‘They knew what they were doing’: This New York man’s $25K jet ski was stolen off his driveway in broad daylight — and he believes the thieves jammed his security cameras to get away with it

How thieves can jam surveillance camera signals

Michael Graziano, a cyber security expert, told CBS News that thieves now have the ability to jam Wi-Fi signals in order to disrupt security video recordings.

"The camera may be working, but because it loses connection with the internet, there's no recording that goes to the cloud," said Graziano.

The Federal Communications Commission has banned the use of devices that jam signals — even law enforcement isn’t allowed to use them — but that hasn’t stopped thieves from using these devices to pull off their heists. Graziano also thinks today’s thieves can make these types of devices at home.

Jamming devices can disrupt video recordings by overloading the Wi-Fi network with a stronger signal, blocking communication between the camera and its recording device. While this doesn’t deactivate a surveillance camera, it does effectively stop the camera from recording what it captures.

Unfortunately, thieves using jamming devices to steal Montalbano’s jet ski isn’t an isolated incident. In fact, a woman in Phoenix, Arizona was almost the victim of a similar type of theft last year.

Kim Komando and her husband were preparing dinner when they noticed two police helicopters flying above and shining lights on their property, according to an article Komando wrote for USA Today. Just a few moments later, the couple spotted members of the Phoenix SWAT team poking around Komando’s property. One of the SWAT team members reportedly yelled out, “yeah, there’s a jammer right here.”

“A SWAT member said, ‘Ma’am, a South American gang is targeting homes to steal from. The jammer says you might have been next.’” Komando wrote in her article.

And while SWAT managed to find the device before the Komando’s house was robbed, their neighbor just four doors down wasn’t so lucky. That homeowner reportedly got a notification that his security cameras were offline, leading him to think that his internet must have gone down.

Meanwhile, in the span of just 10 minutes, thieves broke in and managed to steal valuables worth $100,000, as well as $25,000 in cash.

KARE 11 News also reported in early 2024 about a string of burglaries in the Edina, Minnesota area where thieves used signal jammers to disrupt security systems. The news outlet reports that thieves may be able to purchase these illlegal jammers through suppliers outside of the country.

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How to protect yourself and your cameras

Jamming devices may have created a seamless method for thieves to disrupt security cameras, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to protect yourself and your property.

For starters, try parking your cars — or in Montalbano’s case, your jet ski — inside the garage so that it can’t be seen from the road. This may not stop criminals from knowing where your cars are kept, but hiding them in the garage adds an extra layer of protection.

Some homeowners, however, don’t have a garage and therefore can’t hide their expensive vehicles. In this case, these homeowners might choose to equip their home with surveillance cameras, as Montalbano had done. But there’s one thing Montalbano could have done to prevent his cameras from being disrupted by a jamming device.

"Any camera system that you have, hardline it," said Graziano. "A hardline cable that goes right to the internet, that would stop someone from jamming it." In other words, Graziano suggests connecting your surveillance cameras directly to the internet using a cable instead of relying on a Wi-Fi connection.

Some cameras may be able to record footage onto an SD card, which means they can record even without a Wi-Fi connection. Another way to deter thieves could be to install motion activated lights outside of your home, as well as timers on the lights inside your home that turn the lights on at certain times to make potential thieves think someone is home.