A GANG of car thieves struck in Liphook last week, grabbing two valuable BMWs.

The owners fear they may have bypassed the keyless entry feature by grabbing the computer codes with a scanning device when they arrived at their homes in Chalcraft Close.

Police confirmed a car was reported stolen in December, and another two – a 2007 BMW 5 series and a 2010 BMW X1 – were taken from neighbouring drives last Tuesday, between midnight and 3am.

But a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said: “In all three thefts it’s not obvious how the vehicles were taken. There is nothing we have that says that a keyless and computer coding method was used.”

Police Community Support Officer Megan Powell posted an alert on the Liphook Community website warning: “As you are already aware, we have had a number of vehicles stolen in the Liphook area, all of which were BMWs.

“We have been made aware of a suspicious incident whereby a BMW was spotted with its windows down and boot open, we believe this suspicious incident may be linked to the theft of other BMWs in the area.

“Could I request that if you have experienced anything of a similar nature, you report this via 101.

“Likewise, if you hear of anyone who has experienced anything similar, please could you encourage them to report this and remain vigilant.

“If you see any suspicious activity then please don’t hesitate reporting it to the police.”

The Herald has since been told that number plates belonging to the stolen cars were found in a ditch in Devil’s Lane after the cars were stolen. According to Scotland Yard, car thieve gangs have been preying on high-tech ‘keyless’ cars, including BMWs.

In keyless cars, the ignition key is replaced with a fob containing a computer chip and security code that unlocks the car and starts the engine.

According to police sources, criminals use key-programming devices to duplicate security fobs to get access to vehicles, by breaking into cars and hacking into the on-board diagnostics port (OBD) with a junction box from the internet.

That allows them to download the car’s security information onto a blank fob, which disables the alarm and starts the ignition. The box and blank fobs are used legitimately by garages to replace lost or damaged keys for car owners.

Anyone with information should call the police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.