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Stolen Macbook Pro Located w/ iCloud (Pictures!)
- Thread starter Luke 007
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www.preyproject.com
That's what I use on my 3 most important devices. I use iCloud on all of them but Prey takes it to the next level.
Once you report your macbook as stolen, it sends reports every 15 minutes including a photo from the iSight camera.
Also, whenever I go on vacation (leaving the macbook at home) I go ahead and mark the Macbook as "stolen" in Prey before shutting down. That way, if anybody turns it on and is lured in by the convenient "Guest" account I have available on the login screen, it will immediately send a Prey report. Otherwise it might be long gone by the time I get home and discover it's missing.
I have Find My Device activated on my MBA, iPhone and iPad. When I view them on the iCloud website the dots are on top of each other, or within 50 feet or less. So if you have an iPhone or iPad, use the Find Your iPhone/iPad App and move around until the dots match up. Then you should also be extremely close.
If you have an iPhone that is paired to use Bluetooth to sync with the Mac, you might be able to use it to detect if your Mac is in range. The range of Bluetooth is short, I think 35 feet. So use the Find App to get in the vicinity, then see if Bluetooth can find it. If they link up you have found it. Even if the building is a Duplex, with that short range, it would be limited to being inside that building. So just 2 apartments for the police to search. They are more likely to go thru with a search of a single building instead of a neighborhood.
If you have an iPhone that is paired to use Bluetooth to sync with the Mac, you might be able to use it to detect if your Mac is in range. The range of Bluetooth is short, I think 35 feet. So use the Find App to get in the vicinity, then see if Bluetooth can find it. If they link up you have found it. Even if the building is a Duplex, with that short range, it would be limited to being inside that building. So just 2 apartments for the police to search. They are more likely to go thru with a search of a single building instead of a neighborhood.
I don't think the guy that has got your computer now is the same one who has stolen it, he's acting too "casual" ... prolly is just a stupid dumb ass !
Plus, if I were you, I'd start to take whatever action I think is necessary to recover my machine as in less than a couple of weeks ML will be out and the "unauthorized new owner" could be willing to switch to the new OS and by doing that make steps to clean up every last chance to get it back ...
That's only my opinion though ...
Plus, if I were you, I'd start to take whatever action I think is necessary to recover my machine as in less than a couple of weeks ML will be out and the "unauthorized new owner" could be willing to switch to the new OS and by doing that make steps to clean up every last chance to get it back ...
That's only my opinion though ...
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Did you have file sharing enabled under the sharing preferences or did you have remote access enabled? If you had either one checked then you could ssh in…after that you could pretty much do anything. For example you could install a keylogger that would send you everything that was typed which could include the name, address, passwords, login usernames of the guy who stole it if he regularly logins in to things like his email or other online accounts.
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Unfortunately no. Thanks for the tip though, my new computer definitely is protected with these features now.
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Yeah, it's not the nicest part of town.
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Good thinking, thanks for the tip man! I'm working on it will keep you guys posted.
I called the FBI and this angry sounding woman said "What do you want the FBI to do about it?"
I mentioned the "accessing a protected computer" thing and she laughed at me saying the FBI does not handle that.
Should I ask to speak to someone else? What would you say when calling them and are you sure the FBI would get involved with a personal computer theft?
I'm not going to lie to you, I hate liars. This does not surprise me. The FBI is known to be extremely arrogant and belligerent when the people they are supposed to serve call them seeking help.
Now the good news. I have at least two more avenues for you to pursue that will help you get Federal action.
Look up on the Web the Justice Department - United States Attorneys office - for San Diego. They are actually above the FBI since they prosecute the cases. Call them and tell them in detail about your case including the local efforts you made. Get them interested and they can order the FBI into action.
The second avenue to pursue - and you need to pursue it as another poster in this thread pointed out Mountain Lion is coming and could disconnect you - is to call ICE in San Diego. "Immigration and Customs Enforcement" what would that have to do with this? Good question. The answer is that ICE is a part of Homeland Security, you know the agency that is protecting us against the "Shoe Bomber" and the "Underwear Bomber". They are looking for reasons to exist and they have a large size Cyber Security team that is competing with the FBI for prosecutions. They would score major media coverage with this and you need to start pressing them as well as the FBI.
