Victoria Police say they seized more than 900 key-cloning devices in a year, and thieves in the Australian state still steal more than 10,000 vehicles annually with electronic tools, about 30 a day.
Police are now putting letters in the mailboxes of owners of the most-targeted models, according to the force’s media release, and the main fix they recommend is a lock over the OBD port under the dash, with a steering wheel lock as a second obstacle. The 10,000 figure and the 30-a-day rate come from police intelligence, per the force’s vehicle theft prevention page, which also puts recoveries at about 80 percent.
What the cloning tools do
Victoria Police describe the tools as key-mimicking or cloning technology that can reprogram keys, override a car’s immobiliser, and start it without its key. The force’s OBD port lock video says the diagnostic port can be used to program new keys, and shows a locking plate fitted over the port with the port cover fastened on top.
A modern key is a transponder paired to the car’s immobiliser, and the car starts only for a key it has been told to trust. Telling it is a software job, done by a tool plugged into the diagnostic port. Whoever can plug in and enrol a new key walks away with a working one.
The port is there because of emissions law. EPA’s 2003 release on repair information states that all 1996 and newer passenger vehicles must have OBD systems, and that independent technicians get the same emissions-related repair information as dealerships. The socket was built for inspectors and mechanics. Key programming uses the same one, which is why police have settled on a lock over it.
Police also warn that keys kept inside the house may not be safe, because criminals can clone or relay a key’s signal from outside, and they suggest a signal-blocking pouch or a metal tin or drawer. An OBD lock does nothing against that. The two measures cover different attacks.
Six models, 2022 to 2025
The prevention page carries a table of the most-stolen models. Land Cruiser thefts went from 89 in 2022 to 846 in 2025, which police list as a 9.5-fold increase. The RAV4 went from 47 to 467, the Impreza from 31 to 445, the Corolla from 149 to 676 and the Hilux from 140 to 592. The Commodore started far higher at 485, peaked at 1,345 in 2024 and slipped to 1,271 in 2025. Adding the six rows, The Auto Wire’s math gives 941 thefts in 2022 and 4,297 in 2025, about 4.6 times as many.
Five of the six models rose in every year of the table; the Commodore is the exception. The table runs through 2025 and shows no downturn for those five, which helps explain why police are moving the defense from the evidence locker to the owner’s dashboard. Seizing 900 devices is a result police can count. A lock on the port is the one step an owner controls.
What US owners should take from it
The numbers are Victoria’s, and nothing in the police material says these tools work on US-market trims. The architecture is shared: American cars have carried OBD systems since the 1996 model year, and push-button keys are standard here. The Auto Wire has reported on a federal complaint over a reprogrammed Corvette key fob and on a class action covering push-button Hondas and Acuras since 2015.
On the federal side, FMVSS 114 centers on key-locking. In a 2002 NHTSA interpretation letter, the agency describes a requirement that removing the key prevents normal engine activation and either steering or forward self-mobility, and the letter mentions an electronic immobilizer only as part of one manufacturer’s Smart Key design. That letter is not the full standard, so it describes the key-locking duty rather than proving no immobilizer rule exists anywhere. It does not say who may program a key.
Police describe OBD port locks as inexpensive, simple to fit and widely sold. Any shop or inspection station that needs the port will need it unlocked, so keep the key to the lock somewhere other than the glove box. A steering wheel lock is a visible deterrent, and a pouch at home covers the relay case.
Would you fit a lock on your own car’s OBD port, or is securing that port the automaker’s job?