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How To Catch a Laptop Thief?
First time accepted submitter otaku244 writes "I spent a day in Vancouver this week while working in Seattle. While I enjoyed the area, some Vancouver citizen decided to enjoy my Macbook Pro. Unfortunately, I didn't discover this until I was already back at my Seattle hotel. Needless to say, I am quite miffed at the whole experience. Fortunately, I have LogMeIn installed on that machine. I provided the IP address to the VPD, but they say that laws don't allow warrants solely on the physical address tied to an IP. It sounds like the silver bullet is to take a picture of the person using the laptop. The question becomes, how do I convince the guy to run a script that will take a picture of him and smtp it to me? I promise to post pics of the guy if this gets pulled off successfully!"
Write a fully automated script, and send it to him, claiming it will make an auto backup of your data to the smtp, and then he can keep the comp with no trouble. Click click boom boom. You win.
Consider it a favor
But the best moment for you to take action is long gone - when you had your laptop in your possession.
Let this be a lesson readers, do something to secure your possessions now, install something to allow for ease of tracking and identification now, not as an afterthought when it gets nicked.
To the op, can't you just log in with LogMeIn and set a script running which takes a photo every minute or so?
First, I don't get it .. if you have something like logmein why can't you log in and start Facetime or something like that .. before you do it .. test it with a friend cause you probably wont get many chances.
Anyway .. if that fails, tell him you're a chick? Most likely the thief is male, so you could entice him to do it that way. You have his email address of something? how would you communicate with him?
Btw, rather than hand him over to the cops .. just ask for the laptop back and tell him you're keeping the photos of him. Also, check with law enforcement if you are allowed to take pictures like that .. it may be against the law .. stupid as it sounds.
if you have a way of dumping somthing on the desktop, just call it somthing along the lines of "Safari" or "Pages"
he'll click eventually.
www.preyproject.com
You could pull the typical "You're computer has a virus!!!11!!" thing. Just use that to a) Get a picture, and b) if you haven't install an SSH server. With the SSH server you can transfer programs onto the computer and execute them entirely in the background.
If you have the IP address, You can SSH in and use the screencapture utility to take a picture.
I'm pretty sure that to smtp it to yourself you'd have to do something visible or install smtpd, which is a lot of work to configure. You'd be better off just scp-ing it to another computer.
Should the riaa ever comes looking for
This exact same thing happened to me and I used photobooth to put his image onscreen and then used a screen capture on my other machine to get a shot of his face
I don't have any personal experience, but here's how a presenter at a previous Defcon did it.
I haven't learned how to code links, but this video is pretty similar to your situation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4oB28ksiIo
Track IP - Remotely track the IP address of a machine via email or MySQL.
"laws don't allow warrants solely on the physical address tied to an IP"
So how has the RIAA managed to push their lawsuits forward for all these years? Seems that the only "evidence" they use is the IP address, and that's been plenty good enough to unleash the full force and effect of the US court system on their targets.
i bet you wear a fanny pack, huh? i'm quite sick of this metrosexuality fad.
Huh?
The majority of fanny packs I've seen (including mine) are holsters. I wasn't aware that carrying a Glock around was the new trendy fad.
Have gnu, will travel.
It sounds like the police just don't want to bother. If it was the MPAA, RIAA, or Apple asking, they would have a SWAT team there in under 5 minutes.
The IP address with location may not be sufficient for a conviction, but it does support probably cause. Why not see if you can go to the location, and then h
Don't you have sshd enabled on your mac with an appropriate 50 character password? Just use ssh to remotely do it.
Doesn't LogMeIn allow you to remotely control the machine? Use (ssh is preferred) that to set up a script that takes the picture, make several copies in several locations, copies the file via scp, and ftp to a couple of different locations. Then wait for him to log into different web sites so you can have his user ids, then have the computer take pictures.
Fight Spammers!
... I know it's too late for you now. But, you should consider prey project. It does now what you are asking.
"I provided the IP address to the VPD, but they say that laws don't allow warrants solely on the physical address tied to an IP."
Translation: You're a nobody, and we're not going to spend our precious resources tracking down and prosecuting a small-time thief. Come back when you've got a friend in politics or the media.
If an IP address alone is enough evidence to file civil suit against someone for copyright infringement, and under the new proposals enough to have them disconnected without so much as a trial, I find it hard to believe that it can't be enough to be at least reasonable suspicion and thus grounds for a warrant.
Rig the computer remotely to blow the lithium battery up in the jerk's face!!!
No one ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke!
Upstate New York: last weekend two Sheriff's investigators showed up at my house. They were looking for a stolen laptop and the "GPS on the laptop" had phoned home and told them the laptop was at my house. They just asked if we had recently bought a laptop blah blah blah. They left when it became obvious we knew nothing about it. Two days later 4 rednecks showed up at the house, my wife was home alone. They were looking for their "grandma's laptop that had family pictures on it and the GPS said it was at this house". They went away unsatisfied of course. I called the Sheriff back and told him what happened, and that MacBooks don't have GPS, that the GeoLocation was probably done off my WiFi Mac Address. Needless to say, I run DD-WRT on my multiple, Bridge Repeater routers and I changed the wireless MAC address immediately to break the link between my routers and my location in whatever database this link was stored.
If you have sharing enabled, you might be able to connect via SSH and install a script that activates the camera...
he is already using a macbook, a fannypack wouldn't make him look much gayer.
Take some commonly used shortcut of something and redirect the location assigned to that to the script. Tries to open safari or something and boom, gotcha :)
If you are worried he might see you running the script then stick it in the startup folder. I presume you have LogMeIn Pro so you can do file transfers without being seen but if not then you probably just have to run it yourself via remote control.
Did you have the latest Lion update installed? When you install it and setup iCloud there is now a Find My iPhone for Macs, so they can report your location. I assume they use a WiFi geolocation database (since no Macs have 3G), but it would have given you and the police a good idea where the computer was. I believe it also lets you remotely lock the computer.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Tell the police that you connected to the machine to try to track him down and found that he had downloaded child porn with it. Then, when they bust him and take the computer, you can file a claim with them. Kind of the nuclear option, but I bet it would work.
-- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
You need to have a plan before the laptop is stolen, not after. I use a commercial solution that works directly with police departments to recover laptops. They don't just use IP addresses; they get a picture of the perp as well.
If I used a sig over again, would anyone notice?
With the economy the way it is, walking around with a Macbook Pro is asking to get ripped off. Carry around an older Dell, preferably Pentium 4 or older with Windows XP on it. Prancing around with a MBP is basically screaming STEAL FROM ME BECAUSE I CAN'T PROTECT MYSELF AND I'LL POST ON SLASHDOT!
in most (all) jurisdictions. Not a good a idea.
Not saying I ever would, but if I ever did steal a Macbook pro, the first thing I would do is remove the HDD. Failing the option of replacing the HDD, I would wipe it and reinstall. I have bought and sold many a computer and to anyone I have ever sold a machine to, I always recommend the same: WIPE THE HDD -- it's just good practice.
People who fail to do this simple thing deserve what they get. They are trusting an unknown -- an computer with an OS and unknown software on it. One should know as much as possible about the machine they are using starting from the OS and then the applications.
In a way, I guess it is good that most thieves are simply stupid as software solutions for recovering property seem to work often enough.
But to me, it seems to be a fundamental failing of many criminals in that they don't plan to not get caught. Personally, I would never commit a crime without also planning not to get caught. This basic failure is just too common... I don't get it.
If I were the thief, I would claim that those pictures were already there before, and deleted them when I first saw them. Doesn't sound like great plan...
you said you have logmein installed on it. so whats stopping you from just remoting into the machine and running the script yourself?
Vancouver, BC or Vancouver, WA? Knowing which country this happened in might help.
-- I have a private email server in my basement.
When you consider jail time and court costs from file false paperwork with the police, you'd be better off just buying a new one and forgetting about the old computer.
It was on Blue Bloods just the other night. Offer to buy it back.
rewriting history since 2109
This remembers me of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4oB28ksiIo , you may try something he did and at least have some fun, if not your laptop back.
"Hello, IT... Have you tried turning it off and on again? Yeah... No problem."
Vancouver police are still looking for the Stanley cup rioters so just finding some one who took 1 laptop likely is under that on the list of things to do.
Just had a cop come by the university to discuss this. In California at least, photos like that are not admissible as evidence. They may allow the police to get your laptop back, but if you press charges those photos, keystrokes, etc are going to be thrown out before they ever see the judge.
Don't you have Find My Mac or something like that on MacBooks? I thought logmein was more of a VPN thing.
Hope you have changed the location and dates in your plea for help so that the thief reading Slashdot would not be tipped off.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
\\System\Library\StartupItems
Any way you could use this?
(Also, electronic intrusion and downloading child pornography.)
But as long as you're racking up the charges, why not go whole hog.
I live in Vancouver. First, let me say I am truly sorry one of our fellow citizens did this. Inexcusable. To take the picture you would have to use social engineering tactics and it would be hit or miss. What is far more likely is that the computer will be recovered using XTract. I co-architected and read this system for the VPD and RCMP. Most stolen property eventually ends up in the pawn shops. XTract is a system of mandatory reporting that links an item to an ID and later to as crime. Every pawn store in Vancouver must use it (if it gets pawned in Burnaby or Surey it won't work). Make sure you have your serial number and contact them and request a flag on your item.
One other statistic I saw that was interesting is that many stolen Macs end up being brought in to the Apple store for service or repair. Apple doesn't help out here but contacting a few of the bigger chains in Metro Vancouver might help (Mac Station, Simply Computing etc).
Finally - back to social engineering. If you had your email set to receive without authentification challenge, there is a possibility that the thief may read your email. I would first change this. That can be used to leverage trust and attack others.
Presentation from DefCon 18 by Zoz: Pwned by the Owner - What happens when you steal a hacker's computer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4oB28ksiIo#t=3m15s
That's only... filing a false police report and potentially harming a minor charge because there is no way to tell if you or the bad guy was putting the images on the computer...
Throwing down nukes is almost never the right thing to do in any case. Remote wipe your machine then file an insurance claim with home owners/renters insurance. You will have a nice new laptop which you can restore from your time machine. Then call Apple and let them know that your serial number was stolen. When he goes into a shop to get help putting stuff on it (because you killed the machine) they will call the cops.
I know this is a long shot. It just makes me mad. I am taking all your suggestions down.
I'm going to give this 30 days. If the work doesn't bare any fruit, I'll scratch up the money to buy a new one. If I catch the guy, you bet I will post an update on Slashdot!!!
Thank you, again!
Mod me down, I shall become more off-topic than you could possibly imagine.
Since macs have a webcam, use photobooth, take a pic, screenshot the pic on your computer through logmein.
That shit was in a pawn shop 20 minuets after it was stolen
I just encrypt my hard drive. If a thief nicks my laptop, all he's going to get is a piece of (old) hardware and a disk full of seemingly
random numbers. While it's annoying, you don't need to put resources into tracking the bastard, just get on
with it and buy a new machine, which you would anyway.
Hardware is cheap. Data is your time, work and money, so protect it with encryption and keep backups.
Then I'll just pull a gun on you and make you cut it loose.
The only real defense against getting robbed is to not have anything worth stealing.
54' 40" or fight!
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
When you have Lion, make an iCloud account and use Back To My Mac and Find My Mac to find your computer. Also, make sure to encrypt your computer and you can lock or wipe it remotely. Sure it's not perfect but it will help a lot with recovery or at least make sure you don't lose important data to others.
If you leave it in a hotel or so, there are those locks you can tether around a desk or so, some upper scale hotels have them at the front desk. It will help against unwanted removal of your device.
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
Isn't it just as, if not more, valuable to get files off it? Perhaps the thief will have already taken a photo of himself, or someone he knows, with Photo Booth? Perhaps he'll have created some type of document with his name. Perhaps...
I can't help but think that there are thousands of files that could identify me on my computer and you just need the thief to create one.
Can logmein allow you to watch but without touching without his knowledge?
You know he'll log in to facebook at some point...
Incidents like these are one good reason I use a cheap netbook when on travel. Not only are they light and get substantial battery life, but if it breaks or gets stolen, I'm only out $300.
I also find that I rarely get much actual work done when on travel, so I don't have the need for a more substantial laptop. I guess if you've really got the need to travel with a full sized laptop, you could mod the case to make it look scuffed and dated and hence not worth stealing. Either that, or get a ThinkPad -- even the latest versions look 10 years old.
Or the fact that the laptop will spend five years in an evidence locker before he gets it back....
File for a court order that allows search and seizure by law enforcement. Once you have that, the LogMeIn data is a usable piece, hopefully. If it is, case closed.
I provided the IP address to the VPD, but they say that laws don't allow warrants solely on the physical address tied to an IP."
Just tell the VPD that you have the latest unannounced Apple uber-puter that you lost. That'll get the police moving right-quick!
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
If you can login to the machine, you could install the application called "Hidden" that will locate your stolen Macbook computer, collect photos of the thief and screen shots of the computer in use. http://hiddenapp.com
Logmein shows you for how long the keyboard and mouse were inactive and you can blank the screen and disable the local keyboard/mouse input (at least on a PC).
There's a chance you could install the software mentioned by previous posters.
i bet you wear a fanny pack, huh? i'm quite sick of this metrosexuality fad.
Huh?
The majority of fanny packs I've seen (including mine) are holsters. I wasn't aware that carrying a Glock around was the new trendy fad.
Pwnd? Does lend a bit more respect to fanny-pack, wears, cause you don't know what it's holding :)
I seem to recall an Apple Store employee managing to connect using BacktoMac to her stolen Mac and remotely taking a picture. Only gotcha was the count down to the pic being taken appearing on the screen in front of the thief. She did recognise the guy as someone who came with friends to a party at her house, and duly got her machine back. At the time, needed MobileMe to work...
while find-wipe-lock tech has been around for a long time, apple is making it standard issue. it will be interesting to see how law enforcement handles this. where for the most part iphone thefts have gone unpoliced, you are now going to have almost every user reporting the theft with enough evidence to find the perp. will law enforcement respond with an army of high-tech detectives to chase down these thieves? not likely.
i don't understand why apple / at&t / verizon don't just band together to squash this. if an IMEI and a police report are submitted, simply do not allow the phone to be used on any carrier and do not let it connect to any apple server. well, i do understand. this would require apple et. al to spend resources to make this happen. now, a stolen iphone is really just another sale when the stolen item is replaced. not a lot of incentive.
So, for your NEXT laptop, try this:
http://www.preyproject.com/
It's an open source tracker (with the obvious caveats that come with tracking software), but the nice thing is, you can point it to a server you control, rather theirs if you so choose. My MBP was stolen from my car (wife didn't know my bag was in the back, parked the car at a hotel lot. One busted window later....), and a very similar one (missing the extended power cord that I still had no less) showed up on craigslist a couple days later with a weak story behind why it was being sold. I told the cops, but local cops wouldn't go out of jurisdiction without better proof, the local (to seller) cops wouldn't show without better proof, and the state cops weren't going to get involved over the value. They said if I could prove it was mine (by buying it back) they could prosecute.
Sadly, a $1500 laptop, even though you may consider it "your life" just doesn't make the police drop everything. Your best bet is to be able to overwhelm the police with evidence, and prey will help you do that. In the end, the lesson is that your data comes first (back it up early, often, and everywhere), your safety comes second (if you want to get it back face to face, bring a weapon and be prepared to use it. and I don't mean show it off like a hollywood badass. I mean take another human beings life in exchange for the laptop you already planned on getting rid of in three years, or get shot yourself), and your hardware comes third. Anyone that's committed themselves to stealing isn't going anywhere in life anyway. Odds are they're not going to live to a ripe old age where they can regale their grandkids with tales of snatching bags. Live and learn, even if it enables the assholes of the world.
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
Do they have your password, or are you to Mac-Hip for one of those? Screw the hardware....are they accessing your personal stuff??
If I got it correctly, LogMeIn is some kind of remote-desktop application. If this is the case, just fire up the browser and check facebook, chances are he logged in as himself and left the session open. You may also be able to upload the browser history somewhere (e.g. dropbox) than retrieve it and analyse it.
this post contain no useful information, no need to mod it down
http://images.apple.com/mobileme/docs/L358808A_BackMac_UG_v3.pdf
What laptop thief doesn't put tape over the webcam until wiping the drive? It seems like every week I see a new thief caught by having his picture taken; blocking that would be the first thing I'd do.
That laptop has been pawned already for heroin money and the ip is probably a starbucks since the thief is most likely homeless. it sucks but its true.
mac are shiny and junkies like shiny.
Unless he is using your internet connection the IP address on the Laptop would of changed. Keep a record of your serial number before hand, report it, then pick it up at what ever pawn shop it was dropped at.
Contrary to popular belief, violence is the solution, If you are sure you know who it is, go to town on them. Give me a baseball bat and 5 minutes with any cocksucker that steals my shit, and he'll wish he didn't. Sure you might have my laptop, but I just knocked out all of your teeth and broke your legs. Fair trade.
If you can access a shell on the machine, you can write a short python script using OpenCV, and a simple FTP server or something to send the files back to you.
Find some software that does camera surveillance and can upload images/video to a FTP site. Check your Logmein when the thief is not using it (perhaps very early morning?). Install the software and wait. I use iSpy for this on a Windows netbook. I'm sure there is a Mac/open source equivalent.
I'm not sure how it works in Canada, and IANAL...but I believe in some jurisdictions in the US you can go directly to the District Attorney and have them investigate the matter. Particularly in cases where the local police authority are not doing their job.
They may even balk at first on what's a seemingly small crime to them, but if you make a big enough nuisance of yourself, there's a good chance they'll do something about it, just to make you go away.
Could have saved you some heartbreak if you installed LoJack for Windows/Mac...remote delete or recover your laptop, its a subscription service (1 year $39.99 USD) but your laptop would be screaming its location if it was installed...used it on mine.
Install Undercover http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/. Assuming you buy another Mac :)
Awesome bit of software.
You're posting from jail, I take it. Because this sounds about as smart as hunting bunny rabbits with a cannon.
You've never used one.
don't need to fuck a dude to figure out that you're straight...
I provided the IP address to the VPD, but they say that laws don't allow warrants solely on the physical address tied to an IP.
So, they have a physical address and refuse to act, or they refuse to get the physical address because they wouldn't be able to use it anyway?
If it were me, with my current financial situation (I have a few thousand spare $$$, saving up for a large purchase), I'd hire a lawyer in Vancouver and sue. IP's not enough for a raid, but it is enough to subpoena the name/address from the ISP. Use that, and get the name/address. Sue him. With the information in your posession of the physical address, hire a PI to take a picture of him with a Macbook. With that, that will be sufficient for a warrant.
The criminal process shouldn't let you raid other's places based on a single verbal report, and that's not a bad thing. Just sue and you'll be able to get enough for a criminal conviction at the same time you win a case against him for the loss to you (which you may not actually collect, but you'll feel better, and it should cost you $5000 or less, if you find a good lawyer and he's actually guilty.
Learn to love Alaska
I read your post and decided to wipe the sorry mac os. I'm running linux on it now sucka!
Cheap app. Shows your nicked Mac on a map. Takes mugshots of the person using it. Let's you lock/wipe the machine.
Bit late now of course, the horse has bolted.
"We live in a global world" - Harvey Pitt, former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman
turn on location transmission and surf to goople maps.
... you have the IP addresse apparently. Which is why you should have setled on a Windows laptop.
Write on the facebook wall of every female friend of your thief something like... 'I just got the results of the test. How about you?'
rinse and repeat
^^ WRT: ... we connected directly with 4th District,
>I actually had my business partner on the hunt and we tracked it down to 4th District Vancouver.
>we got a call back from a detective who pulled the case. This happened on Friday. I had already submitted to Slashdot the night before.
(I don't think you can modify the original article)
(You'd better hope the thief isn't reading)
(Does the average laptop thief improve or lower /. quality)
(Good Luck!)
this sounds about as smart as hunting bunny rabbits with a cannon.
You obviously have no idea just how much fun that is!
John
I promise to post pics of the guy if this get's[sic] pulled off successfully!"
Be VERY careful posting pics... If the pics you post aren't those of the thief, you could find yourself on the wrong end of a very nasty lawsuit.
> I believe it also lets you remotely lock the computer.
Because, of course, you want the thief to turn it off, wipe the drive and never give you any more location data, ever.
Your "cop" is a legal expert on admissibility, right? (I'd have called him a moron to his face).
Either cite applicable law down to the statue, or stop blowing smoke.
I do hope you get your laptop back. In the future, I recommend Undercover. http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/index.html
You will need to lock down your laptop such that a person cannot easily just wipe the OS (Firmware Password), but beyond that it seems worth its price. I have never had to use it, but I have it installed and have tested it with good results. Sends photos of the person, IP address, and screenshots of what they are doing.
>What laptop thief doesn't put tape over the webcam until wiping the drive?
> It seems like every week I see a new thief caught by having his picture taken; blocking that would be the first thing I'd do.
The piece of grey matter between your ears that gives you this idea, is likely also stopping you from becoming a laptop thief.
Google it.. For next time.
This is such a nice laptop. I really wanted to keep it for myself. But now I see I'd better ditch it quick at the nearest pawn shop. But thanks for the couple days of fun.
Good. Now I'm not sure if this is the case with the Mac version but this will certainly with the Windows version. If you upgrade the subscription to LogMeIn Pro (you might even be able to wangle a free 7 day trial) you can get a command prompt / terminal session through your web browser and such like without letting the person know you are connected into the system. From there you could run your own scripts to do the job,
Looking at the product matrix (https://secure.logmein.com/UK/comparisonchart/comparisonFPP.aspx) it doesn't say either way whether the remote terminal works on the mac, but the remote file manager feature is; so at the very least if you can remotely blag some log files or upload some scripts (some mac gurus would need to give some pointers on that one).
I hope this helps.
well that situation is coming soon america lol!!!!
Perhaps this question as mentioned or not. I've not read all the comments and skimmed the first 2 pages of comments. I did check out the Prey website and a thought came to mind which was not addressed in the F.A.Q there. What if the thief removes the HD and puts thier own new HD onto the laptop? If the thief was after just the hardware would that mean that the thief can't be tracked anymore if they throw the old HD away till someone finds or boots up the old HD? That also had me wondering about the Craigslist or the story someone mentioned about finding thier GPS in thier area. I often see lpatops for sale online on Craigslist and many times the ad says the HD is removed for security reasons. Yes that can be a valid reason if you are the rightful owner of the item and wish to remove your HD for privacy but that also had me wonder if the HD removed could be also because the person sellingi t could have stolen it and removed the HD just because of any tracking software on it could track them?
Use the run-at-login option (in system prefs) to run the script every time he logs in
"The only real defense against getting robbed is to not have anything worth stealing."
Um... isn't this a perfect example of that not working???
Bill
It's my Sig and you can't have it. Mine! All Mine!
Canadian common law derives from British common law the same as the US's. You don't have immunity from prosecution the way the police do, but if it meets the criteria for citizen's arrest, and particularly if the arrest results in a conviction, you're unlikely to be prosecuted, criminally or civilly, for false arrest.
It doesn't meet the usual misdemeanor criteria for citizen's arrest in most jurisdictions, because you yourself didn't witness the theft. But given the cost of the laptop, it probably meets the felony criteria. Meet with the VPD detectives and voice your intent to make a citizen's arrest. Ask for their advice about how to do it legally. Sometimes the thought that you might actually succeed is sufficient to motivate the police to get creative with stuff they CAN do, if only to get credit for the arrest.
Umm? People get guns pulled on them/mugged for pocket change every day...
I back this claim up with real world evidence of it happening to multiple of my friends.
If you can get a location go to the location the likely hood of it being a sleazy pawn shop is high or a fence of some sort... if it is a shop go in the shop call the police and have them come down with you legally pawnshops cant keep stolen merchandise if they bought it they cant even demand the money from you they are fucked and on top of that they can get fines for it...
Call apple too report the sn stolen apple has been known to pressure the action of police to help in the recovery of stolen property...
I don't see how this is so hard.
Write a program (or have it written, newb) that takes a photo with the webcam on system startup and emails it to you. You mentioned you had logmein installed. Just keep checking logmein until the laptop has been idle for a while (maybe at night or whatever). When the machine is idle, install it.
Wait for the photos.
and claim to have some pirated music on the laptop. I'm sure they'll raid the place immediately.
Sure is, OP said all he had was a macbook pro.
Good job, you're managing to live an ethos that was conquered nearly four millennia ago.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I don't know about majority but whenever I see a guy who looks to be a little off carrying a fanny pack, I watch it. if the pack seems to be fairly heavy (droops, makes thuds noisy when set down etc)I be sure to keep my mouth shut.
It is easy to tell if some thing is heavier than it should be by how it is held, carried. So don't think you aren't being noticed just because it is out of sight.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Let's see if I got this right: 1) My laptop was stolen; 2) I know the (external) IP address of the network it is on at this moment; 3) I give the IP address the police; 4) They choose to do nothing about it because they cannot get a warrant. Man, can they make it any easier than this for the thiefs?
So don't think you aren't being noticed just because it is out of sight.
I don't really care if people in the know recognize it for what it is. Open carry is legal where I live. But the only reason I don't do that is that people unfamiliar with carrying and the law tend to throw a hissy fit when they see guns. Then they call the cops and the cops have to waste their time calming them down. And they don't appreciate having their time wasted by someone who could easily just hide the damned thing.
Have gnu, will travel.
Can't you log in and install Prey?
Umm? People get guns pulled on them/mugged for pocket change every day...
I back this claim up with real world evidence of it happening to multiple of my friends.
When your stuffed animals get robbed, technically it was you that got robbed.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
That's a good option - report its serial to Apple as stolen, then remote wipe the machine, or do something that will make him take it in to be repaired.
I know one guy with a concealed carry permit who's fanny pack is also a quick release concealed holster for his 9mm.
I have bought USED Thinkpads (in the 1Ghz PIII class) for about $100, including shipping. They look well-used, but work perfectly. Sure, they aren't blazing-speed, but for e-mail and whatnot, they're perfect.
If true (sorry), it seems obvious that there's more behind the behavior of the police than this story describes. It seems as if this would be worth pursuing for some enterprising (crime) reporter. Personally, I'd be outraged over the ignorance displayed by the Sherriff's department as well as the originators of the GPS story/information.
A) Where'd the information that led the sherriff's duputies to your door come from? I'd love to believe that there has to be some credible source or they wouldn't even have the option to pursue the "lead."
B) How'd your home address find it's way to the individuals who followed up after the police had given up?
C) If it's a "service" that people are paying for, I'd love to know what they are charging and what they are charging for.
D) You presented a credible likelihood that the 'geolocation' was accomplished using your wifi MAC address, but what if it came from your ISP? There's always the possibility that one of the rednecks knows or is related to someone who works for your cable or DSL provider or whatever business you use as an ISP.
E) Ask yourself how you'd feel if any of the people that showed up at your door hadn't been quite so civilized? And how are you going to feel when you read the story from someone else who was put in that position, should it come to pass, and you didn't try to find out who's behind this ridiculousness or press the issue with the Sherriff.
As a matter of fact, what if it's the New York City PD using some half baked technology developed for their anti-terrorism campaign that's taken them outside jurisdictional and state lines?
Good story, whatcha gonna do with it?
This "LogMeIn" - how well does it work after the smart thief re-images the hard drive before using the laptop?
There's actually rules regarding when and how to use apostrophes, and those who want to write like adults, and speak to other adults with their writing, should be careful. Don't depend on spell-check, it's no substitute for knowing the basics of English. I see many resumes come across my desk, since I do the bulk of the hiring for the firm I work for. Many of them have a good number of these errors. They misuse there/their/they're, transpose to and too, or your and you're. There's more, but those are the most common. You can be sure that those candidates never get an interview, we need people that write well, it MATTERS. I fear the educational systems aren't doing their job. Or is it the parents? Or maybe just lazy a**holes that think their net-speak's acceptable to everyone. Those that cannot write like adults, or just won't bother, should get comfortable doing menial labour.
Find a well visited web site where you can discuss the details of your laptop's disappearance. This will not only enlist the aid of anyone who regularly follows that site but there is also very little risk because the Canadians are well known scofflaws and laptops disappear by the hundreds in Vancouver on a daily basis. There is no way that any Canadian could ever connect their shiny new laptop with your Slashdot post... I mean the odds must be less than like one in something...
And secondly...
Just admit that that Sharks sticker on your Mac was there to goad any Canucks fan who walked by and that the loss of your laptop is a small price to pay for having escaped Vancouver with your life.
That would make for a great plot. Some notorious burglar is found dead. insert stuff here. In the end the killer is the owner of a laptop that was stolen.
Yes, you do. The first thing to try would be to get a location and see if the police is willing to help. But if it turns out that there is no way of getting the laptop back, I would very much like my laptop to be wiped of all personal data I have stored on it.
Umm? People get guns pulled on them/mugged for pocket change every day...
I back this claim up with real world evidence of it happening to multiple of my friends.
I suggest you move.
how would you know he has childporn unless you downloaded it from him as well?
also why so sure it's a he.
just break into the thief's house, take your laptop then beat him to death. that's what I would have done to my moped's thief if it had an IP...
Macs with linux are for gay hipsters!
You could've tried using adeona to track him... the project page says it takes pictures on OSX http://adeona.cs.washington.edu/
You are assuming that the IP address will remain unchanged. The Mac address will remain unchanged, but not the IP address. If the thief takes it home or somewhere that he can get a connection, and assuming that he is computer savvy, why would he keep the same IP? He'd either go in, check it and change it if it is a static IP, as well as the gateways associated w/ it. In any event, in the process of trying to get that laptop connected, he'd have to lose the original IP of that Macbook, and that's how the VPD won't be able to id the machine. (All this assumes that the original owner had a static IP associated w/ his account, instead of a dynamic one that changed every time he logged in.)
Is it possible to remotely use the MAC address of a machine to spot its location? If yes, that would be a better chance of claiming that the machine is actually yours. It's something that the thief presumably cannot change. Although I wonder how many people write that down and store it just like they store their various account numbers?
When your stuffed animals get robbed, technically it was you that got robbed.
Who is going to rob a stuffed animal? I don't know about you, but my teddy-bears have even fewer possessions than I do, and certainly less money. (Though, to be honest, I have never succeeded in converting my net lack of wealth to teddy-bear money.)
Upgrade to LogMeIn Pro to have the ability to run scripts, change admin passwords and get more access to the system.
The Pro version updates automatically when you add it to your account through their webpage, so no use interaction is required.
If you have logmein, log in and activate your webcam, in the record phase. Then email it to yourself when he walks away.
"I promise to post pics of the guy if this get's pulled off successfully!""
How do you know it's a guy?!?!? It could be a chick!!! I think your assumption is sexist! It might have been Lady Gag-me-with-a-Spoon or some other dame!
Does a bungee chord have reverb?
I was able to trace a stolen lapton from a relative with the aid of LogMeIn. As soon as is saw that the computer was being used i started to register all the access IP's. At first i thought of give those addresses to the Police, but then, one day i started a remote session, hoping that the user didn't notice the LogMeIn warning, and.. Success! I recorded every single session in order to later study the videos to find out some useful information. Luckly the user, that was a "she", started accessing the Facebook. In a matter of time i was able to gather lots of information about her name, address, friends, and so on. I gave that information to my relative and he gave it to the police. They went to her house and found the laptop, that was later proven to belong to my relative.
