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Thief Returns Stolen Laptop Contents On USB Stick

While it's true that Sweden is responsible for unleashing IKEA and ABBA on humanity, not everything they produce is terrible. Their thieves are some of the most considerate in the world. An unnamed professor at Umeå University received a USB stick with all his data after his laptop was stolen. From the article: "The professor, who teaches at Umeå University in northern Sweden, was devastated when ten years of work stored on his laptop was stolen. But to his surprise, a week after the theft, the entire contents of his laptop were posted to him on a USB stick. 'I am very happy,' the unnamed professor told the local Västerbottens-Kuriren newspaper. 'This story makes me feel hope for humanity.'"

20 of 352 comments (clear)

  1. Honor Amongst Thieves by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Reminds me of when a friend had their radio stolen from their car, however, the thief took the time slimjim the door rather then bust his window. He even locked it up after he was finish. Just because you're gonna be a thief, doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it.

    1. Re:Honor Amongst Thieves by Combatso · · Score: 5, Funny

      i heard about a guy that left a Justin Bieber CD on his dash... when he got back to his car the window was smashed, and someone left a second CD

    2. Re:Honor Amongst Thieves by DarkOx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      See, I don't see that as any specific kindness. Honestly that sounds like the thief was less dickish than they might of been but there is nothing kind about stealing your property.

      Now if say he broke into you car and all he took was the bag of groceries out of the trunk you were on the way home with well, we might say they must have been hungry and it was kind of them to do the littlest damage possible, I guess, but there is nobody who "needs" a CD changer, that is just theft and vandalism and I really don't feel much need to excuse the guy the perp.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    3. Re:Honor Amongst Thieves by rwa2 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Reminds me of when a friend had their radio stolen from their car, however, the thief took the time slimjim the door rather then bust his window. He even locked it up after he was finish. Just because you're gonna be a thief, doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it.

      I think it goes more like:

      Couple arrive home from vacation to find their house was broken into and wiped clean. Thieves were nice enough to have left the roll of film from their stolen camera, and most of their bathroom toiletries. So the couple filed their police report, brushed their teeth, and went to sleep on the floor.

      A week later after they got the film developed, turns out they had a few extra blurry pictures taken by the thieves of some toothbrushes jammed up someone's ass.

    4. Re:Honor Amongst Thieves by severoon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Would the professor have been so kind to a student that didn't think to back up a semester's worth of work, much less 10 years' worth?

      --
      but have you considered the following argument: shut up.
    5. Re:Honor Amongst Thieves by rwa2 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Ha! I hear in downtown Baltimore, junkies will break car windows just to rifle through the ashtray for loose pocket change. Some people post signs saying "No valuables inside", but it doesn't work, or is viewed as an invitation (some thieves break in anyway, and leave their own sign: "You're right! But I checked anyway").

      Best approach seems to be to just leave the windows open. :-P

    6. Re:Honor Amongst Thieves by firewrought · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Now if say he broke into you car and all he took was the bag of groceries out of the trunk you were on the way home with well, we might say they must have been hungry and it was kind of them to do the littlest damage possible, I guess, but there is nobody who "needs" a CD changer, that is just theft and vandalism and I really don't feel much need to excuse the guy the perp.

      Thieves don't steal CD changers so they can listen to tunes: they steal so they can pawn/fence/resell the goods and get cash for drugs/HDTV/food/whatever. Who causes less harm to society: a thief that breaks into 10 cars for groceries or a thief that breaks into 1 car to get a CD changer with which to buy the same amount of groceries? IMO, the latter thief is morally superior because he caused less collateral damage in terms of damaged property and psychological stress on victims. Of course, if you're the victim in either of these cases, you KNOW that the first guy stole because of fundamental need whereas the second may or may not have bought groceries with the proceeds of his crime (in the real world: probably not).

      Bottom line 1: a criminal who steals for fundamental need (food, medicine) is morally superior to one who steals for non-fundamental needs (recreational drugs, entertainment systems).
      Bottom line 2: a criminal who takes some effort to minimize/mitigate the impact on his victims is morally superior to one who does not.

