Hello Guys,
I had my Macbook air stolen from my car the other night. Woke up to my car window smashed in and my backpack gone. This is the second time this has happened to me in the past 6 months. I've already spend about $500 getting my window fixed for both instances.
The community that I live in is somewhat secluded, so I suspect the same person, someone who frequently comes to the community, is suspected of this criminal activity. I don't leave my backpack in my car but the two times that I forgot about my backpack, both times my window was smashed in. First time happened on a Tuesday, this past time happened on a Wednesday. There are community workers who come weekly Tue and Wed. Luckily I had "Find my mac" installed. Later on Wed night around 11:30pm, I received a notification that my mac had been found. It gave me a street location and a circumference of about 5 houses. I proceeded to use the erase my mac feature, and was emailed that my mac erase process had started. After I received the notification I saw that I wasn't far from the street that my mac was located, and proceeded to drive to that area. The area was a pretty run down neighborhood with most of the homes having bars on the windows. There was one house with the lights on during that time, so I suspected that was the house that had my mac. I called the police, the dispatcher sent a police officer over to my location to do a "preserve the peace." I was ready to go and get my laptop back, but the police officer had informed me that it may not be the best idea to go knocking on the door at 12am, and the criminal has every reason to deny that the laptop is not there in the first place. Since the police officer didn't have a warrant he wouldn't be able to go in and get it. He advised me to contact the detective and go through official means.
I have been checking Craigslist list every hour for the past two days. "Find my mac" has not given me an updated location since wed night. The more days pass, I suspect that my mac is lost for good.
I had a couple questions.
1) I had a password on my mac. How did the thief connect to a wifi network? Did he hack my password or bypass it?
2) How reliable is the erase my mac feature? I've read about this and have also contact apple concerning this questions, but both reps didn't give me a sure answer. Once I "erase my mac" and the thief sees that I have initiated this function, can't he just power off my Mac? How confident can I be that the mac was wiped successfully?
3) I've read, and have been told, that after the mac has been wiped the "Find my mac" feature can still function, and my mac can be located as long as it is connected to wifi. But my questions is, if the hard drive is wiped, how can the thief connect to a wifi network?
Its frustrating that the police can't do more because I know the location of where the mac is. I am thinking of writing a letter to my neighborhood and asking them if they have a similar experience and when it occurred. If everyone emails me back saying either, Tue, or Wed, then we can be pretty confident that its one of the workers that comes to our neighborhood on those dates.
Anyone have any advice or go through a similar situation? I've had my laptop for only 6 months and I really cherished it. I just want my property back. Thank you for your help and responses.
I had my Macbook air stolen from my car the other night. Woke up to my car window smashed in and my backpack gone. This is the second time this has happened to me in the past 6 months. I've already spend about $500 getting my window fixed for both instances.
The community that I live in is somewhat secluded, so I suspect the same person, someone who frequently comes to the community, is suspected of this criminal activity. I don't leave my backpack in my car but the two times that I forgot about my backpack, both times my window was smashed in. First time happened on a Tuesday, this past time happened on a Wednesday. There are community workers who come weekly Tue and Wed. Luckily I had "Find my mac" installed. Later on Wed night around 11:30pm, I received a notification that my mac had been found. It gave me a street location and a circumference of about 5 houses. I proceeded to use the erase my mac feature, and was emailed that my mac erase process had started. After I received the notification I saw that I wasn't far from the street that my mac was located, and proceeded to drive to that area. The area was a pretty run down neighborhood with most of the homes having bars on the windows. There was one house with the lights on during that time, so I suspected that was the house that had my mac. I called the police, the dispatcher sent a police officer over to my location to do a "preserve the peace." I was ready to go and get my laptop back, but the police officer had informed me that it may not be the best idea to go knocking on the door at 12am, and the criminal has every reason to deny that the laptop is not there in the first place. Since the police officer didn't have a warrant he wouldn't be able to go in and get it. He advised me to contact the detective and go through official means.
I have been checking Craigslist list every hour for the past two days. "Find my mac" has not given me an updated location since wed night. The more days pass, I suspect that my mac is lost for good.
I had a couple questions.
1) I had a password on my mac. How did the thief connect to a wifi network? Did he hack my password or bypass it?
2) How reliable is the erase my mac feature? I've read about this and have also contact apple concerning this questions, but both reps didn't give me a sure answer. Once I "erase my mac" and the thief sees that I have initiated this function, can't he just power off my Mac? How confident can I be that the mac was wiped successfully?
3) I've read, and have been told, that after the mac has been wiped the "Find my mac" feature can still function, and my mac can be located as long as it is connected to wifi. But my questions is, if the hard drive is wiped, how can the thief connect to a wifi network?
Its frustrating that the police can't do more because I know the location of where the mac is. I am thinking of writing a letter to my neighborhood and asking them if they have a similar experience and when it occurred. If everyone emails me back saying either, Tue, or Wed, then we can be pretty confident that its one of the workers that comes to our neighborhood on those dates.
Anyone have any advice or go through a similar situation? I've had my laptop for only 6 months and I really cherished it. I just want my property back. Thank you for your help and responses.
