pls HELP 12 inch PB Stolen from my trunk

[DieselClown]

Is there anything apple can do to recover it? I seriously want to hurl now, I just bought it a month ago and I did the apple loan 3 month same as cash thing and I know it's going to hurt when I start paying it off. What can I do? Please help.

Steve

 

[r6girl]

sorry to hear about the theft! damn thieves!

i have to say that i don't think apple can do anything about the theft - i know of no retail company that offers any sort of assistance for a theft of their product after purchase. violations of the law are under the purvue of the police, not a retailer. if you registered the powerbook, you could let apple know so that they could watch for any duplicate registration of the serial number of your powerbook, in case the thief is very stupid, or has sold it to someone who does not know it was stolen. but i'm not sure about apple's capabilities to keep an eye out for this sort of thing - you may want to ask customer service.

have you called the police? if not, call immediately and get a police report. assuming you have full car insurance (not just liability coverage), you may be able to make a claim for the value of the stolen property. this should at least cover a portion of paying off the loan and/or purchasing a new one.

i haven't used apple financing, but i think it's a standard term of financing like this that you are required to report that it's been stolen (since you no longer have the "collateral" securing the loan in the first place). don't be surprised if, when you report this to them, they require payment in full on the loan within 30 days or so. but i could be wrong - read the terms of the financing agreement you have...

best of luck on this!

marianne

 

[Elan0204]

I doubt there is anything Apple can do for you. However, as the above poster suggested, contact the police and your car insurance company. If you pay for more than just the most basic of coverage, your car insurance may cover your PowerBook.

 

[JLS]

Always buy expensive stuff with a credit card that offers purchase protection against theft.

As for your PB now.. kiss goodbye. Only hope is if you had extended household insurance.

 

[smharmon]

Apple CAN do something for you. First, you need to find your serial number. Maybe it is on the box, or your invoice from buying it. Call Apple. They will give you the number of Apple Security. Have your police department call them. They can track whenever the guy goes online with it, and through what ISP. Then they contact the ISP for the address, and arrest them! I know because I saw it on paypalsucks.com, and just called Apple yesterday. They gave me the number in about 5 seconds of explanation.

Good Luck

 

[JLS]

Apple CAN do something for you. First, you need to find your serial number. Maybe it is on the box, or your invoice from buying it. Call Apple. They will give you the number of Apple Security. Have your police department call them. They can track whenever the guy goes online with it, and through what ISP. Then they contact the ISP for the address, and arrest them! I know because I saw it on paypalsucks.com, and just called Apple yesterday. They gave me the number in about 5 seconds of explanation.

Good Luck

That is the biggest load of junk I have ever heard. There is no way you can find the location of a computer this way.. ISPs legally cannot disclose their customers information because of privacy laws. The only way that this would ever be allowd was if the person was a risk to national security.. e.g. a master hacker. So unless your powerbook is used to hack the NSA, this isn't going to help.

 

[Les Kern]

If the thieves are stupid enough to go to Apple for repair, it's good to have it on file as stolen. Otherwise, sorry. My "full-coverage" auto insurance does indeed cover a stolen laptop. But you pay extra and you have to specify content.

 

[Mantat]

That is the biggest load of junk I have ever heard. There is no way you can find the location of a computer this way.. ISPs legally cannot disclose their customers information because of privacy laws. The only way that this would ever be allowd was if the person was a risk to national security.. e.g. a master hacker. So unless your powerbook is used to hack the NSA, this isn't going to help.

I dont know how it is in the states but I guess its not better than in Canada, and if so, you are wrong.

ISP have to give the police your personnal information if they ask. Note the word here: ask, they dont need any special autorisation. There is no privacy of information here. I know because I was victim of this. My computer (pc) was used as a proxi to probe a firm and next thing I know the police called me. It wasnt a national threat, just a small business who called the police after seeing some port probing. The police just had to ask the ISP for the logs and they gave it to them. This is not considered private information because it doesnt belong to you, it belong to your ISP. So you just need to fill a complain to the police dept and you are set.

