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TikTok car theft trend forces two manufacturers to make changes
A TikTok trend continues to cause trouble for police and certain car owners in metro Atlanta. How-to videos posted to the app show thieves how to steal certain Kia and Hyundai vehicles with simple tools. More than 8 million vehicles are estimated to be at risk.
ATLANTA - A TikTok trend continues to cause trouble for police in metro Atlanta.
How-to videos on the social media platform show thieves how to steal certain Kia and Hyundai vehicles.
Since the Kia and Hyundai theft challenge kicked off last summer, Atlanta Police say those car brands account for a considerable portion of their cases.
So far this year, APD says there is a nearly 500% increase compared to the same seven-week period last year.
"In less than 5 minutes, he broke in, Youtubed or TikToked how to steal my Kia and made away with it," said Olivia Garner.
Garner believes her 2014 Kia Rio was targeted by thieves who are part of a viral social media trend who use the hashtag: "Kia Boyz."
The TikTok videos are specific how-to guides that show people how to steal.
The targets are certain Kia and Hyundai vehicles that use a key, not push start vehicles.
The models involved lack electronic immobilizers and a USB cable can be used to bypass the ignition system.
The person who stole Garner's car this way, totaled it.
"He did $9,000 of damage to my car in less than two days and made it a total loss," she said.
"It's definitely a game to them," said Lt. Justin Strom with Atlanta Police.
Strom is from APD’s Auto Theft Unit.
According to numbers FOX 5 obtained, thieves stole more than three times as many Kia and Hyundai vehicles in Atlanta in 2022 than in 2021.
"That takes away time from other crimes that we could be trying to solve," Lt. Strom said.
APD says it has arrested upwards of 100 people in connection to the crimes and roughly 90% of those are kids under 18.
To try and prevent thefts, Hyundai and Kia are updating software that will require the key to be in the ignition to turn on. The updates will be done at the dealer in phases over the coming months.
"It's just unfortunate that this is becoming such a rash, brazen incident," Garner said.
APD will soon hand out steering wheel locks provided by the automakers for affected cars.
The U.S. Department of Transportation says the social media challenge has not just resulted in stolen vehicles, but also at least 14 crashes and 8 deaths.
Kia owners with questions may contact our Customer Care team directly at 1-800-333-4542 (4KIA). In addition, a special section of the Owner’s Portal at Kia.com has been published for owners to research software upgrade eligibility and availability, and receive more information on ordering a steering wheel lock if applicable at https://owners.kia.com/us/en/kia-owner-portal.html/.