The chicago police issued a statement last week warning Kia and Hyundai owners about the increase in robberies of vehicles of those brands due to a reto viral de TikTok.
The incidence of the so-called ‘Hyundai or Kia Challenge’ is not a problem unique to the Windy City. Also in Milwaukee and in Pennsylvania have reported an increase in car thefts due to this viral challenge.
In Chicago, Hyundai and Kia thefts are up 767%, according to the city’s Police Department.
The technique used is amazingly simple, posted on TikTok by a group called ‘Kia Boyz’. The video that runs through the social network of Chinese origin teaches how to start the vehicle with a mobile phone charger or a USB cable, which allows you to start the car in less than a minute.
From 40% to nearly 70% of vehicle thefts
The increase in Chicago has been notorious. Of the 74 thefts that occurred between July and mid-August last year from Kia and Hyundai, it has been the 642 in that same period of that yearaccording to police authorities.
At the beginning of August, a group of teenagers aged 14 to 17 were involved in a robbery of a Kia in Minnesota, Fox News reports. After the theft, they staged a highway chase with patrol cars and a helicopter. They were arrested after crashing the vehicle.
The same media indicates that the Saint Petersburg Police, in Florida, has declared that the theft of these two brands account for 40% of this type of crime. In Milwaukee the proportion is even more alarming: during 2021, 67% of thefts are related to Kia or Hyundai.
lack of immobilizers
The ‘trick’ to get the vehicle to start derives from a failure of models prior to 2022, mainly some Kia produced between 2011 and 2021 and some Hyundai from 2015 to 2021. According to the specialized media Car And Drive, the problem is in lack of immobilizers of the affected vehicles.
The authorities have suggested to the owners of these vehicles that take special care of your cars; especially in the ‘quick’ stops at gas stations or other establishments.