{"id":19739,"date":"2026-08-10T14:51:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T06:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/?p=19739"},"modified":"2026-08-31T14:56:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T06:56:27","slug":"volkswagens-targeted-in-major-new-car-badge-theft-epidemic-fuelled-by-black-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/2026\/08\/10\/volkswagens-targeted-in-major-new-car-badge-theft-epidemic-fuelled-by-black-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Volkswagens targeted in major new car badge theft epidemic fuelled by black market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Crooks could be after your car\u2019s badge of all things after a crime spree in London saw more than 70 car badges stolen over the course of four days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Metropolitan Police are confirmed to be investigating roughly 70 incidents between 15 and 19 July in which victims claim the front badge of their Volkswagen models were stolen. The logos contain radar sensors required for driver-assistance features \u2013 potentially worth hundreds of pounds on the black market \u2013 and can be removed in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet while the badges are straightforward to steal, the means in which the criminals executed the thefts appears to be far more sophisticated. One victim told The Times newspaper that she spotted a drone in her garden, the day before the badge on her brand-newVolkswagen T-Rocwas stolen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was highly organised, they knew exactly where every car was, so they\u2019d obviously scoped it out previously,\u201d the woman added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, lead investigator PC Olly Rutherford said: \u201cWe are aware of a number of incidents in south-east London over recent weeks in which car badges, including the vehicle\u2019s radar sensors, have been stolen. At this stage, around 70 thefts are believed to have taken place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInquiries remain under way and we would ask anyone else who believes they have been victim of this type of crime to report the details to us<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSimilarly, anyone who has information which has not yet been shared with police is asked to get in touch with us as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The theft of individual car parts, rather than the vehicle itself, is not a new thing; catalytic converters have long been the target of thieves, although analysis from Auto Express last year has shown that cases have recently dipped, with criminals choosing other parts to steal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early 2025, Porsche owners reported that criminals had cut out and stolen the headlights from theirluxury cars. Adding insult to injury, MoneySuperMarket says that this pushed the cost of car insurance for Porsche models in London up by 22 per cent on average around that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, the Metropolitan Police advises owners of VW vehicles \u2013 and any car with sophisticatedADAS technology, for that matter \u2013 to park in a secure, well lit location when possible and to ensure any CCTV or doorbell cameras watching your vehicle are fully charged and operational. Residents should also \u201creport any suspicious activity, especially individuals loitering near parked vehicles during late evening or early morning hours\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Auto Express has approached Volkswagen for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not the first time that VW badges have been targeted. There was a spate of thefts in the UK and US in the late eighties after Mike D of rap group the Beastie Boys wore a chrome VW logo pendant in one of the band\u2019s videos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crooks could be after your car\u2019s badge of all things after a crime spree in London saw more than 70 car badges stolen over the course of four days. The Metropolitan Police are confirmed to be investigating roughly 70 incidents between 15 and 19 July in which victims claim the front badge of their Volkswagen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-19739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car","tag-volkswagen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19739"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19741,"href":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19739\/revisions\/19741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ayoyo.com.cn\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}