House Break-in, Question re: Find My Device iCloud feature

[Domino8282]

Hey all, good idea about checking Craigslist and I totally understand the person talking about identity theft being the "expensive" problem rather than the laptop. Our rationale was that they didn't have direct access to anything other than names & addresses under contacts that are in the phone book anyway,... Passwords have all been changed. Still, don't get me wrong, it's disconcerting and we may still wipe it.

One thing I forgot to mention is they didn't take the AC adapter - it was in a laptop bag on the other side of the house. So the cops were saying what's likely to happen is they play with it until the charge runs out and then trash it. He said you'd think they'd try to find a charger, but more than likely they aren't that resourceful/knowledgable about how to find a charger for a '09 MacBook Air.

To the last reply, yes I've zoomed way in and I have a pretty good guess on which house it is. However, even fully zoomed in, the radius covered by the grey circle (which shows where it *could* be) covers at least 5 houses since it's in a densely populated area. Plus that's just where the Wi-Fi is - the person using it could be a few houses away in any direction.

Thanks to all the well-wishers... If I don't see it come online again today (or even if I do and it's in the same spot), I may just wipe and forget about it. Will let you guys know.

 

[WesCole]

This might be a long shot, but maybe put the power adapter on Craigslist for free and see who responds since they didn't get the cord. Tell them you can bring it to their house even...that way if it's one of the houses in the area you located the Mac, you will know exactly which house (if you get an address that isn't close to the area, you can just tell them it is sold). You might not want to get personally involved, though, since it might put you at risk of retaliation, but I just thought I would mention it.

You might also get Identity Theft Protection for anyone who had personal information stored on the computer. Chances are, the people who stole it just wanted quick cash, but you never know.

 

[boto]

Free charger? Worst idea to get spams of email. Also, I wouldn't even dare try meeting them in person, I'm not gonna get myself robbed twice and it will probably be away from their own residence. If anything, I would try driving around that neighborhood for any suspicious behavior and WiFi networks available, although the person may have used ethernet or even possibly reinstalled the OS.

 

[Puevlo]

Just drive around the neighborhood and continually make the Mac beep. Eventually you will hear it and then you can knock on their door and tell them to give it back.

 

[TheRealDamager]

Just drive around the neighborhood and continually make the Mac beep. Eventually you will hear it and then you can knock on their door and tell them to give it back.

No Laptop is worth putting yourself in danger over - I wouldn't do this.

 

[Puevlo]

No Laptop is worth putting yourself in danger over - I wouldn't do this.

That's exactly something the thief would say.

 

[TheRealDamager]

Even the thief is smart enough to come to your place when you are away. Confrontation in this situation is stupid.

 

[WesCole]

Free charger? Worst idea to get spams of email. Also, I wouldn't even dare try meeting them in person, I'm not gonna get myself robbed twice and it will probably be away from their own residence. If anything, I would try driving around that neighborhood for any suspicious behavior and WiFi networks available, although the person may have used ethernet or even possibly reinstalled the OS.

I didn't say meet them in person. Just get their address so you "drop it off" and then let the police know the exact place. Sure, you would get a lot of email, but it might pay off. I think it has a better chance of working than driving around looking for "suspicious behavior". Plus, you're idea puts them closer to the perp than mine does.

 

[KPOM]

I'd wipe the data at this point, particularly if she kept any type of financial records on it. If they are drug dealers, they may attempt to steal someone's identity to enter into "legitimate" purchases using credit cards, etc.

 

[DCRowe44]

Personally... If this happened to me, the very first thing I would do it wipe the drive. My rationale is that the "expensive" risk is identity theft. The "cheap" risk is the computer.

I always start with turning on FV2 on every computer as soon as I set it up. Then I turn on the "find my device" feature. I would not try to track a stollen device, nor would I try to find the thieves. I would just wipe it. Depending on the value of the computer, I might file a homeowner's claim.

/Jim

Good idea, but what is FV2, I'm not familiar with that?

Sorry this happened to the original poster!

 

[KPOM]

Good idea, but what is FV2, I'm not familiar with that?

Sorry this happened to the original poster!

FileVault 2. It is Apple's built-in encryption system. What it does is encrypt your hard drive so that you must enter a password in order to read from the drive.

 

[sidneyvanness]

That stinks. I had a similar experience with an iPhone in May of last year, and might have some useful advice. I accidentally left the phone on a plane in Seattle when I was changing flights. A Delta employee cleaning the plane took it home with them. When they turned the phone on, I remote locked it and displayed a message saying that they should call me to return the phone, and there would be no consequences. They didn't. So I got a Wi-Fi + GPS lock on it, and contacted the Port of Seattle Police. Sent them a screenshot of where it was located, and they went out to the location. I used the "make it ring" feature at the same time the officer knocked on the door, thereby proving that I was in control/had access to the phone. When the officer heard the phone ringing concurrent with my remote requests, it constituted probable cause and they didn't need to get a search warrant. He confiscated the phone, arrested the man, and took his airport badge as well. Took about a week to get it back, because it had to go into evidence room first. Might be more difficult with an actual computer, but I suspect there is a way to demonstrate that you have the access credentials and can prove it is yours based on some piece of information. It would be even better if you could demonstrate something that the officer could detect while standing at the doorway. e.g. if you have Back to My Mac enabled, login remotely and make it play "I'm In the Jailhouse Now"....while the officer is standing in the doorway. That would be audible and very specific.
Here's what I sent Port of Seattle Police.

