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Man Spies on New Owner of Stolen Computer via Apple's MobileMe

by Lee Bains on August 31, 2009 at 06:50 PM


Earlier, we reported the story of a robbery victim who used his stolen iPhone's GPS application to track down his purloined phone and, thus, the suspected thieves. In other crime-fighting Mac news, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) reports that an anonymous contributor dubbed 'Jim' has gotten a tip on the location of his stolen laptop -- thanks to Apple's MobileMe, a program that enables users to sync several computers.

Since police are currently investigating, the report is intentionally vague, but what is apparent is the Apple program's role in the potential capture of these suspected ne'er-do-wells. After Jim's home was invaded, and his two Macs and one PC stolen, he glumly forked over the cash for a new MacBook Pro. Smartly, Jim had backed up his former computers' files to a Time Machine drive, so he went about restoring the files. In doing so, he opened up MobileMe to discover one of his former computers listed as being synced to the new MacBook. Enabling the screen-sharing function, Jim was able to bring up the other computer's screen and watched as somebody searched for winning lottery numbers. Although MobileMe allows the option of taking control of a synced computer, Jim, again smartly, resisted. Instead, once its screen fell motionless, he snuck in, acquired an IP address, and took a screenshot. This morning, according to the report, Jim spied the phantom user applying for a job online. Just as easy as pie, Jim was able to snag a Social Security Number, address, and phone number straight off the form. (Ouch.)

Although the investigation is still very much underway, we think it's safe to say that Jim's computer will be restored to him, and that the glowing Apple logo will continue to scare away potential thieves. [From: TUAW]

Tags: apple, crime, dumb, dumb criminal, DumbCriminal, mac, mobileme, robbery, top

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