Wilshire-area neighborhoods were told to be particularly vigilant.

The Los Angeles Police Department has warned residents to be wary of thieves using technology to break into homes undetected. High-tech burglars have apparently knocked out their victims’ wireless cameras and alarms in the Los Angeles Wilshire-area neighborhoods before getting away with swag bags full of valuables. An LAPD social media post highlights the Wi-Fi jammer-supported burglaries and provides a helpful checklist of precautions residents can take.

Criminals can easily find the hardware for Wi-Fi jamming online. It can also be cheap, with prices starting from $40. However, jammers are illegal to use in the U.S.

We have previously reported on Wi-Fi jammer-assisted burglaries in Edina, Minnesota. Criminals deployed Wi-Fi jammer(s) to ensure homeowners weren’t alerted of intrusions and that incriminating video evidence wasn’t available to investigators.

  • @EntropywinsEnglish
    41•2 months ago

    Yeah, it’s not really a spike in burglaries so much as a spike in a specific tool being used in burglaries. Whether they use a brick, wifi jammer or a gun they were going to rob someone someway…

    • @AA5BEnglish
      19•2 months ago

      Or a hoodie. I’m not sure why it’s a big g deal to WiFi jam a video doorbell when you can also defeat it with a hoodie …. Plus that’s not a burglar alarm.

      Whoever is peddling anything as a burglar alarm that depends on WiFi is the real criminal

      • @ReluctantMuskratEnglish
        1•2 months ago

        Jammer also keeps people from getting a notification that someone has come into view on the camera. An away homeowner who sees a person coming through their front door can call the police. With no notification you don’t know until you get home and they’re long gone.