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Stolen Laptop - assistance required

K

kunzie

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 27, 2008
12
0
Hi everyone.

I've recently had my 15" MBP stolen and when this occurred, I changed all my passwords. Unfortunately, I forgot to change my iTunes password. I have noticed recently that a few songs were purchased through my account. Nothing major in terms of spend value, but the fact that they purchased music tells me a few things:

1. The person who has it now is comfortable using my installed copy of OS X without reinstall - leads to someone not quite tech savvy.
2. They're comfortable using my iTunes account without thought of identity - possibly someone young.
3. They're on the internet.

Unfortunately, my previous MBP had no security measures in place (ie. No firmware password, no FileVault, does have admin password, but not for login, etc).

I've passed this info over to the police, but I'm not quite sure how serious they're going to take this.

Is there any way Apple are able to track IP information? Does anyone have a contact for security department, etc?

You'll be pleased to know my new MBP has firmware password, filevault active, guest account active, screensaver passwords, Obicule theft software installed...

Thanks in advance guys. Any assistance you can give may help me track down my stolen computer!

-kunzie
 
I was thinking of leaving my iTunes password active for now, just in case they do purchase more songs. If it gets out of control of course I'll change it but I want the best possible chance to track this person.
 
kunzie said:
I was thinking of leaving my iTunes password active for now, just in case they do purchase more songs. If it gets out of control of course I'll change it but I want the best possible chance to track this person.
Click to expand...

You should change it, Apple has their IP address. That may not help if they were at a cafe or other public access place, but you will be protected.
 
You can have to x days to dispute the charges with credit card.

Perhaps contact credit company's fraud department also?

I would call apple to see what they can do, as they have the IP.
 
kunzie said:
I was thinking of leaving my iTunes password active for now, just in case they do purchase more songs. If it gets out of control of course I'll change it but I want the best possible chance to track this person.
Click to expand...

Change it now. What will happen if the guy who got your laptop changes it for you. Than you could be screwed. :mad:
 
kunzie said:
1. The person who has it now is comfortable using my installed copy of OS X without reinstall - leads to someone not quite tech savvy.
Click to expand...

OR...they just don't have an OS X disk to do a reinstall.

2. They're comfortable using my iTunes account without thought of identity - possibly someone young.
Click to expand...

OR...they know that using your computer, with your iTunes information, spreads an identity that isn't theirs; it's yours. Why would they hide from that? Nothing about that information leads anybody to the perpetrator's identity.
 
They can't do a reinstall, because the DVD drive is (was) completely borked. Hopefully they take it to an Apple retailer to get fixed as I've flagged it stolen with AppleCare.

Unfortunately no, I do not have MobileMe active.
 
Okay.. before getting in to an argument, what I meant was that if I was to buy a MacBook Pro for dirt cheap (ie. too good to be true), the first thing I would do would be to reinstall the operating system. If I was unable to do it because the DVD drive was faulty, I'd boot from USB.

I think it's quite logical to assume that the person using the computer hasn't thought to do any of this.
 
kunzie said:
Okay.. before getting in to an argument, what I meant was that if I was to buy a MacBook Pro for dirt cheap (ie. too good to be true), the first thing I would do would be to reinstall the operating system. If I was unable to do it because the DVD drive was faulty, I'd boot from USB.

I think it's quite logical to assume that the person using the computer hasn't thought to do any of this.
Click to expand...

Who says somebody bought it? The same lack of scruples that would enable someone to steal your computer is also leading him to help himself to your iTunes account, so there's a pretty good incentive for him to hang onto it. And you expect that the first thing he would do is reformat?!? Why would he do that? He has unfettered access to your iTunes money, access which he will lose if he reformats. No telling what other goodies are on there, too.

Besides, like I mentioned earlier, just because he stole your laptop doesn't mean he has a retail copy of OS X lying around somewhere. Don't be too quick to assume that tech-savvyness has anything to do with it.

I feel bad your computer got stolen, but it sounds like you're jumping to conclusions that really aren't substantiated by the little bit of evidence you have.
 
