Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MBP stolen. Worth it to contact Apple?

Geeze, I'm sorry that happened to you. Good thing your parents insurance is going to cover it. The fact that it seems they staked out means that they had to know what you had. I'm skeptical of who me or my roommate bring to my apartment. The hardware is valuable, but the art is priceless. I think that would hurt me more than losing my instruments.
 
Of all the laptops I have come across I would of loved to see someone with some security on it, sadly not many people do. The professionals format them and flip em on eBay and Craigslist so there is nothing you can do.

I guess the best advice is to leave the pictures of yourself with (insert naughty situation here) saved somewhere besides your laptop hard drive...

The General said:
I have SSH, VNC, Apple Remote Desktop, FTP, personal filesharing and all of that good stuff enabled. I have a script that checks my IP address every 30 minutes and updates an RSS feed that only I have access to.

If someone were to steal my computer, I would know their IP address, city, ISP and what they look like (if they take the laptop or iMac), etc. I would be able to control my computer remotely and backup and data that I may have forgotten to back up.

If they don't get on the internet, they WTF would they steal a computer for? :rolleyes:

But yeah, those programs like LoJack and Undercover are a really great tool for recovering stolen laptops. Most of the time, if you're in college, it's another student on campus who stole it. Look at his picture, find him. It's that simple. :)

Then once you find him you beat the living piss out of him and take your stuff back. :cool:
Click to expand...
 
KisMac Can Do It

otayandy said:
My powerbook was stolen by folks who live nearby (I'm pretty sure)...is there any device that can detect the airport card ID if they are using my Powerbook via a wireless connection?

Is this even possible?
Click to expand...

Yeah...if you own another Mac and its wireless card is supported in passive mode by KisMac, you can search for it. The passive scans often pick up the MAC address of the AirPort card if the card is in probe mode (looking for access points) or associated to an access point.

We use this to find unauthorized users attempting to break in to our wireless network. If you're good at watching/analyzing signal strength values, you can typically be as accurate as within 50 feet.

Not only can you see if they're associated or not, you can see other MAC addresses on the LAN, including the access point. Which, most of the time can be identified by manufacturer if you visit coffer.com and type in the first three hex values of the MAC address. So, say you know a person that has a Linksys router, a Dell notebook, a Nintendo Wii, an Xbox 360, and your PowerBook. You should see the MAC addresses of all those devices associated to the access point. You can determine which device is which by taking the MAC address and plugging it in to coffer.com. The Linksys router will come up as "Linksys Corp" for the manufacturer, the Wii will come up as "Nintendo Corp", "Microsoft Corp" for the 360, "Apple Computer" for your PowerBook, and typically "Broadcom, Intel, or Dell" for the Dell notebook.

Also, if you get close enough to connect to the access point and it's unsecured, you can often log in to the router with its default local IP address and the default username and password. If they're using PPPoE on a DSL connection, you have their e-mail address info right there. If they're on DSL or cable with no authentication, you have their IP address. I don't recommend going and logging in to access points looking for your PowerBook, but if you have a strong hunch that the MAC address associated to the access point belongs to your PowerBook, it might be rewarding...
 
trudd said:
My house was burglarized yesterday and they made off with my MBP, cameras and movies. Is it worth reporting the serial # to Apple? Are they proactive in tracking down stolen laptops?
Click to expand...

My sympathy goes out to you! I really hope everything works out.
 
trudd said:
My house was burglarized yesterday and they made off with my MBP, cameras and movies. Is it worth reporting the serial # to Apple? Are they proactive in tracking down stolen laptops?
Click to expand...

My sympathy goes out to you! I really hope everything works out.
 
When I worked for Apple, we saw four different people arrested for trying to get service (especially resetting the system passwords!) for stolen laptops. Apple can put it in the notes for that serial number.

It's worth it.
 
Can't someone just remove the hard drive and replace it... and than all these software tracer programs would be eliminated?
 
Digitalflick said:
Does undercover prevent someone from booting your machine in firewire mode and installing a OS from another machine?
Click to expand...

only if you set a firmware password.

if you dont, then... its possible.

Thats why its best to never advertise you have it. You just have to hope that whoever stole it turns on the mac in its natural state and connects it to the internet.

Linky
 
binky2033 said:
What, you don't want the sausage? Oktoberfest, baby! Wit der schnitzel und sauerkraut und a frauline int leiderhösen.

Crap. Now I want panckaes too. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The Lederhosen are for the men, for the fräuleins are the dirndles.

binky, I was rofl when I checked your location. Brilliant! Applauso maximale!

Dave
 
My observation- apple stores are pretty careful.

Grimace said:
When I worked for Apple, we saw four different people arrested for trying to get service (especially resetting the system passwords!) for stolen laptops. Apple can put it in the notes for that serial number.

It's worth it.
Click to expand...

I took my MBP for service. A fan needed to be replaced. It was my very first experience with the Apple Store. I was asked to produce photo ID to match the name with the registered owner. They also checked my ID when I picked the unit up. While it was impersonal, I understand and appreciate such policy.
 
When I needed my Ipod replaced they checked the serial number and apparently knew everything they needed to know about me to give me a new one. I would hope that they would have a system in place to know if someone tries to bring in a stolen computer as it would be pretty easy to put that into the database. BTW when my laptop was stolen I checked E-bay every few days for a month or so afterwards that may be worth a shot. You see a similar Mac being sold in your area or anywhere really it might be worth checking into.
 
Powerbook Stolen by local theives

iMouse said:
Yeah...if you own another Mac and its wireless card is supported in passive mode by KisMac, you can search for it. The passive scans often pick up the MAC address of the AirPort card if the card is in probe mode (looking for access points) or associated to an access point.

Thanks for the tip...we'll give it a try.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back