f250 started by itself
 

Wife and I are walking by the truck parked on the street. Truck unlocks - wife says the keys are in my handbag, probably something hit the key. A moment later - the truck starts up - we are both standing outside the truck. The vehicle is not equipped with remote start and needs a key to start - or so we thought. Message on the dash display says to drive - insert key. She puts her key in then turns off the truck. Gets out, locks the vehicle. A moment later, the same thing happens again. Shut it down and locked it again. Doesn't appear to be happening now - although I will be checking it all night. Any idea on what is going on? Called service - guy says its not possible - heading there in the morning. Truck is a 2017 f250 lariat with 12k miles on it - new to us - about a month ago. All of this took place in about a minute.

Ghosts? Boo!
If this happened to my truck it would drive me crazier than i already am.

The truck even though its NOT supposed to have remote start, it might of had it installed by mistake at the factory.
Sounds like its a used truck? If so maybe the PO installed remote start on his own?

Does your key fob have the remote start buttons?

Yes we did buy it used. So it is possible that the previous owner did put something in but there was no mention of it. The remote only has lock, unlock, and alarm buttons on it. No remote start button. I flipped through all of the dash controls to see if there was anything related to remote start - nothing. I know that my wife would not have believed me if she wasn't standing right there and I know that I wouldn't have believed her if I wasn't there. Freakiest thing that ever happened. I thought someone had actually gotten into my house and grabbed the other set of keys before I managed to get the door open and see the drivers seat empty. It was weird that it happened at all - but then after we turned it off and locked it - it happened again! Been checking on it and all seems ok now.

Just another thought.
Do you have the window sticker or do a VIN search on the options your truck has.
Based on what you're saying i think its a good bet your truck has remote start installed.

Could be the key fobs you have are not the original ones that came with the truck.
They might of got lost or something and Ford re-programmed new fobs and screwed up.
Why it seemingly starts on its own is indeed the big question.

As an experiment, you might play around with the fobs by randomly pushing buttons one at a time and double pressing them and see what happens.

Edit: One of my Jeeps has remote start and 'seems' to start on its own out of the blue when the fob is in my pocket then i kneel down, bend over, etc. which applies enough pressure to inadvertently depress the remote start button in my pocket.
Happened a bunch of times.

I know of one Jeep owner who's vehicle was started by someone who hacked into it from a computer somewhere.

Remote start can be enabled with FORSCan.

Previous owner could have done that AND installed Ford Remote Access which is cellular.

Look down at OBD2 port which is straight down under steering wheel and see if there is a cable plugged into it that goes to a black box.

If so, the previous owner can lock/unlock, beep horn, and remote start/stop your truck.

If yes you can unplug it, then get the vendor, Spindance, to turn the account over to you. For $49.99 per year, you would then have cellular remote start.

Or, you can unplug it and remove it. Or simply remove the SIM card and keep the VSS, Vehicle Security System, which is a motion sensing alarm and one of the components.

that's scary
Kind of glad my truck is still "old fashioned"

Most aftermarket remote starts utilize the lock button. Try pressing it 3 times in a row (kind of slowly). Sometimes 4 times in a row.

Yah - probably a remote start installed that works with OEM key fob. Truck can also be started using phone app (Ford Pass). Might have been that as well.

The remote start module I installed on my truck uses 3 rapid "Lock" presses. There are also some that require "Lock"-"Unlock"-'Lock"...So if something bumps the remote and it locks, unlocks, the locks again rapidly. I could see it accidentally starting.