Four years later… turns out my new laptop was a stolen unit

[lexlevi]

Four years ago, I bought a 15-inch MacBook Pro, new in box, with AppleCare+ on eBay. It worked fine until the crap keyboard gave out, so I sent it in for warranty repair. When I got it back, setup wouldn’t let me get past a “remote management” screen by Rapid7. After an hour on the phone with AppleCare, they recommended I reach out to Rapid7 to try to reclaim my computer.

When I rang them, they said they’ve received a number of similar calls recently and their theory is that one of their asset/recycling partners has been skimming units off top for the years and reselling.

Rapid7 will be calling me Monday or Tuesday to (hopefully) resolve the issue. Have you heard of this? Has it happened to you?


Screenshot is here:

AppleCare remote management?

I sent my 2017 15” MPB in for keyboard repair and it came back with a screen I’ve never seen before. I’ve tried wiping the drive several times and it still shows up. Any idea why this is here and how to remove it? Is someone trying to spy on me?

forums.macrumors.com

 

[chscag]

Rapid7 will be calling me Monday or Tuesday to (hopefully) resolve the issue. Have you heard of this? Has it happened to you?

I sincerely hope you get this resolved but it seems that it has become increasingly dangerous buying from eBay. With all the "smash and grab" thefts going on lately it's probably best to avoid eBay all together. Just my opinion.

 

[lexlevi]

I sincerely hope you get this resolved but it seems that it has become increasingly dangerous buying from eBay. With all the "smash and grab" thefts going on lately it's probably best to avoid eBay all together. Just my opinion.

Thank you for the good vibes. Having used eBay for a long time, I will say reputable sellers are definitely safe. It’s about doing your homework.

 

[Alameda]

Thank you for the good vibes. Having used eBay for a long time, I will say reputable sellers are definitely safe. It’s about doing your homework.

If that were true you wouldn’t have wound up with a stolen, presumably refurbished, laptop which was sold to you as brand new.

 

[lexlevi]

If that were true you wouldn’t have wound up with a stolen, presumably refurbished, laptop which was sold to you as brand new.

Well bad luck for me, but it’s hardly fair to paint all eBay sellers with one brushstroke. A hardworking relative of mine sustains his family very well by being an eBay seller.

 

[Alameda]

Well bad luck for me, but it’s hardly fair to paint all eBay sellers with one brushstroke. A hardworking relative of mine sustains his family very well by being an eBay seller.

Let me put it like this: The people who run eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Amazon are perfectly well aware of the fact that they are enabling multi-billion dollar criminal enterprises, and they’re doing nothing about it.

In my view, they are accessories to these crimes and should be prosecuted.

 

[0128672]

I knew I had read about this issue in a new thread yesterday, and turns out that was the OP as well.

AppleCare remote management?

I sent my 2017 15” MPB in for keyboard repair and it came back with a screen I’ve never seen before. I’ve tried wiping the drive several times and it still shows up. Any idea why this is here and how to remove it? Is someone trying to spy on me?

forums.macrumors.com

@lexlevi, you can use the report button to ask the mods to move your post from your original thread about the issue to this thread so that anyone else encountering this problem benefits from your screenshot in that thread and the progress you've made in this thread.

 

[lexlevi]

I knew I had read about this issue in a new thread yesterday, and turns out that was the OP as well.

AppleCare remote management?

I sent my 2017 15” MPB in for keyboard repair and it came back with a screen I’ve never seen before. I’ve tried wiping the drive several times and it still shows up. Any idea why this is here and how to remove it? Is someone trying to spy on me?

forums.macrumors.com

@lexlevi, you can use the report button to ask the mods to move your post from your original thread about the issue to this thread so that anyone else encountering this problem benefits from your screenshot in that thread and the progress you've made in this thread.

Thanks, WildSky. Reported.

 

[0128672]

Thanks, WildSky. Reported.

Hope you'll post back too when you get a call back from Rapid7.

 

[boss.king]

Let me put it like this: The people who run eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Amazon are perfectly well aware of the fact that they are enabling multi-billion dollar criminal enterprises, and they’re doing nothing about it.

In my view, they are accessories to these crimes and should be prosecuted.

What exactly are they supposed to do? It’s a marketplace, they already give buyers pretty robust refund options but they’re not all-powerful.

 

[Jack Neill]

I bought a mid 2012 MBP off eBay a few years ago and I went to clean install Catalina and I got the same thing. It was from some school district in Iowa. I went to their website and found their IT contact and they removed it from their MDM.

 

[chown33]

Moderation Note

The original thread was asked to be deleted. At least that's how I took the Reported request.

Now I see it'll be better to keep that thread around for its screenshot.

I've undeleted it, but locked it, with a pointer to this thread. I've also edited the 1st post here, to reference the screenshot in the other thread.

 

[toru173]

To my knowledge the device only checks for enrolment during the first run setup assistant (macbuddy). The correct thing to do is to get Rapid7 to remove it from their MDM - which you are currently attempting to do - but you can also use a few methods to skip macbuddy.

A 2017 machine will allow you to use target disk mode to run through the setup assistant using another Mac, which won’t trigger the check for enrolment because it won’t use your 2017’s serial number. Alternatively, if you’re comfortable in Terminal I have some steps listed on my GitHub (https://github.com/toru173/Skipping-the-macOS-First-Run-Setup-Assistant) that allows you to create a user and skip the setup assistant from Recovery.

I had this happen to me a little while ago. Not an eBay purchase, but a company device that was recycled between departments. The previous department has their devices managed and mine doesn’t!

 

[lexlevi]

To my knowledge the device only checks for enrolment during the first run setup assistant (macbuddy). The correct thing to do is to get Rapid7 to remove it from their MDM - which you are currently attempting to do - but you can also use a few methods to skip macbuddy.

