The video started circulating in T&T group chats a few weeks ago. A police officer, camera pointed at a device in his hand, explains that this is what they found in a vehicle during a recent theft recovery. He believes it is a GPS jammer.
The device in the frame is an RF scanner.
Within two weeks, 22 Gaffar GPS customers called us with the same question: if the police found one of these in a stolen car, does that mean it can detect a GPS tracker?
It is a fair question. A credible source got it wrong publicly. Understanding the difference matters — not because RF scanners represent a serious threat to a properly installed modern tracker, but because knowing the truth about what they can and cannot do tells you exactly how well-protected your vehicle actually is.
The Video Going Around — What It Actually Shows
RF scanners are real devices. They are used legitimately by security professionals and hobbyists to detect wireless signals in an area. The scanner in the video sweeps for radio frequency emissions — the kind produced by cellular transmitters, wireless speakers, hidden cameras, and similar devices.
It cannot sweep for a GPS satellite signal.
The officer’s instinct was understandable. A device that scans for wireless signals sounds like something that would find a GPS tracker. The two technologies work very differently, though, and that distinction is where vehicle owners get confused.
What made the video travel was the authority behind it — a uniformed officer, a recovered vehicle, a device in hand. Twenty-two calls in two weeks tells us that is enough to create genuine uncertainty. This post exists to give those callers the answer they deserved: specific, accurate, and honest about where the real risks actually lie.
What GPS Trackers Transmit — And What They Don’t
This is where most of the confusion lives, and it is worth being precise.
A GPS tracker does not transmit GPS signals. GPS is a receive-only technology. Your tracker receives signals from satellites overhead to calculate where it is. It does not broadcast those signals back outward. The satellites transmit — the tracker listens.
What your tracker does transmit is a data signal: a short cellular ping over 4G LTE bands to a server that records the vehicle’s position. This is how your location appears in the app.
That transmission has three characteristics that matter here:
It is brief. Modern trackers send short data bursts at intervals — not a continuous signal stream. Between transmissions, the device is silent.
It is infrequent. Transmissions happen at set intervals. The device does not maintain a constant outbound connection.
It is indistinguishable from ordinary 4G traffic. The signal is on the same frequency bands used by every mobile phone, tablet, and mobile hotspot in the vicinity. A scanner picking up 4G LTE activity near a vehicle parked anywhere on the Churchill-Roosevelt at rush hour would register dozens of signals simultaneously. Isolating one specific short-burst ping from a concealed tracker among all of that is not a practical operation.
This combination — brief, infrequent, indistinguishable — is why RF scanning is not a practical method for detecting a properly installed, current-generation GPS tracker.
What an RF Scanner Can and Cannot Detect
An RF scanner can detect a GPS tracker if the device has a poor-quality or externally exposed antenna, transmits continuously rather than in bursts, or has been installed in an obvious location with visible wiring accessible from outside the vehicle.
In those conditions, someone with a scanner in close proximity and sufficient time to sweep the vehicle thoroughly might detect a cellular signal. But this describes a poorly installed, older-generation device — not a modern system installed by a professional.
An RF scanner cannot reliably detect a GPS tracker that uses professional-grade installation, transmits in short bursts on 4G LTE bands, and sits in a concealed location without any external exposure.
The direct answer to the question that drove 22 calls: an RF scanner is not a reliable tool for locating a modern GPS tracker. The technology, the installation quality, and the transmission pattern work together against it. Not theoretically impossible under specific conditions — but practically ineffective against current systems installed by a professional.
How Thieves Actually Try to Find GPS Trackers
RF scanning is not the method professional vehicle theft operations rely on. In cases where theft attempts involve active GPS countermeasures, the approaches are different:
Physical search. Looking under the vehicle, behind panels, under seats, in standard installation locations. This is countered by professional installation in non-obvious locations — one of the core reasons professional installation matters far beyond simple convenience. A properly concealed device is not found by looking.
GPS jamming. A jammer broadcasts interference on GPS frequencies, disrupting the satellite receive leg of the tracker’s positioning system. This does not find the tracker — it attempts to prevent it from knowing where it is. A standard GPS tracker that relies solely on GPS satellite signals for positioning can be affected by this method.
