If you are following our blogs, it must be clear by now the importance of having a GPS tracker, whether for tracking vehicles or equipment. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s (NICB) reports, there has been a surge in vehicle theft in past years. 44% of all vehicle thefts in the USA, happened in Illinois, Florida, Colorado, California, and Texas. It is an alarming trend, and we should take proper precautions against it. In this article, we are sharing feedback from one of our customers in Germany regarding retrieving their vehicles from theft with the help of the PAJ GPS Tracker. 

A Family Trip, Turned Rescue Mission

One of our customers, whom we’ll call John for privacy, embarked on a trailer trip with his family. After parking the trailer outside and resting in a motel at 5 a.m. early morning, John received a shock alert from his PAJ GPS Power Finder 4G GPS Tracker. Initially, the family was sleeping and missed checking the phone. However, at around 05:04 a.m., John received another alert from the tracker’s geofence setting, showing that the trailer had left the predefined safe area. Fortunately, this time, John noticed the alerts.

Rapid Response to Theft

Upon realizing the situation, John rushed to the parking lot. By then, the trailer had already left and was on the road. At around 05:14 a.m., John received a speeding alert from the tracker. Subsequently, at about 05:41 a.m., the vehicle stopped in a parking lot near a train station. Armed with the tracker in the trailer, John remained calm and immediately informed the police, sharing the vehicle’s location. By around 06:00 a.m., the police had successfully recovered the vehicle from the parking lot, thankfully undamaged.

Insight into the Theft Operation

Providing further details, the police explained that this incident involved a common theft technique. Two teams executed the operation: one team scouted for potential vehicles and cooling spots to park them. After identifying the vehicle and a cooling spot, about 30 km from the original location, the second team performed the theft and moved the vehicle there. The vehicle would then stay parked for 2-3 weeks. In this case, the thieves would have advanced to their next step if the vehicle remained unnoticed. Contrary to common internet myths, the police confirmed that jammers were not used, often because of the high cost and complexity of such technology.

The situation lasted not more than an hour. Significantly, the tracker’s various alerts and real-time tracking were instrumental in the swift recovery of the motorhome.