Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

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Help me identify possible tracking device found in my car

TL;DR

I found a non-OEM electronic gadget in my car. It is wired into the ignition, and contains a 435.10 MHz radio reciever, a microcontroller, and two relays. I suspect it might be a device that allows third parties to unlock the doors and start the car with a radio.

Details

I was driving my 2020 Honda Insight EX when it started to make the annoying sound of an electromechanical relay rapidly switching on and off. When I got home I looked under the dash and straight away I could see someone other than Honda had been in here. The first thing I saw was this surface-mounted switch that doesn't belong there.

Inside the cover of this thing is a label PL884-200. Initially I suspected this of being a miniature tracking device, but there's actually very little to it. It contains a switch and an LED. The LED won't work unless the case is assembled because there are two bridging contacts inside the case. But, mysteriously, the LED also isn't visible with the case assembled because all parts of the case are opaque. The purpose of the switch remains unknown to me.

The switch is wired into the little gadget, which is also spliced into the main ignition and the CAN bus. With the car turned on, it's clear that this gadget contains the failing relay.

With the trim removed you can see the way the device was wired in with T-taps and splices. Also some of the factory wires have been cut and just left hanging.

Naturally I removed this device and took it home. Car starts and runs without it, but every warning light on the dashboard comes on. There isn't a lot to it. In the center of the board are two relays and a darlington relay driver.

In the corner of the board is a CY800 radio receiver. With its 6.7458 MHz reference oscillator it is tuned to 435.10 MHz. Its antenna is a flexible PCB-mount part from TE Connectivity, under which is a standard LM358 op-amp.

Also under the antenna is the PIC16F1518 microcontroller, the brain of the device. The only other devices on the board are a standard 5V voltage regulator and passive components.

Things that this device does not contain include a GPS receiver and a cellular transmitter. However, it is hooked into the CAN bus so it could get GPS data and, perhaps, relay data through the HondaLink cellular device. So my operating theory for the time being is as follows:

1. The device gets vehicle location data over CAN from the car's GPS.
2. The device uses the car's cellular data peripheral to send this information somewhere.
3. There exists some radio transmitter that can be used at short range to start the car.
4. The relays are flipping out because there is some 435.10 MHz noise in my area.

If you have ever seen or installed one of these devices, please leave a comment. I'd love to know more.

I am close to a P.I. and have worked on GPS products during my career. While yes some trackers are permanent installs, most are not. Businesses typically install, malicious actors do not.

do you know what EXIF data is my guy?

Not necessary to to go out of your way to expose this data - maybe you should try to be part of the solution, not the problem…

How is he a part of the problem? He is warning OP about it

I'd assume you could call out that the EXIF data is still attached WITHOUT putting the address into the thread where it's even more accessible and requires even more work to remediate. Also, every person that actually quoted the address should be equally judged.

To OP, this thread is not especially old, and HN probably won't mind pointing the article link to a new gist. If you wanted the address info gone you could kill this gist to get rid of all the quoting in the comments, strip the EXIF data, and start a new gist. Wouldn't be the end of the world.

(Alternatively, if you can collapse or moderate comments, that's even better...)

adr3ss

`adr3ss

do you know what EXIF data is my guy?

Did you just learn about EXIF and needed to show off your 1337 h4x0r skills by posting his details? What were you hoping to achieve here? There are so many better ways to do this.. God damn idiots on the Internet

PIC16F1518 is so old school the only thing I would expect it to do is open doors or something. The only theory I can think of you had your car in some dodgy repair shop and it was installed then only so that he could get the doors open at a better time and take the car. 435.10 MHz is close range remote buttons and stuff IIRC. I would say you got lucky finding it. Seems junk to me, throw in the bin and forget about it.

Looks like an immobilizer for those who might miss car payments, a lot of buy here pay here places are using things like that and they're relatively cheap so they don't bother removing them from the vehicle after the car is paid off. Could be from a previous owner. Most places that are using these don't even let the buyer know that they are there, until he's 3 days late on a payment and all of a sudden the car doesn't start...

To the asshole whole exposed my man's personal info - you really could've messaged him that in private, that was so unnecessary it doesn't even make any sense.

435MHz (433MHz Band) is in the radio band designated general low power use. This band is used with a lot of devices such as remote weather stations and car alarm keyfobs. If you have a SDR you can find programs to decode the data. Check out RTL-SDR for a cheap entry level option if this sounds interesting.

There are quite a few custom and alternative car alarms out there that will wire in a button or switch that the owner can tap out a code to deactivate the alarm when the kayfob is dead or missing. I have seen custom accessories use this same setup to activate things like flamethrowers on hotrods.

You could also look up the wiring harness diagrams for the vehicle to see what exactly it's tied into. Horn, lights, locks, and the like would be an almost certain indication of a car alarm.

What was the point of @cutieshy showing the full address? This could've easily been pointed out without straight doxxing OP. Completely unnecessary, and it feels like you're bragging about knowing what EXIF data is. Did you really think this was the best way to notify OP?

What a fucking problem with exposing an address?? Why everyone are so touchy here? He wanted to expose it, then he did it. Forgot to ask every dumbass here. REEE DELETE ADRESS IT'S BADDDD REMOVE RIGHT NOW OR I UGMMM
Address is nothing special, DOESN'T MATTER AT ALL
There are more important things in this world than someone useless location
You're all so smart here, but only a few person's can say something useful about that thing

[censored]
do you know what EXIF data is my guy?

You became an all diff problem. Surely you could have at least redacted part of the address.

And you're perpetuating it via lazy quote reply 🤔

What a fucking problem with exposing an address?? Why everyone are so touchy here? He wanted to expose it, then he did it. Forgot to ask every dumbass here. REEE DELETE ADRESS IT'S BADDDD REMOVE RIGHT NOW OR I UGMMM Address is nothing special, DOESN'T MATTER AT ALL There are more important things in this world than someone useless location You're all so smart here, but only a few person's can say something useful about that thing

My guy, have you ever heard of this thing called "swatting"
It's this thing where someone can "tip off" the authorities of a threat using the address, and then the authorities will go to the person's house, and fuck up their day. Some people have even lost lives due to swatting. Crazy concept, I know.

Have you also heard about this thing called creepy stalkers? Some people on the internet have really fucked up heads, and enjoy suffering. This simple address can create a target for a would be bad person to go do bad things. Even crazier, it's insane.

@JD-The-65th weak point because nobody will swat some random dude who's not even livestreaming

There's no reason to these stalkers exist, op didn't made any interesting actions

@jwbee - you need to kill this gist mate - this is going dark places…

It's on web archive already lol

What a fucking problem with exposing an address?? Why everyone are so touchy here? He wanted to expose it, then he did it. Forgot to ask every dumbass here. REEE DELETE ADRESS IT'S BADDDD REMOVE RIGHT NOW OR I UGMMM Address is nothing special, DOESN'T MATTER AT ALL There are more important things in this world than someone useless location You're all so smart here, but only a few person's can say something useful about that thing

Maybe some people aren't as comfortable as you are with having their personal information exposed to the world.. And I don't think @jwbee would have posted their address intentionally if they knew about or remembered EXIF.

Anyone know how I can unsubscribe to notifications for this thread? I hit the “unsubscribe” at the bottom of the email I receive when someone comments but it doesn’t seem to be working… anyone else experiencing this issue?

Post your home address and you will be unsubscribed

Post your home address and you will be unsubscribed

😂

@JD-The-65th weak point because nobody will swat some random dude who's not even livestreaming

Feel free to tell that to the guy who lost his life over a joke he made on Twitter

Wow this gist appeared on my Google discovery

Too much personal info exposed, just kill this gist already

Yeah I found this gist on Google discovery as well. Who knew Google would help more people see the doxx?

Anyone know how I can unsubscribe to notifications for this thread? I hit the “unsubscribe” at the bottom of the email I receive when someone comments but it doesn’t seem to be working… anyone else experiencing this issue?

There is an unsubscribe button at the top of the gist page

It's definitely concerning to find an unknown electronic device wired into your car's ignition. It could be a tracking device or something more invasive. Sometimes, checking the vehicle history can provide clues about previous modifications. You can use services like this https://www.faxvin.com/license-plate-lookup/new-jersey one for New Jersey to look up your car’s history and see if there’s any record of such installations. It’s always good to stay informed about any non-OEM additions to your vehicle for your safety and peace of mind.