      --
      -1, Too Many Layers Of Abstraction
    7. Re:Honor Amongst Thieves by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      One time I was at a restaurant in my hometown of Baltimore, and someone smashed the window in and stole my briefcase which I carelessly left on the back seat. Unfortunately for them, it contained nothing but 2 weeks of my student's homework and 2 textbooks.

      I hope someone learned a lesson : )

      -Dom

    8. Re:Honor Amongst Thieves by acedotcom · · Score: 4, Interesting

      as i have had my house broken into, i can say that the only thing i can thank the criminals for was leaving my printer, because if they havent, i would have caught them. Thats right, i caught them.

      they literally stole everything from my downstairs while i was sleeping upstairs, i came down stairs and everything that could be plugged in was stolen, i am a photographer and they stole $3000 worth of camera kit, 2 laptops, my home server with every picture i had ever taken on it, its two monitors and keyboard and mouse, my 42 plasma TV and my xbox 360 and all its games and controllers; roughly $8000 was stolen from me while i slept. the cops came, gave me useless self defense tips and left me there. they had stolen my wallet,ALL of my car keys, house keys and a few folders from my desk that had all my back up ID in it.

      BUT they had left my printer! and it had a scanner! and a copier! and plenty of ink and paper. so i went to hand writing descriptions of EVERYTHING that was stolen, giving serial numbers when i could and as accurate as possible descriptions. i made about 20 copies and got someone to watch the house while i was out, found a ride and canvased every camera shop, computer repair and pawn dealer in the area. if i couldnt get them a copy i called them with the things that would most likely turn up.

      three days later, a camera shop about 20 miles away in the next state called me to let me know that the police had just arrested two men trying to sell my camera kit. This shop i had been to a few times that year, and i had called them with serial numbers and descriptions the day before! they are a reputable dealer and called the cops...the suspects were arrested in the spot. but they couldnt hold them despite the fact the one guy was on parole. they claimed that they got the stuff from their "cousin" and didnt know it was stolen. they also had "my" xbox in their car...

      so about a week later, i got yet another call, a computer repair 4 MILES FROM MY HOUSE, one that i go to everyfew weeks that i had delivered a list of stolen stuff to personally had called the cops...this time the SAME GUYS (really) had my server. It was pretty clear why they needed to visit a computer repair. they had tried to wipe the BIOS and were successful (mostly likely to because they felt that would deactivate services like LoJack the live in the BIOS) but because of my very particular hard drive setup, it wouldnt boot into windows, and i guess they didnt want to commit piracy or didnt know want Ubuntu is so they tried to recover my windows install from the hard drive.

      Long story short, they got arrested on the spot. this time in Illinois, where the guy was supposed to be on house arrest. funny thign was that the cops wont search the guys house on the grounds the "his mother is helping them out" although nothing else of mine has turned up. funny thing is that i know they at least still had my xbox because the one that the cops recovered only had my hard drive, so when the cops powered it up they say the profile i told them about and hence CASE CLOSED. it wasnt my xbox. Mine had HDMI, this one was older and did not. i told the police and they said "its your xbox, it has your profile". Microsoft also agreed and said that i you just cant move the hard drive around (Microsoft could also tell me where my console is if some has gone online with it, but they wont without a subpoena) . it feels alot like the movie Changeling...people trying to pawn of some other kid on me.

      Also i just could have my server back, pictures weren't good enough and the needed something to present to evidence so they wanted to keep my server, of course, it was the only computer i had at this point, and it had everything i needed to keep my business up and running so i REALLY needed it. i asked if i could take its hardware and leave the case. so on a hot day i had to go to the county jail with my two kids, a philips, my multitool and a big box to the county jail and take my whole computer apa

      --
      they say it is often more relevant then the comment above, all we know is its called the Sig!
  2. LOL by arcite · · Score: 5, Insightful

    10 years of work on his laptop without a single backup?

