A nationwide crime trend shows car thieves are getting help from technology to steal vehicles in a matter of minutes. Police say it’s all done by electronically copying vehicle key fobs.

At least three area Dodge dealers said new SRT models were stolen during recent crimes at their lots. 

"I thought if you put your keys up and your doors were locked, other than busting your windows and hot wiring your car, I didn’t think there was a way to steal your car," one consumer victim told an NBC-TV affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Police say thieves are able to send a signal from one key fob to another if they can get close enough, by creating an electronic copy of the original key fob to get access inside the vehicle. 

Police suggest getting a steering wheel lock or a driveway lock, which is similar to a tire boot. Another tool is a signal-blocking pouch that can keep a hacker from communicating with key fobs.

At dealerships, police said the thieves have had someone test drive a vehicle. When the key fob was used to open the vehicle, the signal was copied. A best practice would be to never give the key fob to the test driver. 

Instead, have a porter start the vehicle and bring it around to the front door or the service drive-thru. The porter then can hand the key to the dealer salesperson, who joins the customer for the test drive. That likely would thwart the copying attempt, as long as no one is near the car other than the porter when the doors are opened and the vehicle is started.