WATCH: Maltese Man Makes Headlines In UK After Discovering Hack To Break Into Peugeots In Five Seconds
A man of Maltese descent who discovered his work vehicle had been casually broken into, took to Facebook recently to show how easy it was to break into his car – and he’s making headlines in the UK.
Jay Vassallo currently lives in Greenwich where he works as an independent labourer, but his father hails from Malta.
The Daily Mail recently reported on 40-year-old Jay Vassallo, who had his £27,000 Peugeot van broken into after the deadlock system had failed.
Jay lost £2,000 worth of equipment after thieves managed to bypass the lock on the door. The 40-year-old workman was left bemused at the ease with which the dual-lock system can be bypassed, especially since Peugeot used the dual-lock system as a key selling point for the model.
First, he uploaded a video showing a van pulling away after robbing him of his equipment
In the video, Vassallo is seen inserting his hands at the bottom of the door and pulling forward. The van proceeds to unlock and the doors slide right open, despite being locked twice.
Then, Vassallo shows us his discovery
Peugeot claims that the vehicle can only be opened with a proximity fob, so Jay decided to push the theory and upload a second video of him doing the same action with the keys next to him on the floor.
“I think this is the only way to prevent other people, like me, getting their tools or van stolen.”
Vassallo uploaded the video to Facebook the same day captioned with: “Well I didn’t want to do this but Peugeot is not willing to look into this issue any further.”
He ended up having to fit a bracket on either side of the van to stop this happening again.
A Peugeot representative responded to the claims, saying: “The investigation concluded that it is impossible to gain entry to the vehicle through the side doors without a crowbar/lever type tool. Even when using this type of tool, the door must be levered outwards some distance before the unlocking is triggered. The alarm, if fitted, will then trigger if access is gained.”
One of the culprits have since been caught, but Jay’s tools have not yet been returned.