Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Stolen Macbook Pro Located w/ iCloud (Pictures!)
- Thread starter Luke 007
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
better yet, initiate a screen share in view only mode. Then you can get info on the person as they use your stolen computer. Then when they stop using it, log in as active control, then start a quicktime movie capture and minimize quicktime.....have it capture at low res so it can record for a while...then when they come back you will have video of them without them knowing you took it, email it to yourself, or just watch it when they aren't using it, and give it to the cops!
I can't imagine there is anything illegal about spying on your own computer is there?
Well if you can access the Mac through Back to My Mac to take a pic, I'd also go to System Preferences & get the IP address!
idea
If this thief is dumb enough not to wipe your Mac as soon as they stole it, and keep using it for months as is, they might be dumb enough to leave their wifi and local network exposed. You may be able to drive by with a laptop, join an open network, and see if your computer is on it. If so you might be able to identify an ip address or other info. This, of course is a long shot, but worth considering.
Good luck!
If this thief is dumb enough not to wipe your Mac as soon as they stole it, and keep using it for months as is, they might be dumb enough to leave their wifi and local network exposed. You may be able to drive by with a laptop, join an open network, and see if your computer is on it. If so you might be able to identify an ip address or other info. This, of course is a long shot, but worth considering.
Good luck!
The Evil in me would want to connect via VPN tunnel, delete your stuff, enable file sharing, open that computer up, grab the IP and port #, then challenge 4-Chan to "Hack this computer full of child porn - u know u don't have Teh Skillz!"
Wait 6 hours, call cops again.
Of course the rational being in me knows this is impossible, immoral and illegal, but still a fun thought.
Wait 6 hours, call cops again.
Of course the rational being in me knows this is impossible, immoral and illegal, but still a fun thought.
Luke made one post, ever, this was it. On a serious note, For his sake, I hope he does not care much about this thread, A.D.D. Kicked in and he wandered off, or is a spammer or something. Looking to "get back" at a thief, in their own home, along with other tenants, is a good way to get jailed oneself, and/or be killed. For a laptop.
Also, capt obvious here, you told police... Did you also file a stolen property report / complaint at the station?
Also, capt obvious here, you told police... Did you also file a stolen property report / complaint at the station?
Sadly as you're experiencing, knowing about where it's at is futile. Even if you had the precise location you'd be screwed. The cops don't care, they're far too busy with worse crimes in a state that's as good as bankrupt.
Next is the fact that it's highly likely the person (s) that took it are too stupid to do anthing but fence it anyway. It's probably been dropped tossed or otherwise abused as well.
My iPhone 4S was stolen recently so I know the feeling. Yet I took a different approach. I immediately went online & wiped it, then promptly chalked it up as a total loss. The only priority was to lock them out & secure my data. That being done, nothing else matters.
I jumped in my car, drove the ten minute route to my Apple store & bought a new one. Case Closed, all in less than an hour.
Next is the fact that it's highly likely the person (s) that took it are too stupid to do anthing but fence it anyway. It's probably been dropped tossed or otherwise abused as well.
My iPhone 4S was stolen recently so I know the feeling. Yet I took a different approach. I immediately went online & wiped it, then promptly chalked it up as a total loss. The only priority was to lock them out & secure my data. That being done, nothing else matters.
I jumped in my car, drove the ten minute route to my Apple store & bought a new one. Case Closed, all in less than an hour.
I hope you get the lowlife piece of **** that took the laptop mate; the person is lucky it was not my laptop; I have no problem taking the law in to my hands and kicking someones a$$ when it's totally necessary.
Sadly as you're experiencing, knowing about where it's at is futile. Even if you had the precise location you'd be screwed. The cops don't care, they're far too busy with worse crimes in a state that's as good as bankrupt.
Next is the fact that it's highly likely the person (s) that took it are too stupid to do anthing but fence it anyway. It's probably been dropped tossed or otherwise abused as well.
My iPhone 4S was stolen recently so I know the feeling. Yet I took a different approach. I immediately went online & wiped it, then promptly chalked it up as a total loss. The only priority was to lock them out & secure my data. That being done, nothing else matters.
I jumped in my car, drove the ten minute route to my Apple store & bought a new one. Case Closed, all in less than an hour.
I disagree. If you had enough info for the cops they would make a move on it. Probably not for an iPhone but a MacBook is valued at over 1.000 which is a felony (depending on the state). In my experiences detectives love dealing with cases that are easy to close.
Again, this is a GROSS violation of privacy. What happens when the thief is using their neighbors unsecured wireless? Are you going to get a warrant for each of the residences that are sharing a signal? While it's unfortunate to have tech stolen (speaking from personal experience), I'd be no more inclined to have Apple (who is a tech seller, not a security firm) be able to have this information and freely give it out to law enforcement (who also shouldn't have the information). Again, it sucks, but giving way to draconian versions of the PAtriot Act is going to hurt a lot more than having a computer stolen.
I second this.
----------
White guys can be big too.....Well if they work really hard at it. LOL
Are they hard and do they hit pipes? Those are the key parts for the plan to come together.
This is why I use File Vault 2 and firmware password (early 2011 15"). Thieves may get their nasty hands on the hardware, but:
I've told a friend to make sure they bring a bootable DVD (win7) when buying a MBP from Craigs List -- one way to check if the seller knows the pw if set up.
- My data is safe -- #1 concern
- The MBP is useless because they cannot boot fom any media other than the primary HDD
I've told a friend to make sure they bring a bootable DVD (win7) when buying a MBP from Craigs List -- one way to check if the seller knows the pw if set up.
Actually that is not true. All that has to be done is to change the amount of RAM in the computer and it disables the firmware password. With physical access a firmware password is nothing more than a false sense of security.
Actually that raises an interesting question then, are the unupgradable notebooks(MBA and rMBP) more secure then since their ram cannot be upgraded(I guess theoretically on the maxed out ones you could open it up and disable one of the memory modules, but I doubt most people would bother)
That was fixed with the early 2011 macbook pro. Changing the RAM configuration no longer circumvents the firmware password.