GPS and cell phone jammers, devices installed on cars to neutralize their tracking systems, are widely available in Vietnam and are mostly used for dishonest purposes, despite the country’s strict eligibility requirements for users of the products.
Once plugged into car cigarette lighters, the anti-tracking device can stop tracking systems that are used to detect stolen cars and monitor vehicle use.
The device jams any GPS receiver or transmitter around the car, and the vehicle just vanishes off the map of anyone who is tracking it, like the car owners or taxi operators.
The GPS (Global Positioning System) is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites.
In Vietnam, it is required to obtain a license to import the device, and only the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Defence are allowed to use it for security purposes. Other individuals and organizations must obtain a special license from the Prime Minister to be able to use GPS jammers.
Most car part stores thus assert that they do not risk selling the banned product. But it is publicly available on the Internet, where transactions are made mostly via telephone.
Tuoi Tre correspondents phoned a man named Tan, based in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Chanh District, to ask about the GPS jammers he advertised on an Internet forum.
Tan said he currently sells two types of GPS blockers, one for 16-seat cars at VND1.6 million (US$75) each, and the other for larger vehicles, at VND2.5 million apiece.
“They all originate from Singapore with six-month warranty,” he said.
Skeptical customers can bring their cars to meet Tan test the product, he added.
Tuan, who runs a similar ad on an online forum on car equipment, boasted thousands of sold products to customers in all 63 provinces and cities across Vietnam.
“All you have to do is to turn the device on, and the GPS system will be immediately blocked,” the Hanoi man said when contacted by Tuoi Tre by phone.
Misuse
“My car has a GPS tracking system so I installed the jammer to be able to use it for personal purposes,” T., a man hailing in Tan Phu District, revealed to Tuoi Tre.
The man once drove to Chau Doc, a Mekong Delta city 250km west of HCMC without being detected by his manager, he added.
On May 13, customs officers of HCMC-based Tan Son Nhat International Airport and economic police discovered and seized 11 GPS blockers in a batch of goods delivered to Nguyen Van Trung, based in Hoc Mon District.
Earlier in February 2013, HCMC customs also found five GPS jammers originating from China from an import batch sent by Shenzhen Northtong Technology, a Chinese security equipment manufacturer, to Vietnam’s Anh Viet Co Ltd.
Two motorbike thieves arrested in HCMC last month also confessed to police that they would plug a GPS blocker into the stolen vehicles to dodge detention by police and their owners.
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