GPS stolen, can I use it to track criminal?

The 2x0 nuvi is a receiver, not a transmitter. The best you can do is report it to Garmin and your local police as stolen.

It may be worth a call to Garmin for further info.

They might be able to flag it in their system as stolen if someone tries to register it or update it. Unfortunately not registered as a transmitter though, at least not for transmitting location.

no. hope you had registered it with garmin. they can stop any updates to that unit

I was just considering talking the PIN lock out of my GPS. Maybe a second thought now.

Too bad it can't be disabled remotely, but I'm pretty sure there's almost nothing you can do. If you report it, future updates won't be possible. But odds are it'll be sold to some unknowing person by then.

another good reason to ALWAYS take your GPS out of your vehicle when not in use.

If not you are only inviting theft. Any lessons learned from the thefts in the Cassette Deck Period?!

For some good luck you get it back and you had bread crumbs enable, you might be able to locate the criminal.

What a nice feature it would be if it could be deactivated if stolen. I think it would be a good selling point. I know my golf GPS can if stolen or I do not update the subscription.

Personally I got lucky last week. I left my 60CSx at Vallecito Lake while taking pictures. We drove off and I did not realize it was gone until I wanted to geocache near the dam (other end). I drove back to where I thought I left it and it wasn’t there (approx 1.5 hours later). While I was still looking a woman approached my friend and asked if we had lost "something". He said yes, a handheld GPS. We’ve got it she said

Although they refused to accept a reward, I made them take it anyway.

Bad news is I have no reason to buy a new unit

Or the crook can follow the crumbs to PtrainerNY, that kind of works both ways! Always, always take your GPSr with you or lock your junk in the trunk! Screw the Garmin lock, nothing substitutes the total removal of the unit or locking it out of sight in the trunk.

Another lesson learned by the school of hard knocks.

Garmin Lock will only prevent them from using it after they have broken into the car and stolen it. Once they find out it's useless, they aren't going to give it back. It will probably end up in a landfill somewhere. So there you are, broken window and missing GPSr to replace. If you are real lucky they might send it to Garmin to get it unlocked and if you registered it and reported it stolen, you might get it back. Best option, just remove it from the car or lock it out of sight.

I've been wondering about this too. Clearly Garmin has the ability to know when a unit has acquired satellites, since they'll start the clock on your free map update based on this. That means some level of unit specific information is available from satellite reporting. So that raises questions:

Why can't unit specific locations be established when stolen GPS's acquire satellites?

Why can't the unit specific identifiers be used to block satellite communication with stolen GPS units?

It just puzzles me (bugs me) that they can (and do) precisely identify when your unit acquires satellites for the purpose of limiting your right to map updates, but claim they can't offer any assistance via satellites on the stolen GPS issue.

...Adding, you'd think the ability to render a stolen GPS useless would be a good selling point. If it became well known the a certain brand wasn't worth stealing because the brand maker will render it useless, therefore reducing the likelihood of theft, that might tip my purchasing decision (other things being equal).

Garmin captures the date/time stamp of the first time it is used (and moves at more than 20 MPH) as the date of satellite lock. It reports this when you connect the GPS to their servers through your computer. It doesn't transmit anything except through the USB cable to your computer.

The Nuvi will ALWAYS keep a track log ("bread crumbs"). The only option the user has is to turn on or off the view of them. So it doesn't matter if that option is on or not, if the GPS is recovered you can then enable the track log and see where it has been. However, it seems extremely unlikely that the GPS will come back, and even more unlikely that it would come back and the owner not have information about who took it that the track log could provide.

However, this is just further indication that GPS receivers left in the car are more likely to be stolen than ones taken with the owner, and that locking the GPS (a feature that other brands don't even have, yet Garmin GPS receivers still get taken) does not prevent theft.

So, Garmin can identify precisely when a particular unit moves the first time, but not any other time? Why can't Garmin determine when a particular stolen unit moves for the first time? And via satellite lock where it moved?

I have modified my boot screen to say...
"Please stand by, activating locater beacon"

That still won't keep it from being stolen in the first place. If the crook believes the boot screen it now ends up in the trash never to be seen again.

It's a onetime thing. It detects the gps has locked to the satellite constellation and was moved. It writes the time/date stamp for software activation purposes.

yada
need a gps tracker inserted into your gps...

It would be a nice addition to the units if they added a remote detonation feature!

How do you report a stolen GPS to Garmin?

This still begs the question I ask -- if it can be done once, why can't it be done again? Or done on demand? Clearly, unit specific information can be obtained because they already do it. The only unknown question is whether they also get (or can get) global coordinates from the lock.

Respectfully, I understand what they actually do as a "onetime thing." It's just not clear how or why that is the only time they can ever do it. Is there some law that says they can't do it again?

Not sure what the conditions were for the GPS being stolen in the first place, but one thing that I make it a point to do: hide the GPS (in the center console between the front seats if possible) and don't use a suction cup/windshield holder since that leaves a mark on the windshield that can be detected (I use a beanbag holder).

This would be a nice feature. As an example most Blackberry's, maybe other smartphones too, can be erased remotely using software. This is a handy feature just for that reason. Some software can also be set to keep the phone locked until a code is inputted. Even a battery pull is useless to reset this. There may be another way to reset the software for some ingenious or resourceful person.

But either way this would be a nice feature to have installed or at least a way that law enforcement could call Garmin and be able to track a stolen GPS if the serial number is known. This can also be bad in that they can find you if they have the serial number of your unit if you do not want to be found. Part of that "Big Brother is Watching You" syndrome.

How could it be done again on demand after it is stolen?

There's no way for Garmin to communicate remotely with the GPS receiver. (Traffic receivers not withstanding.)

A GPS receiver receives signals [relative to position and not anything else] from the GPS satellites which are owned and operated by the government. It doesn't transmit.

