Wear a condom when having sex with strangers Yet another reason to stay faithful to your wife, it's so much better without the Blank Firing Adapter! | ||
| Zac4mac |
I haven't heard of RFID cards in the US. Chip cards can't be read remotely, mag stripe either. Just in case tho, I carry my home-rolled cigarettes and my cards - DL, CC and CCW in an Altoids tin because they fit. Z | ||
| 1313 |
The story is interesting... | ||
| Sifo |
I haven't heard of RFID cards in the US. Chip cards can't be read remotely, mag stripe either. Michigan, as well as some other states I'm lead to believe, have "enhanced" state IDs available, with RFID chips. They are issued with a special sleeve that prevents it from being read from your wallet. | ||
| Aesquire |
Chip cards can be read with a chip reader, they don't need to be inserted. Just pass it by your butt. Card readers at gas pumps & registers can & have been tapped. But it's big hacking that is the usual reason my bank replaced my card. Walmart, Home Depot, etc. And the free year of credit monitoring from work was the result of a hack on a Federal database by the Red Chinese Peoples Republic Army. All those quizes? What House at Hogwarts are you? You'd be shocked if you knew x? All that is Big Data, and How Trump Won. Targeted marketing. The real money is the analysis. Banks are big on this. They've discovered it is not sex or skin color or where you live that is important. But people that score 100% on "Test your WW2 trivia IQ!" Pay Their Bills. (Example. Pay for actual results ) See also Democrat Terrorism Thread. Where claimed former State worked threatens to commit felony to harm Badwebber on Social media. | ||
| Zac4mac |
I just got off a long call to Wells Fargo, where I bank. Our cards are readable via mag stripe and contact-chip reading, NO NFC reading. YMMV Z <edit>If you have NFC cards, an Altoids tin is a cheap and available Faraday cage and will keep your data safe. (Message edited by zac4mac on August 17, 2018) | ||
| Court |
>>>All that is Big Data, and How Trump Won. Targeted marketing. And, to be clear, no one has done this nearly as well as Barack Obama . . . . . The Obama campaign pretty much pioneered putting the power of the internet to work for you. | ||
| Ducbsa |
Regarding the Obama campaign: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/509026/how-obam as-team-used-big-data-to-rally-voters/ http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/20/friended-how- the-obama-campaign-connected-with-young-voters/ I had bookmarked a video link of his person who ran the operation. She bragged throughout the whole thing how cool it was and how they "knew everything". It isn't available anymore, apparently too much truth. | ||
| Aesquire |
Our cards are readable via mag stripe and contact-chip reading, NO NFC reading. Some clarification. https://blog.atlasrfidstore.com/rfid-vs-nfc https://www.trishtech.com/2016/10/read-your-credit -card-data-using-credit-card-reader-nfc-app-in-and roid/ Some credit cards can be read by no touch close passes of a reader, others cannot. The Altoid tin is a smart solution. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/10/nfc_secur ity/ Funny... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9vTvbHgi2M So.... Don't worry about it! Or Worry about it! depends on who is selling you what. I still wouldn't put my credit card number or licence plate, on social media, or my phone, or my t-shirt. | ||
| Lynrd |
Just being paranoid doesn't make you wrong. It's not a question if you are paranoid---the question is "Are you paranoid ENOUGH?" |
