Stolen/Lost Apple Stuff Forum

[jor]

---

---

I ran across this while surfing. To help everyone avoid buying stolen macs, powermax.com has made its database of the serial numbers of stolen macs available to the general public.

Powermax

They posted a disclaimer that if you don't find the serial # in their database, that doesn't mean the item isn't stolen. But anyway, it might help.

If anyone else has found similar links, it would be great if we kept them available here.

---

Coconut Identity Card can search online databases for stolen macs. The only thing is, you'd have to have internet access and the seller would have to let you install the software. If it's an ipod, you can plug it into your laptop and check.

[kaffee]

Another bump for this post. The Powermax site is still active. Not sure how much this site can actually be helpful to us, Pinoy muggers, but it's something worth pitching in, don't you think?

Btw, I did install Coconut ID on mine after reading about this and of posts of stolen Macs here in PhilMUG.

[technetium99]

Can we have our own database here for Philippine use? Maybe we can start a list or thread?

[kaffee]

technetium99,
I compiled a shortlist of stolen Macs from this Forum from Dec2005 to recent (June07), based upon a search. I do not claim this to be comprehensive, but a somewhat of a start.
The stats so far:
TOTAL posts: 18
TOTAL losses from unattended/parked vehicles in public places: 06 (33%)
TOTAL losses from unattended portables in public places: 05 (27%)
TOTAL losses from forcible entries in residences: 03 (16%)

[kaffee]

Update of stats, with the recent inclusion of Rogue's brother and Michaelkenji's friend:

[michaelkenji]

actually, Rogue is the friend i was talking about.. so that's less one incident..

[technetium99]

Thanks for your concern, kaffee! By having done this, you will be divinely protected from laptop theft or whatever theft for the rest of your life, for sure.

I will print this out and try to drop it or email it to the shops and pawnshops. It has the pertinent info like places to avoid and most common mechanism/modus. Great work!!!

[kaffee]

actually, Rogue is the friend i was talking about.. so that's less one incident..

Hi, michelkenji,
Thanks for the correction. However, it does not change the fact that the highest percentage is still that of losses from unattended vehicles in public places.

Thanks for your concern, kaffee! By having done this, you will be divinely protected from laptop theft or whatever theft for the rest of your life, for sure.

I will print this out and try to drop it or email it to the shops and pawnshops. It has the pertinent info like places to avoid and most common mechanism/modus. Great work!!!

Technetium99,
Thank you for the best wishes. I hope, though, that all of us of were immune to such unfortunate incidents. I have been a victim of theft several times in the past during my desktop days, mostly of cel phones (friends say I have earned a PhD in losing cel phones), and in some really risky circumstances. My concern stems from these experiences. If losing a cel phone wasn’t bad enough – jobs depended on it a lot – what more of laptops which are now the primary medium for accomplishing work, communicating with peers and loved ones, and indulging in guilty pleasures. The cost of a laptop is equivalent to a second hand car and, in some cases, like myself, I will junk the car in favor of another form of mobility, that is, to have the ability to input work whenever I need to. Btw, I am a true-blooded commuter; I have, ever since, used a non-descript carrier in all my trips.

As you can see, the earliest entry to the list taken from this Board alone is December 2005. Many have already pointed out the risk of leaving our mobiles inside vehicles; I hope we do not tempt fate further by having second thoughts of leaving it, and other valuables, in the car.

Another alarming trend is the sprouting of laptop pawnshops. I am not suggesting that the pawnshops have a direct relationship to the recent spate of thefts but one can’t help but think about the coincidence. It’s kind of similar to when cel phone theft becoming common – and deadly in some cases – and then, used cel phone merchants started setting up shop in Greenhills and elsewhere.

As for your downloading and printing the list, I had intended for the attached graphic to serve the very same purpose. I wish there was a way for a community like ours to have an official stand. It is time to make the virtual real, don’t you think?

Elbert’s PhilMUG’s how-to-avoid-laptop-thefts thread is one such initial step, for sure, and I thank you, Elbert, for coming to fore and reminding us of our own responsibilities.

[technetium99]

I ran across this while surfing. To help everyone avoid buying stolen macs, powermax.com has made its database of the serial numbers of stolen macs available to the general public.

Powermax

They posted a disclaimer that if you don't find the serial # in their database, that doesn't mean the item isn't stolen. But anyway, it might help.

Powermax's stolen Apple equipment search tool may not be active anymore. I registered my stolen MBP's SN to them thru their report form but whenever I entered my SN, it doesn't get identified as stolen.

[alvinrayyu]

perhaps a philippine database for stolen macs and ipods? hopin that mac stores around the phils will take time to check the database once a unit comes in for repair.