 

[Domino8282]

That stinks. I had a similar experience with an iPhone in May of last year, and might have some useful advice. I accidentally left the phone on a plane in Seattle when I was changing flights. A Delta employee cleaning the plane took it home with them. When they turned the phone on, I remote locked it and displayed a message saying that they should call me to return the phone, and there would be no consequences. They didn't. So I got a Wi-Fi + GPS lock on it, and contacted the Port of Seattle Police. Sent them a screenshot of where it was located, and they went out to the location. I used the "make it ring" feature at the same time the officer knocked on the door, thereby proving that I was in control/had access to the phone. When the officer heard the phone ringing concurrent with my remote requests, it constituted probable cause and they didn't need to get a search warrant. He confiscated the phone, arrested the man, and took his airport badge as well. Took about a week to get it back, because it had to go into evidence room first. Might be more difficult with an actual computer, but I suspect there is a way to demonstrate that you have the access credentials and can prove it is yours based on some piece of information. It would be even better if you could demonstrate something that the officer could detect while standing at the doorway. e.g. if you have Back to My Mac enabled, login remotely and make it play "I'm In the Jailhouse Now"....while the officer is standing in the doorway. That would be audible and very specific.
Here's what I sent Port of Seattle Police.

Thanks for the useful info - how do you make it play something specific? I can't remember if I enabled Back to My Mac and I've never used it before... Wouldn't I need the IP or something to connect to it?

The idea of making it beep while the officer is nearby is a good one though. Will pass that along... Yeah I don't think it's an area that we want to go cruising around ourselves. It's a nasty area. It has been online and connected to Wi-Fi most of the day today - same location.

I don't know about the Craigslist idea re: the power cable. I'm not sure if they're resourceful enough to go searching for a cable like that. As it turns out, the monitor they stole (an LED cinema display) actually has a magsafe adapter built into the cord, so if the same person is in possession of both, they may have it plugged in with that.

P.S. to the last poster - The pic you showed seems to be of an apartment complex. How did they know which apartment to search? Were the police able to cross-reference people's employment info with their addresses or did they just knock on all the doors?

 

[sidneyvanness]

I had the police officer on the phone while he was at the door of the suspect. I told him that I was going to initiate a remote audio tone, and within 5 seconds the phone was making noise from within the suspect's apartment. I repeated the process about 5 times to demonstrate that I was actually in control of the device from a remote location. In this case, it wasn't the exact tone that mattered, merely the fact that I could initiate the tone at will. That constituted probable cause.

The back to my mac feature is basically remote screen sharing. You would have needed to enable it. If enabled, you would be able to launch iTunes remotely, crank up the volume, and play any track...assuming, of course, that it is turned on.

 

[m.demian]

How do you know that it's been online all day and connected to a wireless network? What other information does your source give you?

 

[sidneyvanness]

Oh, and it was an apartment complex. The GPS location is actually very precise (more so than wi-fi). He was able to tell from that image which apartment the dot was on top of. Went directly to the door, knocked, and had me initiate the tone on the phone within about 15 seconds. He then hung up, arrested the guy, and called me back in about 10 minutes.

 

[Domino8282]

How do you know that it's been online all day and connected to a wireless network? What other information does your source give you?

Just based on the Find my Mac app and seeing the little green light next to it. It shows up as grey (offline) unless it's connected to Wi-Fi which enables it to be located.

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Oh, and it was an apartment complex. The GPS location is actually very precise (more so than wi-fi). He was able to tell from that image which apartment the dot was on top of. Went directly to the door, knocked, and had me initiate the tone on the phone within about 15 seconds. He then hung up, arrested the guy, and called me back in about 10 minutes.

Wow sounds like the police in that area are very resourceful. I'm hopeful that we can arrange something similar but not holding my breath...

 

[dbdynsty25]

Wow sounds like the police in that area are very resourceful. I'm hopeful that we can arrange something similar but not holding my breath...

Seriously...the time our house got broken in to, I was lucky to get a call back, let alone have them roaming around the streets listening to random doors. Very helpful police department you've got there whenever you live.

 

[sidneyvanness]

That's the kicker. I don't even live in Seattle. I was living in Anchorage, Alaska at the time. The officer did all of this remotely, with me on the phone nearly 3,000 miles away. I was WAY impressed with the Port of Seattle Police. I thought about writing the whole thing up, but there had been several similar "track down the thief" stories floating around. But I don't know of any where the distances were so extreme and where law enforcement did such a great job.