The FBI? Don't give up. Call back. If it is the same b..... then ask to speak to someone else.
You are calling the right people as all cybercrime is Federal in the USA. Not well known due to poor media coverage, but a legal fact.
Get busy and good luck. If you don't give up you will succeed.
One warning though, stick to the facts of the case. Do not mention any of this media coverage angle that I have. When you eventually get to the person who helps you it will be because they see that. This could take awhile because cops and prosecutors - same animal - in general have no imagination.
Thank you so much for all this valuable information! I really appreciate your time and effort in helping me out with this.
Ok I will call the Justice Department, ICE, and the FBI again first thing tomorrow morning. My question for you is what would you say when calling them exactly? From your post I am thinking of saying something like this:
"Hi my name is Luke. I recently had a macbook pro with thousands of dollars worth of software stolen from me and I can currently track its location with software I have installed on the computer. The thief has accessed my protected computer and is committing cyber crime making it a federal crime. I have already taken this up with the local police department and they were unable to help me..."
Does that sound about right? What would you say to get them interested and entice them into solving this case?
Luke,
I feel your pain. I had my MacBook stolen, I paid 1700 for mine at the time. I was soo upset. It was years ago, but I still feel the pain.
Don't give up man, I had nothing on mine, I had it for about 3 days and someone took it off my desk at work. I scoured ebay and CL for weeks/months... nothing ever came up.
Get this guy, keep trying the police. Give them access to the same site you have with the location information. Tell them once it moves then they'll have a good idea who did this. Who knows, maybe this guy has lots of stolen property.
I love the fact you took pictures of the cars. Keep an eye on that thing, it will move and once it does you'll get it! I think this is your best chance. Figuring out the IP usage would be useful too if you can get some help (FBI, Police, etc.). I, unfortunately, have no idea how you would go about doing that.
Just be persistent!
Good luck man! I'll be watching this thread.
Jeff.
I feel your pain. I had my MacBook stolen, I paid 1700 for mine at the time. I was soo upset. It was years ago, but I still feel the pain.
Don't give up man, I had nothing on mine, I had it for about 3 days and someone took it off my desk at work. I scoured ebay and CL for weeks/months... nothing ever came up.
Get this guy, keep trying the police. Give them access to the same site you have with the location information. Tell them once it moves then they'll have a good idea who did this. Who knows, maybe this guy has lots of stolen property.
I love the fact you took pictures of the cars. Keep an eye on that thing, it will move and once it does you'll get it! I think this is your best chance. Figuring out the IP usage would be useful too if you can get some help (FBI, Police, etc.). I, unfortunately, have no idea how you would go about doing that.
Just be persistent!
Good luck man! I'll be watching this thread.
Jeff.
If the data is important to you what happens when they back it up. Remote wipe isn't going to wipe that out.
You can locate the exact house if you get in the area, so long as the laptop is on and connected to a wireless network. If you still have the box, it probably has the wifi MAC address. write it down.
Install Kismac. It'll allow you to see all wireless networks in an area and every device connected to each network. One you find your laptop's MAC address on one of them you can play hotter/colder by watching the signal strength of your computer's MAC as you move around. This will require you to move around with a laptop, so you probably want to bring friends or find some way to conceal yourself. You might be able to do it from the parking lot on the other side of the apartment complex but triangulating from that distance would be problematic at best.
Even if you could pinpoint what room of what house the laptop is in, I'm guessing the local PD isn't interested in helping you. So the effort might be wasted.
Or, the non technical way, just put up a flyer advertising a $100 cash reward, no questions asked, for the return of the laptop. Use a throwaway phone number or email address for contact.
