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Old 10-11-2012, 01:50 AM   #1
lifwanian
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Default Got robbed. May have caught the person - Need input

So I got robbed 2 weeks ago. Had all of my important stuff in a backpack, including a macbook pro, years of work, camera equipment, many other electronics, etc. All taken from a friend's car.

Anyways, I found an exact macbook pro for sale on craigslist the next day. To the specs. And, that ram and hard drive sizes do not come standard. The ad itself is sketch, saying leave a number and we'll call you. We use a friend's email address, get a number, and I text asking for information, but get no reply. I end up texting saying its a police matter and the woman texts saying there's no macbook pro, and its the wrong number. Then 10 minutes go by without a reply, and she calls me accusing me, and saying she posted in the wrong state and is in fact selling a macbook pro. She's from another state on the other side of the US, which checked out according to her number. So I brush it off and let it go.

She then takes the ad immediately off.

Then, a week goes by, and I find the same computer on craigslist in the state above. We use another email, and it turns out its her again.

So, what should I do? I dont have the serial number, since I bought it from somebody used, however, I know how it looks like. I've spent more time on it than anything else, considering I used it for work, and I know where the little scratches and dings are. A police report has been filed, but lets be real, they wont do anything other than call her and ask if she stole it....

The way I see it, even if I meet her, and it is in fact mine, what can I possibly do to prove that it is (was) mine?

Thanks for reading guys!
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Old 10-11-2012, 01:54 AM   #2
lifwanian
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Ooops, admins please move to general community... Thanks.
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Old 10-11-2012, 02:00 AM   #3
lj8915
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Unless you have any kind of proof at all (serial or OAN) that it's yours, you will most likely not have any luck with this. The fact that you bought it used kinda puts you out of luck. If it was new, you would most likely have registered with Apple for warranty purposes, thus had the serial attached to your name.

I work in law enforcement.
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Old 10-11-2012, 02:06 AM   #4
end_of_silence
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Negative. If they haven't wiped your hard drive, you can positively identify the computer through pictures, documents, search history, favorite pron sites, etc. However, trying to identify and find said suspects will be difficult and time consuming for LE. And if the bag was stolen from a car, you are a victim of theft, not robbery.
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Old 10-11-2012, 02:26 AM   #5
lj8915
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Only if that vehicle had the door/window open/was unlocked. Otherwise, he is a victim of a vehicle burglary.
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Old 10-11-2012, 02:48 AM   #6
DurtyB
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Any way you can meet up with the person and have someone from the local PD come with you to confront her? Maybe if the police are with you and you accuse her she will give it up if you claim to not file charges?
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Old 10-11-2012, 03:32 AM   #7
aod12
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If someone sees you waiting with an officer then she's most likely going to turn around. She may recognize you or your car, so if you want to meet up have a friend in another car make the pick up. Bear in mind she will most likely not be alone and you don't want things to escalate quickly and put anyone's safety at risk. Unless you can prove direct ownership I highly doubt the pd will be willing to cooperate much.
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Old 10-11-2012, 03:37 AM   #8
lifwanian
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The problem is that I'm sure it's been reformatted. It was password protected, but it's not difficult at all putting a few cd's in, and clicking the reformat button.

I do know the special little dings and scratches on it though, that nobody else would notice. I'm 100% certain I could pick mine out of a lineup. Problem is how I'd prove it...

I'll try calling tomorrow, since I don't want to wait too long and have it be sold. Just gotta figure out what to do then...

Thanks guys
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Old 10-11-2012, 04:54 AM   #9
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If it was your computer, Im thinking it should have your finger prints or sweat(dna) all over it. Like on the battery,screen,keyboard,ect... Unless she cleaned it. If you meet up with her just have the authority seize the computer and do some dna test. Do some CSI stuff...
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Old 10-11-2012, 05:35 AM   #10
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Bring police but have them standing by until you make contact. Pre-identify the scratches and dings as much as possible. Did you file police report when it was stolen? That could help too.
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Old 10-11-2012, 06:01 AM   #11
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It has been my experience that most thieves are too lazy or stupid to wipe a computer, especially if it's password protected. DNA swab for a stolen computer? Um, no. Having the police stand-by while you do an undercover buy? No, again. Unless you have a young, aggressive officer who wants to make a case, you are probably out of luck.. Sorry.
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Old 10-11-2012, 06:16 AM   #12
PSBeachBum
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Rob it back. Bust out your wallet and follow up with a gun. Easy day.
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Old 10-11-2012, 07:16 AM   #13
Howl
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I know your computer is valuable to you, but really what is it worth? $500? Taxpayers have to pay for the police's time. It's simply not cost-effective to pay police to spend a lot of time dealing with minor crimes when there are much more serious crimes they could be working on. Collect your insurance money and move on.
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Old 10-11-2012, 07:40 AM   #14
vapore0n
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One member here got his bike stolen. It showed up in craigslist.
He set up to buy the bike, and had informed the police about it. he showed up with his uncle or something. As soon as the guy with the bike showed up, he identified the bike and called the police. Police show up and give him the bike back. THe other guy might have been taken in for questions.

That is what you need to do. Get the person to come out with the laptop, identify it, call police. You screwed up by stating it was "police business" already.

Oh an take pics. Cant have a thread here without pics.
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Old 10-11-2012, 07:50 AM   #15
Davemeister
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She probably needs money for an operation that will save her life. Way to kill a helpless old lady for a crappy $500 computer.
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Old 10-11-2012, 07:50 AM   #16
richde
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Call the cops. They've been down this road before and will help you out.
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Old 10-11-2012, 07:55 AM   #17
Johnny Knoxville
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police business is serious business
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Old 10-11-2012, 07:57 AM   #18
-Kevlar-
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thats not robbery, its larceny.
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Old 10-11-2012, 08:12 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by -Kevlar- View Post
thats not robbery, its larceny.
F*****g THANK YOU.
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Old 10-11-2012, 08:14 AM   #20
Integra96
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lifwanian View Post
Ooops, admins please move to general community... Thanks.
I've never seen such beautiful words.
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Old 10-11-2012, 08:16 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Damn Yankee View Post
F*****g THANK YOU.
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Old 10-11-2012, 08:38 AM   #22
boxered
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You did write down the serial number in case something like this happened, didn't you?
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Old 10-11-2012, 08:41 AM   #23
z
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If you use MAC filtering on your router (i have a list when I connect through Wireless Tether on my android phone) you may be able to match that up, even if you don't have the actual serial #.

See if your router keeps a log of all MAC ids that connect.
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Old 10-11-2012, 08:55 AM   #24
sans meaning
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vapore0n View Post
One member here got his bike stolen. It showed up in craigslist.
He set up to buy the bike, and had informed the police about it. he showed up with his uncle or something. As soon as the guy with the bike showed up, he identified the bike and called the police. Police show up and give him the bike back. THe other guy might have been taken in for questions.

That is what you need to do. Get the person to come out with the laptop, identify it, call police. You screwed up by stating it was "police business" already.

Oh an take pics. Cant have a thread here without pics.
That guy was able to prove it was his bike. OP can prove nothing. He may know beyond a shadow of a doubt the computer is his but that is worth nothing to the cops.
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Old 10-11-2012, 09:01 AM   #25
Hypernoodle
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Actually, with a MAC address like stated above, he CAN prove it's his, even if it's been reformatted.
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