The reason I don't think the original thief still has the computer? The forensic detective that arrived on scene explained to me that from the looks of the items stolen (3 laptops, 2 digital cameras, cash and handheld computer games) and the window in which the thieves had to steal the above suggests that it was a crime of opportunity and that from his 10+ years of experience, thieves of this nature can make an easy £1000 a day by only stealing items that are small, high value and self-contained (ie, complete units). These are then on-sold to others for either stockpiling or further on-selling. My 37" TV, 2 Xbox 360s, etc, were all left untouched. He also said that my house was one of 4 hit in my neighbourhood THAT DAY.

I really doubt someone who was cluey with computers would connect to the internet - and equally unlikely to use an iTunes account which can be traced via IP and notifies the owner of purchase via email.

Add to that, that only three songs were "purchased" totaling £2.37 over the space of a few weeks.

I stand by my initial conclusions.
 
kunzie said:
The reason I don't think the original thief still has the computer? The forensic detective that arrived on scene explained to me that from the looks of the items stolen (3 laptops, 2 digital cameras, cash and handheld computer games) and the window in which the thieves had to steal the above suggests that it was a crime of opportunity and that from his 10+ years of experience, thieves of this nature can make an easy £1000 a day by only stealing items that are small, high value and self-contained (ie, complete units). These are then on-sold to others for either stockpiling or further on-selling. My 37" TV, 2 Xbox 360s, etc, were all left untouched. He also said that my house was one of 4 hit in my neighbourhood THAT DAY.

I really doubt someone who was cluey with computers would connect to the internet - and equally unlikely to use an iTunes account which can be traced via IP and notifies the owner of purchase via email.

Add to that, that only three songs were "purchased" totaling £2.37 over the space of a few weeks.

I stand by my initial conclusions.
Click to expand...

I hope your detective doesn't jump to conclusions as quickly as you do. Good luck.
 
Guys, please don't leap on the OP. He's grasping at straws, as would we all if our pride and joy was stolen.

Yes I would change the iTunes password too. You never know when you will get hit with a $1,000 bill for 200 videos / films / tunes / I Am Rich app. It would be hard to dispute this bill, as you have had ample warning that someone else has your password, and you have already accepted bills that this thief has raised.

Most caselaw says both sides are responsible for taking 'reasonable' precautions to keep info / valuables secure. Insurance won't pay out if you leave your car in the middle of the road, keys in, and all doors open, which is what you are doing at the moment.

As for getting more info about the thief, perhaps you could see if he logs onto any of your msn/yahoo/skype chat apps, or facebook account? You would have to create new accounts and then see if your old id logs on.

You could then chat to him and try to social engineer him into downloading something that will help you to identify him or try to take a photo through the webcam.

You already know the password, so there might be something you could remotely install if you catch him online.
 
Tbh, I wouldn't worry about them tracking things, hacking things.

Basically, they are just low-lifes looking to rob from people who have bought something with there hard earned cash, so they steal it.

I would get their IP address though.


Good luck, keep us posted:)
 
kunzie said:
Is there any way Apple are able to track IP information? Does anyone have a contact for security department, etc?



-kunzie
Click to expand...

Well I has the same problem when a couple of our computers were stolen and they same day they bought somting from iTunes!.

Bottem line was Apple was most unhelpful. They said that they could not track my stolen computers "for privacy reasons!".

I had a police report of the theft

I had the serial numbers of the hard-ware

I had the boxes from the hardware

I had the details of my apple ID / Mac-acounts, which even contained copies of Apple's invoices when they shiped be the bl@@dy computers in the firstplace.

Still the prat at Apple said that there was nothing they could/would do, and just recommended I chnaged the passswords!
 
wackymacky said:
Bottom line was Apple was most unhelpful. They said that they could not track my stolen computers "for privacy reasons!".
Click to expand...

What exactly did you expect? If your TV gets stolen do you go nag Best Buy about it or Sony? No, it's your problem, not theirs. Apple can't do anything about it, they can't track the machine. If it was that easy to track the machine people wouldn't be stupid enough to steal them (OK, yes they would) and the police would have a much much higher success rate in recovering that kind of stolen property. There's options for tracking a stolen Mac such as Undercover, but doesn't help for already stolen Macs.
 
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