Beware: Car Jacking

[Marsha]

Be aware of new car-jacking scheme Imagine: You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. Then you lock all your doors, start the engine and shift into REVERSE, and you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your parking space and you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window.

So, you shift into PARK, unlock your doors and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view...

When you reach the back of your car, that is when the car-jackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off !!

Your engine was running, (ladies would have their purse in the car) and they practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.

BE AWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.

Just drive away and remove the paper that is stuck to your window later, and be thankful that you read this email. I hope you will forward this to friends and family...especially to women! A purse contains all identification, and you certainly do NOT want someone getting your home address. They already HAVE your keys!

[shanstress70]

Click here to see the article in snopes about this. It is false. Marsha, I know you had good intentions by posting this, but it's been my experience that most of these warnings are false. Snopes.com is great for checking them.

[StrawberryFields]

This is a bit scary and it is from the above article you mentioned shanstress.

"Carjackers tend to hang around places where motorists have to stop or exit their vehicles (e.g., intersections, gas stations, car washes, ATMs, freeway on- and off-ramps) and then force the drivers out of their automobiles (or simply take off with the temporarily unoccupied cars). Running around parking lots sticking flyers on windshields and then hanging around to wait for drivers to return to their vehicles involves planning and exposure atypical of most carjackers; they're more likely to approach occupied vehicles (particularly luxury cars with high resale value) and force the drivers out (by threatening them with weapons and/or physically pulling them out of their seats). "

I think that it is always best to be alert to your surroundings. Had this email that Marsha posted been true, I might have fallen for it. In the past, I have taken many flyers off my front windshield without a thought of my safety and had no problems. I read where you would have probably be taken off as you approach your car from behind but that isn't always the case. Sometimes when I go to my car I don't even really look at it before getting in... How many times have we all walked up to the wrong vehicle before realizing that it wasn't our car at all? I remember years ago when I heard that carjackers would hide under your car and cut you just above your heels. You were suppose to fall down immediately, possibly bleed to death, and have your car stolen. Nowadays, when I feel a little uneasy, I take a flying leap into my car before locking it and speeding off.

[shanstress70]

It is always good to be aware of your surroundings... for sure!

[Marsha]

Originally posted by shanstress70@Nov 3 2004, 01:18 PM

Click here to see the article in snopes about this. It is false. Marsha, I know you had good intentions by posting this, but it's been my experience that most of these warnings are false. Snopes.com is great for checking them.

And who says that it couldn't or hasn't already happened. I never thought about it this way, we are always warned to look in the backseat and around us before entering the car.

I still think that it is a warning to heed - whether it is false or not.

Marsha

[Matt]

Or that there might be a maniac on the roof of the car! That's my fave Snopes story!

[Guest TheProudDuck]

Great. Because of this urban legend, we're going to have parking lots full of panicked women diving into cars and speeding off, leaving clouds of flyers drifting in the breeze. Paper will litter the roads, which will be lined with weeping Italians dressed up as Indians.

Y'all remember that commercial, right?

My wife actually got carjacked once, before I knew her. She was in her mother's car when a little Mexican guy came up and threatened them with a screwdriver. My wife and her mother promptly got into an argument over whether they ought to give up the car, with my wife taking the bold side (it was a fairly small screwdriver) and my mother-in-law advocating discretion as the better part of valor. (To get the full impact of this, you'd have to be acquainted with my wife's relationship with her mother. They argue over pretty much everything.)

My mother-in-law finally won the argument , and she and my doughty wife duly vested the Mad Screwdriverman with possession, custody and control of the car. Unfortunately for him, the argument had kept him waiting so long that someone had called the police, who caught the guy before he'd driven a block.

[Outshined]

Originally posted by TheProudDuck@Nov 3 2004, 07:19 PM

Paper will litter the roads, which will be lined with weeping Italians dressed up as Indians.

I can't remember the guy's name off the top of my head.

Great commercial, though.

Edit: AAArgh! It was Iron Eyes Cody!!!!

[Outshined]

You can download the old commercial here (snopes, ironically):

http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/ironeyes.htm

[StrawberryFields]

Originally posted by TheProudDuck@Nov 3 2004, 07:19 PM

Great. Because of this urban legend, we're going to have parking lots full of panicked women diving into cars and speeding off, leaving clouds of flyers drifting in the breeze. Paper will litter the roads, which will be lined with weeping Italians dressed up as Indians.

PD You really had me laughing out loud with this one because sometimes it is a reality for me.

I drive a pretty nice car and I have worried about it drawing to much attention to me. This car was a birthday gift from my husband about 4 years ago. I was perfectly happy with my 88 silver Volvo that got me from point A to B. Although this car is mine my husband makes the rules. Premium gas only, summer wheels need to be swapped out for winter ones before snow fall, and I must park far away from the stores. A ding or a scratch will drive him crazy so this is why at times I feel uneasy when getting it my car in the parking lots.

I have been approached several times by strangers. One guy was asking for gas money, another was selling frozen meat out of the bed of his truck. I never roll the window sown more then just a couple of inches. I gave the one guy 5.00 for gas; I told the other guy that I didn't have any freezer space. About a month ago, I was in my car waiting for my son to come from an appointment. Out of the corner of my eye I saw two men approaching me ask I was talking to my older son on the cell phone. They split up and then there was a guy on each side of my car. They were just waiting for me to acknowledge them but I never did so they walked away. I felt safe enough talking to my older son on the phone with the car doors locked.

Safety precautions I like to use.

1. Cell Phone

2. Plenty of gas in the car when traveling at night.

3. Doors locked

4. Seat Belt Fastened

5. Keys in hand before entering the parking lot.

6. Walking with confidence with a look of determination

7. A blow-up man (Spike) who sits in the passenger seat.

8. A license plate cover that reads "Driver suffers from chronic PMS Do Not Approach"