When stealing a car it’s a good idea not to leave your address

Mitsuhisa Kobayashi, an unemployed 30-year-old in the small town of Itami northeast of Osaka, Japan, has been caught in an ingenious plot to steal cars.

Kobayashi worked with his two ex-wives. The women would rent a car, bringing it to Mr. Kobayashi. He had been a worker at an auto plant, and was able to attach a GPS device to a car where it would operate even while the car was turned off. A wife would return the car, and then Kobayashi would track it when someone else rented it. When he saw his chance — the car parked in a lot, say, with the current customer elsewhere — Kobayashi would use a key copy he’d made and steal the car.

Unfortunately it didn’t last: both of his ex-wives’ identification cards, used when renting the cars, were outdated and reflected a still-married status, as well as Kobayashi’s home address. When the ruse was discovered, finding the culprit was easy.

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