Woman remotely logs in to her stolen Mac to catch thieves
- added May 10, 2008
- 34 responses
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- mischabarrett
- added this
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A woman whose apartment was burgled has caught the thieves by hacking into the laptop they'd stolen and taking pictures of them.
On Tuesday last week, one of the victims received a phone call from a friend asking her if she was online: she said no, and was told by the friend that his computer showed her as being logged onto the web. At that point, the victim signed onto another computer and used the "Back to My Mac" programme to deduce that her stolen Mac was online, and that someone was using it to shop on the internet. She then activated the stolen computer's camera, allowing her to "see" what was in front of the laptop.
At first she saw only an empty chair - but a little while later she was able to photograph a man sitting in front of her stolen laptop, and then his accomplice. The victim did not know either man but showed the photos to one of her roommates, who recognized them as having attended a get-together at the apartment a few weeks before the burglary.
The burglars, both men in their 20s, were arrested at their New York homes on Wednesday, after the woman handed the photographs in to the police. Around $5,000 (over £2,500) worth of electrical equipment was recovered.
On Tuesday last week, one of the victims received a phone call from a friend asking her if she was online: she said no, and was told by the friend that his computer showed her as being logged onto the web. At that point, the victim signed onto another computer and used the "Back to My Mac" programme to deduce that her stolen Mac was online, and that someone was using it to shop on the internet. She then activated the stolen computer's camera, allowing her to "see" what was in front of the laptop.
At first she saw only an empty chair - but a little while later she was able to photograph a man sitting in front of her stolen laptop, and then his accomplice. The victim did not know either man but showed the photos to one of her roommates, who recognized them as having attended a get-together at the apartment a few weeks before the burglary.
The burglars, both men in their 20s, were arrested at their New York homes on Wednesday, after the woman handed the photographs in to the police. Around $5,000 (over £2,500) worth of electrical equipment was recovered.
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- mischabarrett
- 2 months ago
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Hapless scumbags.
Good on the victim for gathering the evidence without alerting them.
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haha nice .
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Wow - the lady did her own investigation and got her stolen laptop. Nice done!
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See, what do we need cops for? Then again, not everyone takes the time to learn how to use what they have; I mean REALLY use it.
And that is why I keep a bubblegum wrapper over the iSight on my iMac at work :)-
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- Midnight_DevilX
- 2 months ago
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what creeps.
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on a funny note this would make a funny Im a PC and Im a mac and (a third person) and im a thief. LOL -
Well, that proves that people really love their Macs!! And that Apple makes a program that now has a new function.
Best of all, the thieves had no clue that this was happening!!! -
<3
nice work-
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- innocent_criminal
- 2 months ago
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thats so cool.
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- joshuaheller
- 2 months ago
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That's right! Watch out for those of us with little white apple stickers!
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Cool!
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- VoyagerFilms
- 2 months ago
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I love real justice. I wish it happened more often!
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- sonicbrainwave
- 2 months ago
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this is the best thing ive read all year. Go mac.
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Is the guy on the left Brett Erlich?
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She didn't really 'hack' into her own laptop... she used a feature that Apple had built into their OS (Leopard).
Rules. -
Thi just goes to show why people with macs are usually revered @ anoraks. But wait have U seen te mogs of those guys...? I won't even let shady guys like that near my cat let alone invited to a party.
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Great story!
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- StrangeConversation
- 2 months ago
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Nice, way to go lady & Mac.
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- Ice_cream_Man
- 2 months ago
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"burgled"? Hehe.
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- MissJonaLyn
- 2 months ago
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Just another reason why Macs rock!!!
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Ha I'm all paranoid now. I had to cover my cam with a sticky note. Not that it's stolen or anything. Just kinda creeps me out.
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- natedawson
- 2 months ago
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Yet another reason why Macs are superior. This would make a great commercial!
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Maybe it is a commercial...
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and i'm even happier to be on my mac book pro!
hhhhmmm...mac vs pc...-
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- thewarnerla
- 2 months ago
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where do you learn skills like she had so you can solve a problem like this. Too cool. It made me paranoid too, I put my clothes back on.
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- babsywabsy
- 2 months ago
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man if only the police was as smart as this girl?
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Finally! Technology has proven to be useful! :]
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- thesaurusrex
- 2 months ago
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good thing he was shopping instead of surfing for porn.
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That's one smart woman
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- aditijjoshi
- 2 months ago
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props to her!
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this is info i can use....
i was also robbed of my macbook, and police is taking forever to retrieve are gain any evidence on this....
nice feed.-
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- Empty_Tank
- 2 months ago
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sweet!
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- SamuraiDave
- 2 months ago
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Good show! However, using "Back to my Mac" is not a "hack." Smart...but not "hacking."
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Come on now people, as awesome as this story is, the woman deserves the credit, not Mac. Programs that allow you to go to your computer from another computer are very common. It is called the internet.
This isn't a case of Mac innovation, this is a case of a woman using a tool we ALL have access to in an inspired way. -
Now the cops need to hire her.
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- cheche_201
- 2 months ago
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