Install Kismac. It'll allow you to see all wireless networks in an area and every device connected to each network. One you find your laptop's MAC address on one of them you can play hotter/colder by watching the signal strength of your computer's MAC as you move around. This will require you to move around with a laptop, so you probably want to bring friends or find some way to conceal yourself. You might be able to do it from the parking lot on the other side of the apartment complex but triangulating from that distance would be problematic at best.
Even if you could pinpoint what room of what house the laptop is in, I'm guessing the local PD isn't interested in helping you. So the effort might be wasted.
Or, the non technical way, just put up a flyer advertising a $100 cash reward, no questions asked, for the return of the laptop. Use a throwaway phone number or email address for contact.
Yes, but the involvement of a message board full of Mac geeks helping to retrieve a stolen MacBook might be.
Sorry that this happened to you. (I'm new to this and just received my macbook pro replacement yesterday.) Can you go in vicinity of where the gps is directing where the computer is and turn on airdrop it should show up on your computer of any macs in area. Just a thought.
Someone at work snagged your macbook? That's ****ed up man! Sorry to hear that. Getting a macbook stolen is probably the worst thing ever, it's like the most expensive thing you own with all your most valuable information (besides a vehicle I suppose). Thanks for the kind words I'm not giving up!
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I think Kismac might be a better option, would the user of my computer have to be in airdrop for that to work or can you see computers in the area regardless of whether they are in airdrop?
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LOL agreed! Really big thanks to everyone for helping out this thread has made a world of difference, I thought I was pretty much toast but some good ideas on here give me a little bit of hope.
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I've used Kismac before, that's a great idea. How exactly do you see what devices are on a network? I know how to see just networks..I guess I'll google it. Thanks for the tip man!
use the send message feature to bring the laptop to you.
you could always try to scare them into giving it back.
park outside.. or if possible explain this idea to the local police and get them to sit outside in the patrol car then using find my iPhone.. or whatever its now called on iCloud send a message like this to your laptop.
This is the (insert area here) Police department. you are currently using a stolen computer which is a federal offense. We have tracked this computer to your home and know that you have been using it for several weeks at this address. we have a patrol car sitting outside your building on (inster street name) and if you bring the laptop outside now and hand it over to the officer you will not be prosecuted as the owner has waved prosecution if his property is recovered today. If you choose not to return the laptop yourself we will be force to enter your property and recover it. this will result in your prosecution for being in receipt of stolen goods and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
bring this stolen computer outside immediately.
I don't know about you... but if i had a stolen computer and this popped up on screen and then i say a cop car on the street.. i would bring it out !
just an idea. things are different here in Ireland and the cops would go knocking on doors and get it back.
you could always try to scare them into giving it back.
park outside.. or if possible explain this idea to the local police and get them to sit outside in the patrol car then using find my iPhone.. or whatever its now called on iCloud send a message like this to your laptop.
This is the (insert area here) Police department. you are currently using a stolen computer which is a federal offense. We have tracked this computer to your home and know that you have been using it for several weeks at this address. we have a patrol car sitting outside your building on (inster street name) and if you bring the laptop outside now and hand it over to the officer you will not be prosecuted as the owner has waved prosecution if his property is recovered today. If you choose not to return the laptop yourself we will be force to enter your property and recover it. this will result in your prosecution for being in receipt of stolen goods and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
bring this stolen computer outside immediately.
I don't know about you... but if i had a stolen computer and this popped up on screen and then i say a cop car on the street.. i would bring it out !
just an idea. things are different here in Ireland and the cops would go knocking on doors and get it back.
What is Reddit? I checked out the website, it's kinda like a news community thing? How would it help me?
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That's a last case scenario, but potentially could work. I have a feeling the person would just hide out or jump out the back window though...
Impersonating a police officer is a felony in some states so you should check that before you do anything like this.
It most certainly would. It's not that it's a MacBook - though that would do it for the tech sites like engadget which are fanatical fanboy authored - but the fact the laptop was recovered by internet sleuthing.
And that's the only way this MacBook will be recovered. It's transmitting over the Internet and the Feds are the ones who have the cyber resources to solve this, and it will be easy to do.