  3. I don't know... by Millennium · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Is that considerate, or really creepy ? First you get your laptop stolen, then you get proof that the thief was rifling through your data and evidently thought some of it was important enough to back up and send to you at their own expense. I don't know if 'hope' is the right word to express what I'd be feeling.

  4. Re:Kinf Theives? by zill · · Score: 4, Funny

    A single CD being shared by two people? Sounds like copyright infrignment to me.

    I have a feeling the RIAA lawyers will hunt down both perpetrators before the cops can finish their donuts.

  5. Something similar but creepier happened to me... by Solarbeat · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A long, long, time ago, I moved into the campus dorms a week early to lay claim to the only network port in the room (yes, back then there was only one). Only thing is that the dining halls hadn't opened. I went out to grab a bite to eat and got my wallet pick-pocketed, leaving me without money for food for days. A few weeks later, a package arrived with my empty wallet, even with my credit cards, ID, etc... the only thing missing? Cash (of course), and the creepy part: the guy took all of the pictures of family and friends I had. Rather than making me feel hope for humanity, it showed me how creepy we can be.

  6. Trojan time? by foodnugget · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The story of the thief who returns someone's goods with some opera tickets and an apology comes to mind -- when the victim goes to see the opera, the thief cleans out the victim's house.

    Kinda makes me wonder if there's a rootkit on that drive for the purposes of emptying out this gent's bank accounts.

    Also, wtf, no backups? ffs.

  7. ABBA by Massacrifice · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm listening to Abba right now, you insensitive clod!

    In Sweden, stealing laptops is The Name Of The Game! Obviously, The Winner Takes it All except he brings back some of it's MP3 on a USB stick to the Dancing Queen, who had been sending out an S.O.S. She then says to the thief Thank You For The Music, followed by Voulez-Vous?. At which point the story turns to swedish erotica which is not appropriate to relate here.

    --
    -- Home is where you eat your heart out.
  8. Love thy thief by SigmundFloyd · · Score: 5, Funny

    'I am very happy,' the unnamed professor told the local Va:sterbottens-Kuriren newspaper. 'This story
    makes me feel hope for humanity.'

    But that might be Stockholm syndrome speaking.

    --
    Knowledge is power; knowledge shared is power lost.
  9. Nope. Just lousy journalism. by Ecuador · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No, the quote was used in the wrong context. He was not referring to his laptop/data but his calendar which was in the stolen backpack that was returned by the thief (backpack with calendar, other documents etc) a few hours later. Then, a week later he also got the USB with his work for which we simply know that it was not backed up well...
    Way to go Telegraph. Read this instead: http://www.thelocal.se/29636/20101015/

    --
    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
  10. Genre bias by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There's a surprising number of people who will classify entire genres of music as crap without considering that talented musicians can make an appearance anywhere. (Example: Prince. Once of the most versatile and talented musicians around today - largely disdained because his music is "pop" ). The funny part is that the same people will listen with steadfast determination to their own chosen genres, apparently deaf to the fact that the ratio of crap to talent is the same there as well.

  11. Re:Backup ffs! by digitig · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Congratulations. You apparently have less empathy than a common thief.

    To be fair, less empathy than a rather uncommon thief.

    --
    Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
  12. perhaps it wasn't the thief, but the recipient by gaiageek · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A good friend of mine in Berlin had her MacBook stolen over a year ago. In May, she received a Facebook message from a woman in Tunisia who had bought the notebook, found my friend's personal data and wondered if it had been stolen. Originally the plan was to simply send the personal data, since my friend had already purchased a new notebook, but in the end the woman decided to ship the notebook to my friend in Germany without any compensation (my friend paid the shipping costs on delivery). The woman was apparently overjoyed at recently giving birth to twins, and simply wanted to do the right thing. I personally witnessed the arrival and unboxing of the returned laptop.

    There are good people in the world. Whether you choose to be one of them is up to you.