So the first thing you should do it call apple and give them your serial number, then call your insurance company to see if you are covered. Also, repport the robbery to the police.

Btw, do you have any idea how the thief knew you had a PB in there? Sorry to say that but the criminal can be someone you know, so maybe looking at the different pawnshop around your area should give some results.

I wish you much luck to find it back! This sucks...

 

[ftaok]

You might want to check the details of the Apple Loan. If I'm thinking straight, the Apple Loan is really just a credit card. Many credit cards offer theft protection, so if you check the details of the loan, you may already be covered.

ft

 

[stevey500]

I hate people that do that!! DAMN YOU !! Human race sucks

 

[JLS]

I dont know how it is in the states but I guess its not better than in Canada, and if so, you are wrong.

ISP have to give the police your personnal information if they ask. Note the word here: ask, they dont need any special autorisation. There is no privacy of information here. I know because I was victim of this. My computer (pc) was used as a proxi to probe a firm and next thing I know the police called me. It wasnt a national threat, just a small business who called the police after seeing some port probing. The police just had to ask the ISP for the logs and they gave it to them. This is not considered private information because it doesnt belong to you, it belong to your ISP. So you just need to fill a complain to the police dept and you are set.

Probing is not illegal so why was the company even phoning them in the first place. If I phoned my local police and said ive been probed.. about 10,000 times in the last month.. do you think they are actually going to track them all down..lol.. no!


But thats totally irrelevant anyway.. thats tracking a customer not a machine..

Just think about it. If all computers locations could be identified, do you even think there would be computer theft in the first place if there was a concrete way of locating the person using it after it has been stolen? ISPs can locate a customers location, but not the details of the machine they are on. (as in serial codes or whatever) as that would be your property. The ISP has no right to identify your machine, and this is not possible without some form of entry to your system.

My friend has been using a stolen imac for the last 3 years, she knew it was stolen when she bought it. There has never been any contact from the police and she uses the internet every day... what more do I need to say.

 

[Mr. G4]

This is a link to the story of how Apple track down and recuperate computers stolen at their store.

http://starbulletin.com/2003/06/29/news/story2.html

Is there anything apple can do to recover it? I seriously want to hurl now, I just bought it a month ago and I did the apple loan 3 month same as cash thing and I know it's going to hurt when I start paying it off. What can I do? Please help.

Steve

 

[Abstract]

Call Apple, call the police. That's all you can do. Apple may be able to track it if someone ever phones them and makes an inquiry regarding their laptop with your serial number.

That stuff about tracking via ISP's is b.s. How can an ISP determine which of it's customers are using a stolen laptop? How would you find the ISP of your thief? Maybe I'm missing some point, but I don't think I am.

 

[smharmon]

That is the biggest load of junk I have ever heard. There is no way you can find the location of a computer this way.. ISPs legally cannot disclose their customers information because of privacy laws. The only way that this would ever be allowd was if the person was a risk to national security.. e.g. a master hacker. So unless your powerbook is used to hack the NSA, this isn't going to help.

Whoa guys, I only related exactly what i was told by an Apple CSR. I didn't make the crap up, and just related EXACTLY what I was told, sorry I made people so upset...

 

[angelneo]

your powerbook got stolen!!! Oh man, I really feel sorry for you. I really hope that things turn out well for you

 

[FuzzyBallz]

Call the police, heh. Last time an iBook was stolen from our office in broad day light, filing a police report did crap.

And getting a PB stolen from your trunk? Let me guess, you put the PB in the trunk at your destination, while people were around? Yeah, I'd jack open your trunk w/ a crow bar too if I saw you put something that valueable in the trunk.

