Is there a way to check if the laptop I'm about to buy is stolen?

[mikelong622]

Today I am going to the MoA to the Apple Store to meet someone to trade laptops. I want to make sure that the one he's giving me is not stolen. If I go to the Apple support page and type in the serial number for warranty info...will it tell me if it has been flagged as stolen or not? I mean so far the guy has been alright...but kinda shady too. It might just be me being paranoid though. My roommate was recently scammed out of $1,000 for a Macbook Pro. He is trading me a 2.0 CD blackbook + a 16gb iPod touch. He says he sells computers and computer accessories wholesale so that is how he is able to get the good deals. It seems shady, but when I googled his name it brought up a company that does wholesale electronics.

Any advice would be great.

 

[themoonisdown09]

I don't know if you can find out on Apple's website or not. I do know of an application that you type in a serial number and it will tell you if it's stolen... so if you already own another Mac or know someone that does, check the serial number through this program:

Coconut Identity Card

Again, there is probably another way, but this is all I know.

NOTE: This just checks against serial numbers that have been reported... I don't know if that's obvious or not.

 

[Matiek]

There are two companies I know that are in the business of recovering stolen laptops, computrace and lo jack for laptops. If you send them an email they might be able to hook you up with a stolen computer database or maybe they'll be able check your numbers for you.