How to Protect Yourself from Gas Thieves

In the last year America, as well as other countries, has seen gas prices skyrocket beyond comprehension, drop just enough to satisfy us and then soar back up again. Gas thieves don't care about the rising and dropping of prices at the pump; they are more concerned with how they can get it for free. Here are some of the most common ways thieves steal gas and what you can do to keep it from happening to you.

License plate thievery and drive-offs

Today's thieves are going to get your gas if they have to set themselves on fire to do it. More and more gas stations across the country are reporting a technique that has come to be called a "drive-off."

Drive-offs are basically where the thief steals an innocent person's license plate, affixes it to their own car, pulls up to the gas pump, fills up their tank and drives off. Gas station owners have very little hope of actually catching the gas thieves because the license plates don't match the descriptions of the cars recorded on their surveillance cameras.

You know the drill...

Some people have been surprised to find that their gas has been stolen and even more surprised to find that gas thieves have actually drilled a hole in the bottom of their gas tank to get it. This is a trend that is becoming common place because it's easier to drill a hole in the tank than it is to suck gas through a garden hose.

Siphoning with hoses

Everyone knows about siphoning gas. It's the old tried and true method of getting gas out of the tank. However, gas thieves no longer have to actually suck on the hose because there are siphoning kits available to the public. Siphoning kits come with a tube and hand pump to alleviate gas in the mouth. Now siphoning is faster and easier and helps gas thieves get more fuel from more cars.

Grand theft auto

This is one extreme measure but gas thieves are desperate enough to try it. Reports of car thefts have increased since the price of gas started going up a few years ago. Some gas thieves think it's easier to steal the car and take the gas later than it is to siphon gas on the spot.

How to Protect Yourself from Gas Thieves

When it comes to gas thieves many of us aren't sure there's really anything we can do about it but there are a few methods that can help even if they aren't one hundred percent fail proof. Here are a few ways you can keep the gas in your car.

1. Buy a locking gas cap. Car manufacturers are churning out locking gas caps specifically because of gas thieves. Even though a gas thief can destroy the cap, it takes a lot of work and makes a lot of noise. Typically a gas thief sees a locking gas cap and moves onto the next car.

2. Use Loctite on your license plate's screws. Yes I know this means you will have a dickens of a time removing it if you should need to but it's better to have an un-stealable license plate than it is to face the police with questions about your missing license plates and stolen gas.

3. Park your car in a locked garage at night. If you have a garage and it's so full of stuff you can't park in it then it's not very useful to you. Most gas thieves don't bother to enter locked garages because it's far easier to steal gas from a car parked on the street or in a driveway.

4. If your car does not automatically come equipped with an alarm system you might want to consider purchasing one. A car thief is going to run like immigration is on their tale when a car alarm starts going off loud enough to wake the people in Iraq.

5. A humorous way to try to keep gas thieves from stealing your gas is to buy a gas thief deterrent sticker. While it may not actually scare off a gas thief, it's funny at least.

6. Putting a motion activated spotlight where you park can work wonders for scaring off gas thieves. The minute they get too close to your car the light turns on bright enough for the whole neighborhood to see. Hooking up an alarm system to the spotlight is also a wonderful deterrent.

7. Not surprisingly some people are resorting to shotguns and pistols to scare off gas thieves. While I don't recommend this method I can definitely see why it would work. The only problem with this idea is you actually have to catch the thief to scare him.

There's no real way to keep gas thieves from stealing your gas if they really want it. The more difficult you make it for a thief to get close to your car the better chance you have of keeping your gas.