 

[maesy]

a little too late, but hey...

found this a while ago, keep in mind for your next iBook/PowerBook....
MacPhoneHome™ is the pre-eminent computer tracking and theft recovery software in the world for Macintosh computers. With MacPhoneHome™ there is no yearly monitoring fees, no additional charges, and no hidden costs! How does MacPhoneHome™ work? Every time you boot your computer and have an Internet connection, MacPhoneHome™ sends a stealth e-mail message containing its exact location to a pre-determined e-mail address set by the user. In the event the computer is stolen, you file a report with the local police and then notify Brigadoon Software’s Command and Tracking Center, which will provide full tracking and recovery support. When the stolen computer goes online it will send a stealth message to the pre-determined e-mail address containing its exact location. Once this information is received, our recovery agents work with you and the investigating law enforcement agency to recover the stolen property. Worldwide tracking and recovery. Highly tamper-proof. We supply both Classic and OS X versions at no additional cost. Price: $29.95 USD

 

[NusuniAdmin]

just to clear things up it is illegal for an isp to give out information unless they want to or the police or whoever has a court order.


it is also illegal to trace the location of someone via their IP unless you have a court order.

I might add if they are suspected terrorist then they can get all that info without a court order. Thanks to the patriot act.

 

[dorqiekat]

My PB was stolen from my apartment 2 months ago and Apple along with the police did crap. The most the police did was take finger prints that has yet to be processed. Yup, crap.

 

[BakedBeans]

iss it insured???


check with house insurance and all that... i hate that... im so so so sorry man...

 

[MattG]

That sucks...definitely file a police report.

 

[MrSugar]

That sucks...definitely file a police report.

yeah you should contact the police, and call apple as many others have suggested.

Hopefully somewhere you might be able to have insurance cover it. I hope you can figure something out.

On a side note, I have safeware (www.safeware.com) as insurance for my laptop. Covers drink spills, theft, etc. You might want to look into this in the future.

 

[balticgreen]

Some people are saying that filing a police report won't do anything. That may be true from the police perspective, but keep in mind that if you are able to file an insurance claim you will probably need a police report. So call the police and report it even though they probably won't be able to do much for you. Also call Apple and have the serial number noted as stolen property.

Check with both your auto and homeowners/renters insurance. If your auto doesn't cover it, ho/renters might. When I was in college, my parents' homeowners covered my laptop even if it was stolen at school or from my trunk or wherever.

 

[Mantat]

Time for me to clear some points:

just to clear things up it is illegal for an isp to give out information unless they want to or the police or whoever has a court order.


it is also illegal to trace the location of someone via their IP unless you have a court order.

I might add if they are suspected terrorist then they can get all that info without a court order. Thanks to the patriot act.

Unless the laws are different in US than in Canada, you are totaly wrong and only say what SHOULD be done instead of the real thing.

Police dont need court order to have IP logs, they just ask for it to the ISP and get it. Same thing for celulars, without any court order the police may ask the cel phone provider to locate you. This was valid way before the patriot act and is good in Canada/US. They cant listen to what you are saying, because thats privacy, but they can pin point your location. They have to do this, this is part of their licence to use the wireless network. Also, this information is not viewed as private data but as the property of the provider so they can give this information without you knowing it.

And yes, if you are probbed 100.000 times in a month, you can fill a police complain and they will see if this is random probing or if this is done by the same individual. I know because thats how my name poped into their list. Their system was probed over a thousand time in a week and they showed me the IP and user information of EVERY connection attempt.

Now about locating computer. With IP adress you locate people, not computer, again, you are totaly wrong! There are two ways to connect to the internet: network card and modems. Modems have a serial number that they send when they initiate communication to the server/router. This number is logged by the server. There are no 'official' repository of all these number associated with a customer but if for exemple you said that you internet connection was stolen and the robber used it to download child porn for exemple, the police could use this serial number to see if the connection was made from your computer or not.

The same thing is done with network card when you connect to a network. Exemple that since we are using a cable modem for exemple, the MAC adress stop there, the ISP only get the serial number of the modem, if I remember right.

