🚗 What It Means If You See a Penny in Your Car Door Handle — A Clever Theft Trick You Should Know

You’re heading to your car after work, grocery shopping, or a night out — keys in hand — when you notice something odd.

A penny is stuck in your car door’s keyhole or wedged in the handle.

It looks like trash.
Maybe a kid dropped it.
Or it flew in from a pocket.

But before you brush it off, stop.

That penny might not be an accident.

It could be a warning sign of a break-in attempt — or even a trap set by car thieves.

Let’s explore why someone would put a penny in your car door, how it’s used in theft attempts, and what you should do if you find one.

While it’s possible the penny is just litter, a coin deliberately placed in or near the keyhole is often part of a criminal tactic used to:

Here’s how it works: