Hi, we were recently burglarized and the thieves stole a handful of our computers. I've been grasping at straws recently trying to think of something to track where they could be. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lojack type program on them, but we did have Dropbox. Dropbox records a report to your account everytime your device is connected to the web. I checked my Dropbox account online and saw that one of my devices was showing up after the burglary had taken place. Dropbox gave the IP, but it's a 10 digit IP (xx.xxx.xxx.xx). What I'm trying to figure out is it a 10 digit IP is a legitimate IP? Any suggestions?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Stolen Computer - IP address info.
- Thread starter macfearless
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It currently is being handled by the authorities. I'm just double checking my logic! Thank you for the quick reply!
Ah!
My friends' wife got her laptop back after he put BOINC/Seti @ Home on her laptop. It had been stolen in a break-in and they were able to track it down and get it back.
It even got on the national news because whoever stole it used it to produce terrible homebrew rap music!
My friends' wife got her laptop back after he put BOINC/Seti @ Home on her laptop. It had been stolen in a break-in and they were able to track it down and get it back.
It even got on the national news because whoever stole it used it to produce terrible homebrew rap music!
Yeah, I'm keeping my hopes up, but not too high. That's great that your friends got their laptop back. It's a very violating feeling and I urge more people to install applications that can help them get their belongings back in an event like this.
even worse my ip shows about 60 miles from where i am sitting , nevertheless the ip can show the provider too , and from there with exact date and time they can find the user of the ip at that moment , as most people dont use a static ip
anyway wish you good luck to get reunited with at least 1 of your Mac's
anyway wish you good luck to get reunited with at least 1 of your Mac's
I hate to be a stick-in-the-mud, but most likely the machines are gone. The only thing you can do is report the serial numbers to apple and if they ever come in for service, they'll be flagged.
Maybe you'll get lucky, but the police here in the towns I've lived in here in NJ aren't the TV/CSI type. They fill out a report, and that's basically it. They don't have the resources (or knowledge?) to track down IP packets, set up perimeter scans, and whatnot.
I would also contact your insurance agency (whether it be business or homeowners) and submit a claim to them as well if it's worthwhile.
--rob
Maybe you'll get lucky, but the police here in the towns I've lived in here in NJ aren't the TV/CSI type. They fill out a report, and that's basically it. They don't have the resources (or knowledge?) to track down IP packets, set up perimeter scans, and whatnot.
I would also contact your insurance agency (whether it be business or homeowners) and submit a claim to them as well if it's worthwhile.
--rob
Yeah, I sort of figure that they're long gone now. Apple said they can do nothing and from what I've heard, mobile me is pretty useless without the authorities being really gung-ho about it. I appreciate your replies and will keep you posted if anything happens.
what's the IP?
http://www.google.com/search?q=ip+t...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
you can also use ARIN to lookup up which ISP the IP belongs to
as for stealing Mac's, they are the easy to steal and make sure you can't track them. some PC laptops have hardware lojack, but Mac's and Macbook Pro's are easy to steal. only the stupid thieves will get caught
http://www.google.com/search?q=ip+t...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
you can also use ARIN to lookup up which ISP the IP belongs to
as for stealing Mac's, they are the easy to steal and make sure you can't track them. some PC laptops have hardware lojack, but Mac's and Macbook Pro's are easy to steal. only the stupid thieves will get caught
yes ip's are not easy to track down ,
and even if ,you might only catch the 13 year old kid that bought the Mac on craiglist or similar website and had spend all its pocketmoney on the Mac , because i doubt the thief will keep the Mac's for himself
so dont worry, by reporting to the police you had done whats necessary for a insurance claim, now its up to the insurance to pay out
and even if ,you might only catch the 13 year old kid that bought the Mac on craiglist or similar website and had spend all its pocketmoney on the Mac , because i doubt the thief will keep the Mac's for himself
so dont worry, by reporting to the police you had done whats necessary for a insurance claim, now its up to the insurance to pay out
What you see there is not your location, rather than the location of your ISP.
Right, your ISP can track the exact IP and determine the exact location of the device. However, they are not allowed to publish this information (except for the case that the government asks politely
).I created an ARIN account, but I'm having trouble trying to figure out how to use it. For instance, where would I go to put in the IP address I have in order to get the ISP?
Just go to http://whatismyipaddress.com/ and enter the IP address. It'll give you all the info that is publically available it. And yes, the ISP can track down the exact address of the IP address, if and only if, the police ask for it (I don't remember if it requires a court order or not). Think about child porn cases, the people have been taken down with just their IP address(es).
At least here in Finland it requires a court order when the Police is tracking down people who download illegally. This also means that the police must have enough evidence to show that the person who is using that IP address has something to do with the crime, so court can order the ISP to reveal the user of that IP address.
The worst case scenario is that it has already been sold and is in another state/country. It gets too tricky to catch the suspect if it requires cooperation between two countries and police departments. A single theft isn't enough to make it worthwhile to catch the guy
Your computer is gone.
It has most likely been reformatted by now.
IP Locators show from a 2 mile to 100 mile deviation from the actual location. Unless you're some sort of businessman or a congress member [LOL!], you're better off checking out the new mac you'll be buying.
Police effort's are close to none, just to let you know. No one cares about your stolen mac. No one.
It has most likely been reformatted by now.
IP Locators show from a 2 mile to 100 mile deviation from the actual location. Unless you're some sort of businessman or a congress member [LOL!], you're better off checking out the new mac you'll be buying.
Police effort's are close to none, just to let you know. No one cares about your stolen mac. No one.
Ouch. Also, some people on here do care enough to try to help and not just point out the obvious. It's been over a week now. I know it's gone, but there has been a rash of this in my town lately. Anything that could help possibly stop this or any information is a actually a big help. I care about my stolen mac. I do.
You're right. We do care, because we know how we would feel in the same situation. Don't pay any attention to a 14 year old with an attitude problem.
Yay for insurance and external backups!!!!, right?
Not really anything else you can do, I feel for ya bud. Forgot to lock my truck door 1 night and my stepson had his XBOX, laptop and wallet in the back seat covered up. Then 1 yr later he drove it to work and someone bashed the passenger side window out, snatched the stereo, etc, etc. Insurance saved me from going postal on random people
Not really anything else you can do, I feel for ya bud. Forgot to lock my truck door 1 night and my stepson had his XBOX, laptop and wallet in the back seat covered up. Then 1 yr later he drove it to work and someone bashed the passenger side window out, snatched the stereo, etc, etc. Insurance saved me from going postal on random people
Thinking.....
You guys are thinking too much.
If the stuff was stolen by YOU it was probably wiped and cleansed but if it was taken by thieves probably not.
When my friend reported his wifes laptop stolen (admittedly they lived in a terrible neighborhood at the time) the idiots who stole it did a number of things that made them easily caught:
(1) they didn't wipe the laptop.
(2) they left all the accounts and data intact.
(3) they didn't realize Seti at Home was installed on the machine and that every time they connected to the internet (often and wirelessly) the cpu was reporting to the Seti servers dozens of times over a several day period.
(4) I helped my friend determine not only the ISP involved but the general location of the PC. The IP address was on a popular ISP here in Minneapolis.
(5) We reported this data to the Minneapolis Police Department. One 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper with everything clearly described as though we were explaining IP addressing to a child or beginning computer user.
(6) Within a couple of days the laptop was returned.
(7) I did some forensics on it and it was pretty much the way it was except the guy who stole it installed some music production apps and their own homebrew rap music. The description my friend gave was "it made Ludacris sound like Pavarotti".
(8) The other dumb-ish thing is they did is they also tagged the music on the machine with their "bandname" which we found on several sites on the net and also they had bookmarked their myspace account so we were able to see that they posted the same music on their myspace page so we not only knew who took it but what their names were.
You might still get it back.
You guys are thinking too much.
If the stuff was stolen by YOU it was probably wiped and cleansed but if it was taken by thieves probably not.
When my friend reported his wifes laptop stolen (admittedly they lived in a terrible neighborhood at the time) the idiots who stole it did a number of things that made them easily caught:
(1) they didn't wipe the laptop.
(2) they left all the accounts and data intact.
(3) they didn't realize Seti at Home was installed on the machine and that every time they connected to the internet (often and wirelessly) the cpu was reporting to the Seti servers dozens of times over a several day period.
(4) I helped my friend determine not only the ISP involved but the general location of the PC. The IP address was on a popular ISP here in Minneapolis.
(5) We reported this data to the Minneapolis Police Department. One 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper with everything clearly described as though we were explaining IP addressing to a child or beginning computer user.
(6) Within a couple of days the laptop was returned.
(7) I did some forensics on it and it was pretty much the way it was except the guy who stole it installed some music production apps and their own homebrew rap music. The description my friend gave was "it made Ludacris sound like Pavarotti".
(8) The other dumb-ish thing is they did is they also tagged the music on the machine with their "bandname" which we found on several sites on the net and also they had bookmarked their myspace account so we were able to see that they posted the same music on their myspace page so we not only knew who took it but what their names were.
You might still get it back.
Says the kid.
Realistically, the cops aren't gonna do much about it.
It's gone forever. Sucks for ya.