Signal blocking. Moving the vehicle into a structure designed to block cellular transmission, or wrapping it in signal-blocking material. Time-limited and impractical once a vehicle is being driven across the road network.
Of these, jamming is the countermeasure that matters for GPS tracking systems. Our own internal testing confirmed what security research documents: a tracker relying only on GPS satellite signals for geopositioning can be defeated by a jammer. This is not a secret — it is a known limitation of single-technology positioning systems.
It is also the reason the Gaffar GPS Shield exists.
What Gaffar GPS Shield Does When a Jammer Is Nearby
The Gaffar GPS Shield is built specifically to address the jamming limitation. Rather than relying solely on GPS satellite signals for positioning, the Shield uses multiple positioning technologies. When jamming equipment disrupts GPS signals, the system maintains tracking through alternative positioning methods.
In the rare cases where we have encountered jamming during an actual theft attempt, the Shield continued to provide location data. The jamming did not prevent recovery.
GPS jamming devices are also illegal to possess and use in Trinidad and Tobago under Telecommunications Authority of T&T regulations — possession is an offence regardless of intent. The fact that jammers appear at theft scenes at all tells you something important: professional theft networks view GPS tracking as a serious enough obstacle that they spend money and accept additional criminal exposure trying to defeat it.
A jamming device recovered from a stolen vehicle is not evidence that GPS tracking fails. It is evidence that GPS tracking is threatening enough to require a countermeasure — and that with the right system, the countermeasure does not work.
T&T recorded 1,091 vehicles stolen in 2024. The national recovery rate sits at approximately 39%. Gaffar GPS Solutions has maintained a 100% recovery rate since 2012 — not one vehicle permanently lost. That record includes cases where jamming was attempted.
For a fuller picture of how GPS tracking works as a theft deterrent in Trinidad, the Gaffar GPS Shield is where the answer to the jamming question sits. Details on the Shield and subscription pricing are available on the vehicle anti-theft page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an RF scanner detect a hidden GPS tracker?
Not reliably. A consumer RF scanner detects radio frequency emissions, but a modern GPS tracker using 4G LTE transmits in short, infrequent bursts on frequencies shared with every mobile device in the area. Professional installation removes any external antenna exposure. In practice, RF scanning is not an effective method for locating a properly installed, current-generation GPS tracker.
What signals does a GPS tracker actually transmit?
A GPS tracker receives satellite signals to determine its position — it does not transmit GPS signals outward. The only outbound transmission is a brief cellular ping over 4G LTE bands to update the vehicle’s location on the tracking server. This is the same frequency range used by mobile phones and is indistinguishable from standard 4G traffic in the surrounding area.
What is the difference between an RF scanner and a GPS jammer?
An RF scanner passively detects existing wireless signals in the environment. A GPS jammer actively broadcasts interference to disrupt GPS satellite reception. They are different devices with different purposes. The scanner in the viral video can detect RF emissions — it cannot disrupt GPS tracking, and it is not an effective tool for locating a modern installed tracker.
Are GPS jammers legal in Trinidad?
No. GPS jamming devices are illegal to possess and use in Trinidad and Tobago under Telecommunications Authority regulations. Their presence at theft scenes is an indicator that professional theft networks treat GPS tracking as a serious obstacle to their operations — and that they are willing to take on additional criminal risk trying to defeat it.
How does the Gaffar GPS Shield protect against jamming?
The Gaffar GPS Shield uses multiple positioning technologies rather than relying solely on GPS satellite signals. When jamming equipment disrupts the GPS receive signal, the system maintains tracking through alternative positioning methods. In our internal testing and in real-world cases where jamming has been encountered, the Shield has continued to provide accurate location data throughout.
What should I do if I am concerned about my vehicle’s GPS protection?
Call our team on 220-1000 any time. We can confirm your device is active, verify installation quality, and advise on whether the Gaffar GPS Shield is the right fit for your vehicle and risk profile.
Call 220-1000 or WhatsApp us at 868-220-1000. Our team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.