With car theft and hijackings on the rise, investing in a vehicle or fleet tracking solution is an excellent personal or business investment. Criminals are coming up with new and innovative ways to disrupt our daily lives, and we need to be reassured about the security of our valuables and assets.
Installing a GPS tracking system can give you that extra peace of mind. It lets you keep an eye on your personal or fleet vehicles and track their location. Unfortunately, like all technology, there’s a way to exploit it.
Tracking devices can be used to illegally keep tabs on a person’s location without them knowing. The question is, how would you know if someone installed a tracking device on your vehicle without your knowledge?
Below, we’ve shared a few tips on doing a self-inspection and finding any illegal GPS trackers on your vehicles that you didn’t install.
Use Legal Vehicle Tracking Solutions
As we said before, a vehicle tracking solution is a brilliant investment. You can protect your family and recover a vehicle if it’s stolen. It’s also a great way to drop your insurance premium, monitor the vehicle, and dashcam video can even be submitted as evidence in case of an accident.
Commercial fleet tracking solutions have just as many benefits, if not more. It can help prevent accidents and liability, manage fuel, lower insurance costs, and protect employees. In short, when vehicle tracking solutions work the way they should, they can protect you and your family, vehicles, employees, assets, and more.
Checking for Illegal Vehicle GPS Trackers
If only every person were honest, we wouldn’t have to worry about illegal trackers following us around in our daily lives. Unfortunately, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Here are our top tips for checking your vehicle for an illegal GPS tracker.
1. Check the Vehicle Exterior for a GPS Tracker
Wheels
Inspect the wheels on your vehicle, including the spare if it’s rear-mounted. Check the areas you can’t see using your hands to feel for anything out of place. If your wheels have plastic covers on, carefully check behind them for anything out of the ordinary.
Below the Vehicle
Who checks their car’s undercarriage frequently? If you’re not a mechanic, you likely haven’t looked for anything underneath your vehicle since the last time you dropped your keys.
It’s dirty, hidden, and the perfect place to hide a tracker. In fact, you might miss a GPS tracker even though you’re looking for it. That’s why it’s crucial to feel around for anything that shouldn’t be there. You also use a mirror to check under if you don’t want to get your hands a little dirty.
Under the Bonnet
Open your vehicle’s bonnet and inspect the firewall, strut bar, air ducts, batteries, and behind the radiator. Of course, the probability of a tracker being placed under the bonnet is low. While it might be an excellent place to hide a GPS tracker temporarily, the high temperatures can damage the trackers’ electrical components.
2. Check the Interior of Your Vehicle
Data port
Some tracking devices can plug into your vehicle’s data port, which sits below the driver’s side dashboard. Inspect the area to see if there’s a small box or object that shouldn’t be there. If you do find anything suspicious, try to remove it very carefully. If you don’t want to take the risk (it’s sensitive and easily damaged), contact a tracking company to get help.
Boot (Trunk)
The boot of your vehicle is usually the last place you’d check for a tracker. It’s not that accessible, and you’re likely to use it before they can put the GPS tracker to use. That said, if there were to be an illegal GPS tracker in your boot, where should you check?
The first spot you should search is the area under the boot carpet that covers the spare tyre. Be sure to check beneath the spare tire and inside any small space in or around it. If you have foldable seats, check that the tracker isn’t wedged between the seat and the side of the vehicle.
Check the Entire (Reachable) Interior
Most vehicle models are manufactured so that you can remove the glove box compartment and the panel under the steering wheel. That would be an ideal place to put a tracking device since people rarely bother checking those compartments at all!
Inspect the areas for any loose wires or cables. If you can’t get a clear view of what’s going on, use your hands to feel for anything out of the ordinary. For example, you may feel an antenna that’s been taped underneath, wired components, or small wireless electrical modules.
Do a thorough inspection and look for anything that seems out of place. If it shouldn’t be there, remove it. Check underneath all the seats, and remove the seat covers if you think they might be hiding an illegal GPS tracker.
If you still don’t feel confident, it’s time to bring out the big guns.
3. Use a Bug Sweeper to Catch an Illegal GPS Tracker
If you still feel a bit paranoid after doing a thorough manual inspection for any illegal GPS tracking devices in your vehicle, you can always buy a bug sweeper.
Bug sweepers are used to detect electromagnetic signals emitted by mobile phones and radio transmitters. There are a few places you can buy a bug sweeper, but you can also make one at home if you’re in a crunch.
If you didn’t find any illegal GPS tracking devices that might be well-hidden, a bug sweeper will find them.
Conclusion: If All Else Fails…
You’ve done a thorough inspection of your vehicle to check for any tracking devices, but you still feel a little wary that something isn’t right. If that’s the case, it might be time to get an expert to check your car. Trusted vehicle tracking companies and car alarm installers will be able to find anything suspicious.
Do your research, and make sure to find a reputable, trustworthy installer or tracking company and give them a call. Should they find a hidden illegal GPS tracker, they’ll remove it safely without damaging your vehicle’s electronics.
EKS Vehicle Tracking provides all-inclusive GPS fleet management and vehicle tracking solutions to help manage vehicle assets in South Africa.