A 2017 machine will allow you to use target disk mode to run through the setup assistant using another Mac, which won’t trigger the check for enrolment because it won’t use your 2017’s serial number. Alternatively, if you’re comfortable in Terminal I have some steps listed on my GitHub (https://github.com/toru173/Skipping-the-macOS-First-Run-Setup-Assistant) that allows you to create a user and skip the setup assistant from Recovery.

I had this happen to me a little while ago. Not an eBay purchase, but a company device that was recycled between departments. The previous department has their devices managed and mine doesn’t!

Thanks Toru! I’ll let you know if I give this a shot.

 

[TiggrToo]

Let me put it like this: The people who run eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Amazon are perfectly well aware of the fact that they are enabling multi-billion dollar criminal enterprises, and they’re doing nothing about it.

In my view, they are accessories to these crimes and should be prosecuted.

Just how are they expected to police it?

If you think the fees and processes are bad now wait for them to say each device has to be vetted before sale and they'll take $30 and 7 days for it.

 

[calliex]

In the smash and grab robberies doesn’t Apple know the serial numbers of the stolen units?
if someone buys Apple care, gets service,etc. their caught.

 

[Analog Kid]

Just how are they expected to police it?

If you think the fees and processes are bad now wait for them to say each device has to be vetted before sale and they'll take $30 and 7 days for it.

They don’t have to vet each sale, but they could make more of an effort to vet the vendors. Ensure they have enough information to track a problem sale to the source and prosecute if appropriate.

 

[Big Bad D]

Why or how would eBay (or others) vet all vendors? It’s just not practical. Sympathies to those facing this situation, but usual caveat of “buyer beware“ applies. The buyer needs to check any ratings or feedback for seller, that’s sadly the risk (versus the saving) taken.

 

[TiggrToo]

They don’t have to vet each sale, but they could make more of an effort to vet the vendors. Ensure they have enough information to track a problem sale to the source and prosecute if appropriate.

Again, an almost impossible task.

Imagine the outcry if new vendors where told they had to wait 14 days before they could sell and that they also had to provide background documentation and pay a fee before they could even list?

I'm not denying that there's a problem - there absolutely is.

But whilst there is a buying market sellers will sell and places like eBay will continue to facilitate them.

My solution is that I will never buy anything from places like eBay. Even etsy is getting bad, Amazon is getting worse and right now I'm getting the itch to go back to physical stores.

 

[TechRunner]

I'll spare you my tales of woe, but I've taken to buying nearly everything direct from the manufacturer's site whenever possible or practical.

 

[pianostar9]

With all the "smash and grab" thefts going on lately it's probably best to avoid eBay all together. Just my opinion.

Let's not forget that's news from now, not news from four years ago...

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

Is there any way to find this out before going to do a clean install of the OS?

I just bought a 2012 MBP back in September from eBay, seller was reputable as far as I can tell, it was “eBay certified refurbished” (whatever that’s worth) and is in good shape. Now I’m a littler concerned after reading this.

Sorry for your troubles OP.

 

[Alameda]

What exactly are they supposed to do? It’s a marketplace, they already give buyers pretty robust refund options but they’re not all-powerful.

Uh Uh. That’s just a BS excuse.
I repeat, they profit through enabling multi-billion dollar theft rings.

This affects you: It makes the products you purchase more expensive, and it also means you cannot trust these online retailers to sell you legitimate products. If you want to buy a Coach or Luis Vuitton bag, you can’t tell if you’re getting a genuine product through Amazon or eBay. Even spark plugs for your car are very unsafe to buy through these vendors, unless you don’t care that the iridium-coated plugs you install will fall apart inside your engine after 12,000 miles instead of lasting 120,000 miles.

But the real problem is that billions of dollars of goods are stolen from Target and Best Buy and Amazon and eBay are the fences.

 

[HarryMudd]

To my knowledge the device only checks for enrolment during the first run setup assistant (macbuddy). The correct thing to do is to get Rapid7 to remove it from their MDM - which you are currently attempting to do - but you can also use a few methods to skip macbuddy.

A 2017 machine will allow you to use target disk mode to run through the setup assistant using another Mac, which won’t trigger the check for enrolment because it won’t use your 2017’s serial number. Alternatively, if you’re comfortable in Terminal I have some steps listed on my GitHub (https://github.com/toru173/Skipping-the-macOS-First-Run-Setup-Assistant) that allows you to create a user and skip the setup assistant from Recovery.

I had this happen to me a little while ago. Not an eBay purchase, but a company device that was recycled between departments. The previous department has their devices managed and mine doesn’t!

Can this be done on an iPhone?

 

[lexlevi]

To my knowledge the device only checks for enrolment during the first run setup assistant (macbuddy). The correct thing to do is to get Rapid7 to remove it from their MDM - which you are currently attempting to do - but you can also use a few methods to skip macbuddy.

A 2017 machine will allow you to use target disk mode to run through the setup assistant using another Mac, which won’t trigger the check for enrolment because it won’t use your 2017’s serial number. Alternatively, if you’re comfortable in Terminal I have some steps listed on my GitHub (https://github.com/toru173/Skipping-the-macOS-First-Run-Setup-Assistant) that allows you to create a user and skip the setup assistant from Recovery.

I had this happen to me a little while ago. Not an eBay purchase, but a company device that was recycled between departments. The previous department has their devices managed and mine doesn’t!

I attempted both methods - but since my working Mac is M1, the target disk mode method doesn't seem to work. As for the Terminal process, unfortunately I don't know enough to use it. Guess I'll just have to wait for Rapid7 to help me this week.