Here is a saga that may finally come to an end. Over a year ago, my mother sent me her laptop to be repaired. I replaced the hard drive, loaded it up with software, set everything up for her and sent it back. After about 2 weeks having not heard from her, I realized that I had sent the computer to the wrong address! Actually, I sent it to her old address. Luckily, she still owned the house and was renting it to a couple with kids. Upon asking them if any packages had arrived for her, they became a bit indignant and assured her that nothing arrived with her name on it. Nor, has she received any mail (even though she just recently moved). I checked the tracking information with UPS and discovered that it was indeed delivered about a week prior and that someone had signed for it. They signed their initials. So again, my mother went there to ask again but this time she brought the sheriff with her. She was afraid, since the last conversation didn't go very well. They tenants became very offended and did not say kind things to my mother or the sheriff. Nothing came of it. My mother and the sheriff had to leave because they didn't really have any kind of hard evidence.
Before I sent the computer back, I installed "LogMeIn" on the computer. This allows me remote access to the machine and to take control of it as if I'm sitting right in front of it. In case my mom needed any tech support, (so long as she had an internet connection), I'd be able to remote in and fix her computer. Well, now I was hoping the the thieves would use this new computer and go online. I waited and waited and nothing.
Then one day, 3 months later, I was working on a Sunday and I noticed that the computer was online! I was astonished!! I logged in and sure enough, I saw someone importing music into iTunes. I couldn't make myself known. I knew that I would have only a short amount of time to locate the computer before they took control and lock me out. They'd see me moving the mouse and could easily win control of the computer. Very quickly, I launched Safari and went to the website "whatismyip.com". This returns the user's public IP address. Quickly, I took a screen shot and saved it to my computer. I then did a reverse IP lookup and found that the address was on the COX cable network and that the location was coming from some city in North Carolina. I thought that was odd because I had shipped the computer to Virginia. But now I had the computer's serial number, MAC address and public IP address. With this information, a cop could get the proper authority (I thought) to have COX cable surrender the appropriate information. You see, only one device can have a public IP address at one time. COX cable could determine the subscribers address of the modem to which the computer is connected. With just a question from an officer of the law, I'd have the thieve's mailing address! And then, we'd have our thief! So I sent this information to my mother so that she could forward it to the police.
This stranger was still online though and hadn't thwarted my efforts for control. So I opened up a blank word processing document and began to type:
"This is a stolen computer! Please return it to its rightful owner! All activities are being monitored by the authorities!"
It was a bit of an empty threat. But one that prompted them to attempt to quit the application. Instead, I cancelled the attempt and saved the document to their desktop. Then they tried shutting down the machine. Again, I cancelled that process. Then I imagine that they simply closed the lid of the laptop because I lost connectivity all-together.
I thought that perhaps I went to far. Now they will probably never go online again. I should have played it much cooler and tried to gather more evidence over time, I thought. I tried several more times into the evening but the computer remained offline. I cursed myself for my overly anxious efforts.
The following morning, I was at work. I checked again and this time, it was online!! Quickly, I logged in again and this time, I opened up iChat as quickly as I could and there he was! With the built-in camera, I was able to see the suspect! I took a screen shot and saved it to my desktop. This was so frustrating- there he was and I couldn't to anything!! Here is the screen shot with the suspects face blurred out.
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Oddly, he saw the video window open but he seemed very casual about the whole thing. In fact, after about 4 or 5 minutes, he simply put a sticky over the camera to block its view. He could have attempted to quit the application but he didn't. So I opened up that TextEdit document that I saved to the desktop from yesterday and continued...
"Please, this is my mom's computer! Please give it back!"
I then provided my cell-phone number and in about a minute, he called!!
As it turns out, he is the owner of a pawn shop. He sold the computer to someone yesterday and they brought it back having been interrupted by my cyber intrusion. He said that the computer came to him 3 months prior but according to law, he is not allowed to sell anything for 3 months in case it is reported stolen. The computer was reported stolen but not in North Carolina. He called the North Carolina police who then got in touch with the Virginia police and soon after that, my mom finally received her computer!
The police officer from Virginia was very annoyed with these people since their last conversation was less than civil. He thought he'd be able to nail him but there was one problem. To sell anything to a pawn shop, you must provide identification. And wouldn't you know, it was not the person who we thought it was. It was some woman who sold the computer to the pawn shop.
This is where the story gets interesting. It turns out upon just a little more investigating that the woman is his ex-wife! And now SHE is being charged with transporting stolen property across state lines and grand larceny! I was due to go down to Virginia to testify in court but because of this complication, things were postponed. With just a little pressure, she gave him up. A new court date was set and again, I was expected to appear in court (travel and stay paid for), to testify as an integral part in the recovery process of a stolen laptop. Very exciting! But they decided last minute that they didn't need me. Apparently, both sides agreed that my involvement in this case was not going to be questioned.
The case went before the judge on April 20th and he threw the book at him! He was convicted and will be arraigned in late July. He will also lose his job in military. The moral of the story is; If you steal my laptop, I will make you regret the day that UPS came to your house!