So please in the futur, talk about facts, not about what you think that should be. Surfing the net is not anonymous anymore and never was. Its just that it require some energy to locate the user.

Want other exemple of non-privacy? Every word document you make has a serial number in it that link it to your machine. How do you think the FBI locate idiots who make macro virus? There are also rumors that AOL does something like this too. Also, now every US corporation has to archive all the emails sent/received by its employe. I dont know if it depends of the size of the corp or if it include them all tho. All thanks to the Patriot act...

All this being said. I dont think that Apple actively look for stolen computer. They have a list of serial numbers of stolen computers that they make availlable to any potential used computer buyer and thats about it. I dont even know if they can use it with software update, maybe they should...

 

[sgarringer]

As for the technical merrits of your arguement, your somewhat lacking. It doesnt matter if you connect through Wireless, Modem, Cable, DSL, whatever. Everything is TCP/IP once it hits the internet. There is no way to trace TCP/IP back to a particular serial number once it leaves your subnet -- routers dont pass MAC or Serial information on. Even more troubling is the fact that if your using a router or some high speed connections -- they can perform NAT proxying which allows multiple devices to share a connection. The ISP has no idea what equipment your running on your side.

As for your other arguement about cellular pinpointing -- the police cannot just ask a cellphone company "Where is XYZ user" because the cellphone compaines dont know and dont track this. Your phone is talking to several towers at any given time, and the only time they know exactly where you are is when your phone sends this information, and thats only when your either a) using an application that is web based and requests this or b) when you make an E911 call. Even then the info is passed straight to the web server or the E911 servers, and isn't stored at the phone company. Do you realize the sheer numbers of people on the cellular network at any given time? And most of them are constantly moving (thats the nature of cellular). Do you have any idea how much data that would be constantly flowing if they could/did monitor where anyone was at in the given cellular network, not to mention the sheer amount of computing power that would need to triangluate that many users? Its astronomical.

Time for me to clear some points:



Unless the laws are different in US than in Canada, you are totaly wrong and only say what SHOULD be done instead of the real thing.

Police dont need court order to have IP logs, they just ask for it to the ISP and get it. Same thing for celulars, without any court order the police may ask the cel phone provider to locate you. This was valid way before the patriot act and is good in Canada/US. They cant listen to what you are saying, because thats privacy, but they can pin point your location. They have to do this, this is part of their licence to use the wireless network. Also, this information is not viewed as private data but as the property of the provider so they can give this information without you knowing it.

And yes, if you are probbed 100.000 times in a month, you can fill a police complain and they will see if this is random probing or if this is done by the same individual. I know because thats how my name poped into their list. Their system was probed over a thousand time in a week and they showed me the IP and user information of EVERY connection attempt.

Now about locating computer. With IP adress you locate people, not computer, again, you are totaly wrong! There are two ways to connect to the internet: network card and modems. Modems have a serial number that they send when they initiate communication to the server/router. This number is logged by the server. There are no 'official' repository of all these number associated with a customer but if for exemple you said that you internet connection was stolen and the robber used it to download child porn for exemple, the police could use this serial number to see if the connection was made from your computer or not.

The same thing is done with network card when you connect to a network. Exemple that since we are using a cable modem for exemple, the MAC adress stop there, the ISP only get the serial number of the modem, if I remember right.

So please in the futur, talk about facts, not about what you think that should be. Surfing the net is not anonymous anymore and never was. Its just that it require some energy to locate the user.

Want other exemple of non-privacy? Every word document you make has a serial number in it that link it to your machine. How do you think the FBI locate idiots who make macro virus? There are also rumors that AOL does something like this too. Also, now every US corporation has to archive all the emails sent/received by its employe. I dont know if it depends of the size of the corp or if it include them all tho. All thanks to the Patriot act...

All this being said. I dont think that Apple actively look for stolen computer. They have a list of serial numbers of stolen computers that they make availlable to any potential used computer buyer and thats about it. I dont even know if they can use it with software update, maybe they should...