Partly Wrong: Thieves at Melbourne Airport Aren't Mainly Using Key-Cloning Devices — It's a Different Tech Entirely
“Thieves primarily use key-cloning devices to unlock push-button start vehicles at Melbourne Airport”
The argument in brief
A widely shared claim says thieves are using key-cloning devices to steal push-button start cars at Melbourne Airport. The threat is real, but the technology named is wrong. Australian law enforcement and the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council identify relay attacks — not key cloning — as the dominant method used against keyless vehicles in locations like airport car parks.
Why it spread
The claim carries a genuine kernel of truth: invisible, technology-enabled car theft is real and rising, and that feels deeply unsettling. People share it out of genuine concern for friends and family, and the technical details — relay attack versus cloning — sound similar enough that the distinction gets lost in retelling. Fear of unstoppable high-tech crime makes the story feel urgent and worth passing on.
The claim is that thieves are targeting push-button start vehicles at Melbourne Airport using key-cloning devices. The core concern is legitimate — electronic theft of keyless cars is a documented and growing problem at Melbourne Airport and similar locations. But the specific technology named gets it wrong, and that matters if you want to actually protect yourself.
The method thieves primarily use is called a relay attack, and it works differently from cloning. Two thieves work together: one stands near your car, the other stands near you — in the terminal, the car park, wherever your keys are. A pair of cheap signal-boosting devices amplifies the fob's signal across that distance, tricking the car into thinking the key is right there. The car unlocks and starts. The whole thing can take seconds. The RACV, the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council, and Victoria Police all point to relay attacks as the dominant electronic theft method for keyless vehicles in Australia.
True key cloning is a different beast. It requires either prolonged close contact with your fob or physical access to the car's OBD diagnostic port, plus specialised equipment. UK research body Thatcham Research, whose findings apply globally, confirms that cloning is far less common in opportunistic settings like car parks precisely because it takes more time and access than thieves typically have.
The practical difference matters. Relay attacks are stopped by keeping your key fob in a signal-blocking pouch (a Faraday pouch), which costs a few dollars. Cloning would require different countermeasures. If people believe the wrong threat, they may not take the right precautions.
This kind of misinformation spreads because it contains a true and frightening core — your car really can be stolen without your keys being touched — and people share it as a warning to protect others. But mixing up the technical details muddies the advice and can leave people less protected, not more. When you see warnings about electronic car theft, check whether the source distinguishes between relay attacks and cloning. Most credible ones do.
Sources
- Australian Federal Police / Victoria Police
Australian law enforcement reports on vehicle theft at airports primarily document relay attack devices (signal amplifiers/boosters) rather than key-cloning devices as the dominant method for stealing keyless entry vehicles.
- NMVTRC (National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council) Australia
The NMVTRC identifies relay attacks — where two thieves use devices to amplify and relay the signal from a key fob inside a home or bag — as the primary method targeting keyless push-button start vehicles in Australia, not cloning.
- RACV Vehicle Security Advisory
RACV explicitly distinguishes between relay attacks (most common) and key programming/cloning attacks (less common, typically requiring physical access to the OBD port), noting relay attacks are the predominant threat to keyless vehicles in Australian car parks.
- Which? / UK Thatcham Research (internationally applicable findings)
Thatcham Research confirms relay amplification attacks are the dominant method globally for stealing push-button start vehicles; true key cloning requires specialized equipment and longer proximity time, making it far less common in opportunistic theft scenarios like airport car parks.
- Victoria Police Crime Statistics Agency
Victoria Police crime data shows motor vehicle theft is a documented issue at Melbourne Airport precincts, but official reporting does not specifically attribute the primary method to key-cloning devices — relay attacks are the more commonly cited electronic theft method.