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Next month marks four years since the mythical "warning" emerged out of Africa and worked its way around the globe.
The idea, it's said, is you'll hear the sound of the bottle being crushed and get out of your car to investigate. At that point, the carjacker robs you of your ride.
The bogus alert begins: "PLEASE READ Police warn: if you find a plastic bottle near your car, you may be in danger."
You won't and you're not, authorities say.
There's no evidence whatsoever to support the "scarelore," just like there was no reason to believe a claim that carjackers tucked counterfeit $100 bills under windshields to lure drivers from their vehicles.
"Like those warnings, this warning about using plastic bottles to trick motorists into exiting their vehicles doesn’t seem logically sound, since – from the carjackers perspective – it relies on too many unknown variables and assumptions," reports the debunking site known as thatsnonsense.com.
"For one, it relies on the motorist not seeing the plastic bottle until they start their engine and hear the 'crushing noise'," it says.
The claim also relies on the assumption that:
- you'll hear the noise with a running engine and other surrounding sounds in the first place;
- you'll get out to investigate;
- the carjacker has the luxury of waiting around -- without being noticed -- for you to eventually show up.
As the popular myth-debunking site Snopes.com points out, carjackers are usually acting on the spur of the moment.
That said, a small portion of robbers have tried to get targeted drivers out of their cars by bumping them from behind, staging what looks like an accident or flashing their lights as if they're in trouble, police say.
These are few and far between, however.
"Like related urban legends, the plastic bottle introduces the comforting perspective that being a victim is avoidable," Snopes notes. "It implies that by spreading the knowledge we’re not only shielding ourselves from potential harm but helping others learn a simple trick to shield innocent folks from bad [people].
"As is typically the case, we found no reports (credible or anecdotal) that anyone had fallen victim to a crime after being distracted by an empty plastic bottle. We contacted the FBI about the rumor, and a representative told us they were unaware of any reports of carjackings involving plastic bottles."
Now if people would only stop believing those bogus "got another friend request" Facebook messages....
SCAM ALERT: Don’t Forward ‘Got Another Friend Request From You’ Facebook PM -- It’s A Hoax
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