San José, California (dpa) \- Thieves are always thinking up new ways to steal cars and now a crafty hacker in the US state of Florida has made off with two luxury SUVs by getting them delivered to himself, instead of to their owners, local media report.
The thief reportedly grabbed a Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 and a Rolls-Royce Cullinan worth a total of $500,000. The vehicles had been legitimately purchased and were to be delivered to the new owners when they were intercepted.
In the case of the Maybach, the thief hacked into the driver’s website of Dealers Choice Auto Transport Service of West Palm Beach, radio station WSVN 7 News Miami quoted company employee Steven Yariv as saying.
The hacker was able to see all the relevant information regarding the vehicles, including delivery instructions. Using the data, the thief got in touch with the delivery driver, acted like he was the intended recipient of the vehicle and gave the driver fresh instructions. The Maybach was dropped off to just where he wanted it.
The Cullinan was spirited away in a similar fashion. The car was due to be delivered to Limited Spec Automotive in Miami but the company said the driver reportedly received a text message from what appeared to be the legitimate owner asking for the car to be taken to what an employee later described as a "random parking lot in Miami."
After the delivery driver realized something was wrong, he received a text from the thief about the heist. He answered back with "you stole from the wrong guy" and the thief replied "That’s what the guy with the Cullinan said as well," followed by another text reading "Thanks for the free Maybach dawg."
The thief later added "Bro, car already in Dubai, or Europe you guess," followed by an image of the torn-up floorboard where a GPS tracker is normally hidden.
Miami Police are investigating the thefts, and each car is said to have has a $20,000 reward for its return. Experts said the chances of finding the vehicles are slim and the cars have probably been illegally exported already.
