Laptop Thief Caught via AOL Login

Mundocani writes "Yahoo (Reuters) is reporting that the FBI has caught the guy who stole computers from Wells Fargo. The interesting part is that 'Investigators traced the computer to Krastof when he logged onto his own America Online account at home through one of the stolen computers.' Makes you wonder what sort of hooks the FBI has into AOL or other ISPs and what hardware identification is being transmitted at login."

Comments

You know...

[mental_telepathy]

I hate to say that Slashdot readers have obvious biases, but why is it that when the police do something smart with computers, you get:
Makes you wonder what sort of hooks the FBI has into AOL or other ISPs and what hardware identification is being transmitted at login.
And when they can't solve a computer crime case, you get 100 posts about how the police are computer dummys. I'll be honest, I'm not too worried about my ISP having my MAC address, or even the make and model of my video card if they are interested. It's just nice to see a criminal get busted

Re:You know...

[jkleid]

"I'll be honest, I'm not too worried about my ISP having my MAC address, or even the make and model of my video card if they are interested."

Authorities now have a sizable fraction of the technology possessed by big brother in the book 1984. Whether or not to fear that power is a matter of trust.
_______

There is no story here

[Mr_Silver]

From SFGate:

Investigators knew where to look for the gear not because of unusually intrepid sleuthing but because Krastof allegedly used the computer to log on to an AOL account belonging to the system's owner, Peter Gascoyne.

Please remove your tin foil hats, the idiot logged onto the AOL account of the person he stole the laptop from. The police and AOL merely traced it back to his house.

Re:PC call home

[miu]

I should state exactly why I felt the Herald version is more credible.

The Yahoo statement:

Investigators traced the computer to Krastof when he logged onto his own America Online account at home through one of the stolen computers, White said.

and the Herald statement:

"He logged onto an (America Online) account that was registered on that computer and we traced it back to his phone number and address,'' White said.

I felt that the direct quote of Chief White was more credible, and less likely to be subject to an error of interpretation on the part of the reporter.

Re:Similar Experience

[qtp]

If you had demonstrated the common decency to be a large financial institution, as Wells Fargo so considerately did, then the police would have been more than happy to help you.

The absolute gall that you demonstrated by being a lowly private citizen cannot be tollerated and our law enforcement agencies cannot and will not encourage such anti-social behavior.