The only real defense against getting robbed is to not have anything worth stealing.
That's my motto!
As it'd be less obvious to someone that you're putting on something to snap pictures:
I use the following script, and run it from cron for some monitoring purposes. (note, this *will* light up the little green 'camera is on' indicator) You then just need to e-mail 'em.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Metrosexual is well and truly beyond normal personal hygiene. Try looking up the term.
But then if this got their attention and the police found the laptop, they would hold it for an indefinite amount of time as evidence. You might get lucky and have it returned to you a decade or two later.
Why would the thief turn it on? The only solution to laptop theft is a stealthy internal battery operated GPS transmitter. Then you can track the thing down yourself, and steal it back.
Give them the address, tell them you want you want your computer back and they can have everything else in the place. What's the thief going to do? Call the police and tell them someone stole all his stolen stuff?
The per capita murder rate in the USA is 3 times that of Canada. Aggrivated assault is double. You've handled worse than this guy has dreamed of. If you know where he is, just go to his house and explain to him that returning the laptop quietly is the best possible outcome for everyone.
ssh to your lost macbook pro and take a picture from the camera using command line tool called imageSnap
http://iharder.sourceforge.net/current/macosx/imagesnap/
But what about lying to the police? :o
And why not actually plant child porn on the laptop?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
You forgot to mention the part where his laptop gets taken apart and/or kept in evidence for the next two years.
You have right now a tool to screw a thief on his own terms. He thinks he has a computer that is free and clear. Make him pay for it.
Tell the police that you connected to the machine to try to track him down and found that he had downloaded child porn with it. Then, when they bust him and take the computer, you can file a claim with them. Kind of the nuclear option, but I bet it would work.
Nah, just log onto the stolen machine remotely and start tweetng the local PD, threatening some prominent person's life. That ought to get some results.
Wait until the middle of the night to access the laptop as the theif will be able to see you moving the mouse around via LogMeIn. Go to town adding security software and such to track down your laptop, or just get annoying and do all you can to brick it. Set a password, require password to disable screen saver, require password on wake, turn on FileVault, etc.
If you get your laptop back or replace it, set a password on the laptop, make sure the laptop asks for the password on wake and for disabling the screen saver, and turn on FileVault to encrypt your home directory, and use CrashPlan or your cloud backup service of choice to backup your data. At least then if your laptop grows legs you're data won't be lost as well, and the theif can't access your files.
I'm going to go back in my box and will think within the limits of my box: MS Sucks Linux Good I read too much Slashdot.
Perhaps he realizes that if you run Linux on a Mac, you wasted 2/3 of the cost on it.
Also, he is most definitely not Ignorant, he was making a joke, something you seem unable to handle. A hypocrite is someone who professes something opposite of what they do, which he was not doing.
I do not cower in your shadow, and I am not a feeb, I do however love to poke fun at you because it gets a rise.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
Your porn collection that valuable?
Seriously. Trace the IP, go there and recover the laptop. If they don't want to arrest the guy at least the guy recovers his property.
This is why I don't like security services that don't report to you but rather the police. The police can't be bothered. It's a lot better to just have the GPS coordinates yourself. Then you can call the police from outside the guys door. The police will be there within 5 minutes to prevent you from killing the guy.
The IP is not an address like a street address. The IP moves from one street address to another if the ISP uses DHCP. This would mean that you would have to report date and time that the IP address was read, that the ISP records the issue of the IP addresses and the date, time, and to whom the address was given, and at least in the US a court request to obtain that information for the time in question. Of course if your clock or the clock on the ISP server is wrong, you still might be having the police using a battering ram knocking down the door of local bar having free WIFI.
some laptops have anti-theft protection at the hardware level (especially dells which it comes standard on). So i'd be careful about thinking you could do that.
Don't be so foolish to lie to them.
Mike, will you come to bed before I have to spank you again? And I thought your mother already asked you too. You're in trouble little fucker.
Do you want a thief to have access to important PDFs on your laptop (credit card statements, purchase receipts, license numbers of your software, whatever), to your e-mails and all that?
Linux + ThinkPad FTW.
hahahahaha
You keep that stuff on your laptop and not in the cloud? :P Seriously, someone with physical access to your laptop, can access your email? Sooo 1990s!
Seriously, OP made it clear that he was technically bright (enough), that s/he was dealing with a police situation, not a technical one, and that s/he already had IP data. If someone feels silly enough to post low-quality information, they might as well be made fun of.
Its good that you have tracked it to 4th District Vancouver. So what happens now? Did you get your laptop back? What about the thief? Was he or she identified?