Garmin has not have the ability to send "information" to the GPS receiver. Nor does the unit have the capability of communicating or transmitting information to anyone or anything.

If I found a lost GPS I would try to return it to the owner (never found a GPS but have returned a couple of cell phones by having them "call home"). However, if I saw such a bogus starting message, I would feel like the guy who lost the unit was trying to con me. Not sure, but I think I would not bother to try to return it.

"Hidden" GPSs, in the front console, glove box, under a seat, or even somewhere else get stolen. And much more often than a GPS that is not left in the car.

I don't know about you, But I sure don't want Garmin to track me or my GPS. It's a receiver hence GPSr.
How many different ways do you need to be told this?

If you want a GPS that tracks, be prepared to bust out the big bucks. So you have learned a hard lesson, it's unfortunate but you really need to move past this and secure your next unit.

MM and BobDee:

I don't know how many different ways I can be corrected for saying things I never said. I never claimed that Garmin can "communicate remotely with the GPS receiver." Nor did I can they can "track me or my GPS." Please pay attention while I try be as clear as I can be:

When every NUVI is first acquires satellite lock and moves, Garmin is notified of that fact, correct? And they must be given some unit specific identifier (serial number?), correct? I assume there's no dispute about this. We know this happens.

My question is simply this: If Garmin was notified that a particular unit has been stolen, why can't Garmin request the exact same information be provided again? Do the exact same thing they've done before. How suggesting they do the exact same thing they've done before gets twisted into doing something different and impossible is beyond me...

The only other question I have -- and it's something we all simple don't know -- it whether Garmin can (or does) get coordinate information from the satellite lock confirmation. If they can (do) that would obviously be quite valuable in finding a stolen GPS.

No. NO! NO!

Despite your condescending tone, I will respond.

I was paying attention. You were the one not paying attention.

Garmin is NOT notified of the initial satellite lock.

This data is written to the device and is only transmitted to Garmin when the device is connected to a computer and the user logs in to the my.Garmin website.

The unit does NOT transmit information. Garmin has no way of communicating with the unit after they have been notified that it was stolen. So they cannot "request this same information".

Hope that was clear enough.

This is a new and different theory, and it's certainly quite plausible that this is the way they get the info. If that's in fact how it works then obviously Garmin cannot obtain the same information again from the satellites. No previous reply, including yours, has suggested this before.

I have no monopoly on being right and I'll gladly and humbly concede I'm wrong anytime someone offers plausible reason to do so. But it's frustrating to repeatedly deal with critiques of things I simply did not say. Sorry, but your previous reply falls into that category and got caught in the culmination of that frustration.

All the Garmin lock does is render the unit useless to the thief and make it harder for you to use. Do you think the thief will break back into you car and return it when he finds out he can't use it. Face it, you have lost the use of that unit and will never see it again regardless of the Garmin lock setting.

It is much better not to have it stolen in the first place. Take it off the mount and stick it in your shirt pocket or place both the mount and unit in the trunk.

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Box Car said it, so I did not feel the need to repeat it.

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Garmin can stop any further updates to the unit as long as you had the unit registered, but don't hold your breath on that either.
Garmin is in the business of sell of equipment not policing the industry. Maybe someone else can input on if they have had any luck reporting a unit stolen and what Garmins approach is to it and what they said they would do about it.

In any case don't expect to ever see it again. That's why we pay insurance companies.

So he/she did. I read the word "Garmin" (not written as "The Garmin") as meaning the company, not the GPS unit, and that "it (Garmin) reports this" back via MyDashboard "when you connect the GPS." That is, "It" (Garmin) was the subject and "the GPS" was the object of the sentence -- two separate things. But clearly upon re-reading the two were meant as one-in-the-same.

Nevertheless, you're correct that he/she did note this.

A friend had his stolen GPS returned when it showed up on eBay. Keep a record of your serial numbers and report it stolen!
Mark

It's definitely time to move on!
Collect your insurance money and buy a new unit!

...the answer was yes. I'd be tracking mine.

I rather take mine in my shirt pocket, like I ALWAYS do. They are small enough to do this. I can fit the Garmin AND my cell phone in my shirt pocket. My unit and phone are also locked (my unlock coordinates are in the _back_ of my property, so good luck getting in without being seen by me or my security cameras, if they knew the address), and I always make sure I'm seen putting my GPS in my shirt pocket when I'm out of the car, before the car is locked and the alarm is on.

I don't like the idea of someone tracking me. It is bad enough that your cell phone does that already, and turning it off won't do anything against it. I take the battery out when I feel paranoid, LOL

I agree with you, and never leave mine in the car either (although I put mine in a padded case in a pants pocket). So why do you bother to lock it? I played with the lock when I first got the nuvi, but found it error prone on input and overall cumbersome and inconvenient, and since my GPS isn't going to be stolen, and the "lock" wouldn't help me get it back even if it was (actually increases the chance of the device being smashed and so reduces the chance I would get it back working even if the thief was caught), why bother with it?

in the backside, but so is coming up with another $300.00 + or - for a new model! I have learned from more than one horror story here, that it's a must!! Sorry to hear the bad news!!...as the old song goes, "when will they ever learn," when will they ever learn?" Hope you get it back!!

The flaw in your logic is that you imply locking the GPS will prevent it's theft. There is no reason to believe that, and even less reason to believe that after the thief discovers the lock that he will break another window to return it. Locking does not stop the theft, taking the GPS with you when you leave the car is the proper approach.

Just in case I drop it or someone breaks in the house? Just paranoid, really... (you'll need to get past the passive IR sensors and security cameras first) I don't find mine hard to unlock, although it got crazy a couple of times in very humid days, but I was able to turn it off and back on, and the touch screen worked again.