Who are the “Kia Boyz”? How TikTok fueled an epidemic of automobile thefts

You might have learn concerning the current lawsuits towards Kia and Hyundai in New York and different US cities. But what precisely led us so far? As with many viral subjects as of late, it began on TikTok.

During the pandemic, bored and tech-savvy youngsters started posting movies on-line displaying how one can steal Kias and Hyundais. Thefts of those automobiles started growing dramatically across the nation, and shortly the social media problem—the place individuals movie themselves doing one thing (like dumping a bucket of icy water over their head) then put up the video on-line as proof—had triggered lethal automobile accidents, a class-action lawsuit, and even drops within the automakers’ inventory costs. Kia and Hyundai each started providing software program updates and recalling automobiles, however the harm was executed.

The Kia Boys & the TikTok problem

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an enormous variety of social media challenges, particularly amongst children, merely on account of boredom and further time. In late 2021, the “Kia Boys” started going viral on TikTok. They have been taking part in a social media problem that concerned stealing Kias and Hyundais utilizing a selected methodology and posting the outcomes on TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube.

These youngsters, who’ve stolen tens of hundreds of automobiles, are principally from Milwaukee and Columbus, Ohio, though the development has since unfold nationwide. The subject has even made it into songs, with rappers bragging about stealing Kias.

The Kia Boys usually are not an official group however fairly a common collective of youngsters who’ve used a selected hack to steal automobiles. Many are too younger to actually have a driver’s license. They don’t do it for cash and even to maintain the automobiles—they do it for enjoyable, for the enjoyment rides.

Not solely are these youngsters stealing automobiles and sharing the movies on social media, however they’re driving the automobiles recklessly, inflicting property harm and deadly accidents. The thieves normally abandon the automobiles, usually totaled and stuffed with empty bottles of alcohol.

At least one arrest has been made in connection to those crimes. In June 2022, Markell Hughes was arrested in Milwaukee after crashing a stolen pink Hyundai. Police have been in a position to match the license plate of the car to 1 that had been reported stolen. They additionally recognized Hughes and the car in a YouTube video referred to as “Kia Boys Documentary (A Story of Teenage Car Theft),” which now has over 6 million views.

What makes these automobiles really easy to steal?

The safety flaw that has led to this situation stems from Kia’s cost-saving measures and an absence of laws. In Canada, for instance, automobiles produced from September 2007 onward are required to have immobilizers—a typical anti-theft machine that stops a automobile from being began with out the sensible key current. But this regulation doesn’t exist within the United States.

The Kia Boys can simply steal Kia fashions manufactured from 2011-2021 by accessing the steering wheel column. The methodology might be simpler than you assume: all of the Kia Boys have to do is break a window, pry open the steering column, and plug a charging wire onto a small steel nub beneath the ignition cylinder, which is completely sized to suit right into a USB-A plug. Then simply twist the plug and the automobile begins.

In Milwaukee and Columbus, the place the phenomenon is most outstanding, you’ll now see most Kias sporting a steering wheel lock. Kia and Hyundai dealerships in these cities are reportedly overwhelmed with the entire broken automobiles that house owners are discovering deserted. It’s even inflicting a scarcity of components.