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Macbook Pro Stolen

D

Dispatched

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 30, 2011
8
0
My macbook pro was stolen out of my dorm room today. Luckily I had iCloud all set up and the person who took it connected to the internet breifly and it showed up in a neighborhood not far from the school. The police said the area it gave was to broad though and they couldn't get a search warrant for all the houses in the area it covered.

Is there any way to get a more accurate location using iCloud?
Also, I remotely locked my computer the second I knew it was missing but the name of my macbook changed in iCloud which is confusing me. Can this person still use the computer if it's not connected to the internet?

Thanks
 
Dispatched said:
My macbook pro was stolen out of my dorm room today. Luckily I had iCloud all set up and the person who took it connected to the internet breifly and it showed up in a neighborhood not far from the school. The police said the area it gave was to broad though and they couldn't get a search warrant for all the houses in the area it covered.

Is there any way to get a more accurate location using iCloud?
Also, I remotely locked my computer the second I knew it was missing but the name of my macbook changed in iCloud which is confusing me. Can this person still use the computer if it's not connected to the internet?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Find my mac?
 
foxyfabio said:
Find my mac?
Click to expand...

That's what I used but they said the area it gave wasn't specific enough for a search warrant. The Macbook logo showed up right on a house but the blue circle around it covered a much larger area.

And I was across the hall in my friends room for less than 15 minutes. How someone managed to pick that time to go in to my room is beyond me... several laptops were stolen today from my building.
 
Dispatched said:
That's what I used but they said the area it gave wasn't specific enough for a search warrant. The Macbook logo showed up right on a house but the blue circle around it covered a much larger area.

And I was across the hall in my friends room for less than 15 minutes. How someone managed to pick that time to go in to my room is beyond me... several laptops were stolen today from my building.
Click to expand...


its hard for the police to get search warrants for serious crimes, you think all the surronding houses to this theif should have their rights violated having police ram sack their homes looking for your laptop?

i know it sucks but seriously think about it
 
That bites man - sorry to hear about that. Contact the police, maybe find my mac could be helpful. Also ask around.

Did they break into the room, was it locked/unlocked?
 
Dispatched said:
My macbook pro was stolen out of my dorm room today. Luckily I had iCloud all set up and the person who took it connected to the internet breifly and it showed up in a neighborhood not far from the school. The police said the area it gave was to broad though and they couldn't get a search warrant for all the houses in the area it covered.

Is there any way to get a more accurate location using iCloud?
Also, I remotely locked my computer the second I knew it was missing but the name of my macbook changed in iCloud which is confusing me. Can this person still use the computer if it's not connected to the internet?

Thanks
Click to expand...

i bet if the thief wipes the hard drive and reinstalls the OS it will be gone from icloud because it's now his
 
I've always wondered how beneficial "Find my Mac" would be and now I know. (I don't use it - can't stand login screens).
 
Sorry to hear about the loss of your machine...hindsight is always 20-20, but here's some recommendations for if you replace it or get it back:

1) Consider putting some software such as Prey (www.preyproject.com) - there are some other similar applications available, which will track your Mac and send you pictures of whomever is using it.

Set up a "Guest" account as a honeypot setup, which doesn't require a password to use. If someone steals your machine, you want to make it easy enough for them to get online (but not using your regular Username), so Prey can do its business and report back where it is and who has it.

2) Set an EFI Firmware password to prevent someone from re-installing the OS.

3) Backup to a cloud service (I use Crashplan), if your machine gets stolen or damaged, at least you have your data. Local backups are convenient, but if the thief takes your external drive (or it gets damaged, like in case of a house fire) you would want an off site backup.

4) Record all your serial numbers and save receipts, so that if the police recover your stuff, you have some evidence that it is yours. Save this stuff in a different place than just on your machine (I keep mine stored in 1Password).
 
I'm pretty bummed Find my Mac wasn't as useful as I was hoping. The police are still checking to see if anyone from the school lives in the neighborhood I tracked it too (which is apparently a bad area) and if so they told me they may be able to get a search warrant but I'm not really getting my hopes up. The computer hasn't been connected to the internet since last night so I'm guessing the thief either reformatted it or ditched the computer when I remotely locked it.

I wish I could setup a EFI firmware password to prevent reinstallation of the OS. Leaving my room unlocked for 10 minutes turned out to be a pretty expensive mistake. I still have a little hope but I know it's highly unlikely I'll get it back.
 
file an official report with the serial #

you can then send it to apple who will tell the police if someone brings it in for service. looks like the people that stole it are morons
 
alent1234 said:
file an official report with the serial #

you can then send it to apple who will tell the police if someone brings it in for service. looks like the people that stole it are morons
Click to expand...

Okay, I'll do that too just in case.

Does anyone know if there's any documentation online from apple explaining the way find my mac locates the computer and how accurate the lcoation it gives is?
 
Im not suggesting you do this, but If I knew where my computer was Id go get it. A buddy of mine had his computer stolen from his home, was able to locate it, went to the kids house, talked to his parents. The parents were wondering where the kid had gotten his new mac from, once they found out, the computer was rightfully returned to my friend, and Im sure the kid didn't have to pleasant of a time dealing with his parents.
 
alent1234 said:
file an official report with the serial #

you can then send it to apple who will tell the police if someone brings it in for service. looks like the people that stole it are morons
Click to expand...

COMPLETE BS.

Apple does not track stolen devices and does not keep records of such. Nor will Apple notify the police of anything.

Stop spreading misinformation and lies, you're not helping anyone.
 
IllIllIll said:
COMPLETE BS.

Apple does not track stolen devices and does not keep records of such. Nor will Apple notify the police of anything.

Stop spreading misinformation and lies, you're not helping anyone.
Click to expand...

Lol, I was about to post this.

I don't know how people come up with all this nonsense. Apple doesn't owe you anything other than a 12 month warranty.

They are not in the business of locating stolen goods.
 
IllIllIll said:
COMPLETE BS.

Apple does not track stolen devices and does not keep records of such. Nor will Apple notify the police of anything.

Stop spreading misinformation and lies, you're not helping anyone.
Click to expand...

Well that's a little disappointing but makes sense. The police said there's no students living in the area where it showed up on find my mac so there's really nothing they can do. The pin is dropped right on top of a house/apartment building so I'm going to go over there myself and talk to some people...

Thanks for the help everyone...looks like I'll be buying a new macbook.
 
Dispatched said:
Well that's a little disappointing but makes sense. The police said there's no students living in the area where it showed up on find my mac so there's really nothing they can do. The pin is dropped right on top of a house/apartment building so I'm going to go over there myself and talk to some people...
Click to expand...

Hmm, this sounds like a very bad idea... you already said that the neighborhood qualifies as a "bad area." Not worth getting hurt for a laptop. Maybe I'm too anxious, but I wouldn't go there.
 
Dispatched said:
Well that's a little disappointing but makes sense. The police said there's no students living in the area where it showed up on find my mac so there's really nothing they can do. The pin is dropped right on top of a house/apartment building so I'm going to go over there myself and talk to some people...

Thanks for the help everyone...looks like I'll be buying a new macbook.
Click to expand...

Ant.honey said:
I'd go, but with several large friends.. Start knocking on doors.
Click to expand...

THIS...... let us know how it goes.
 
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