Stolen laptop, freaking out... what steps to take to get it back

[xburtonchic]

My laptop was stolen out of my home last night. I know who did it, but he is ignoring my phone calls (naturally), and even if he did answer, he's the type of person that would deny, deny, deny... and then turn it around on me as if I'm being unreasonable and bitchy. If my past experiences with this dude says anything, it would lead to a huge argument and a bunch of horrible insults on his part.

Now, I really want to avoid drama, but I absolutely need my laptop back. I don't even care about pressing charges or fucking him over, as long as I can get my laptop back. My entire LIFE is on there... my school assignments, my work-related documents, and a bunch of personal information like credit card information and passwords that I stored in a Word Doc for what I thought was safe keeping, so I wouldn't forget them. Since I never take my laptop out of the garage, I never even dreamed... the thought never ever crossed my mind... that someone who considers me their "only friend" would do something like this. Or that anyone would do it at all! Really, after this, it's no wonder he doesn't have any friends. And if what he says is true - that I'm his only friend - well, now he has NO friends at all. That's just really low and trashy and a really fucked up, terrible thing to do to someone. I'm not kidding when I say my life is on that laptop. And now he, and whoever he plans on selling it to or whatever, is going to have access to ALL of that information if I don't get it back.

I made a "to do" list for trying to get my laptop back, everything I can think of. This is where your guys' second opinions come in; I would love it if someone could tell me any extra things I could do... anything you can think of. I'm desperate! Here's what I have so far, meant to be done in chronological order... some of which I've already completed:

1. Tear apart my house and car just to double check he didn't put it somewhere else. (Done, but to absolutely no avail. Nowhere to be found. )
2. Change all of my passwords: email addresses, bank accounts, other accounts like Amazon and Bluelight, Careerbuilder, Netflix, the website I use to submit my work, Monster, Facebook, Formspring, etc... literally EVERY account I own. (Done, and it took me a good hour to do... very tedious shit.) Then, check for any compromised information on my accounts. Luckily... okay maybe not so lucky... only Monster and one of my email addresses were compromised.

I haven't completed these ones yet, but I am about to...

3. Get second opinions anywhere I can (in the process of doing that now, as I write this.)
4. Check Craigslist/ebay for ads in the event he is trying to sell it.
5. Call all pawn shops local to the area in which he lives.
6. After that, the plan is to continue calling him incessantly. I just want to tell him that I want my laptop back and there will be no problems... I won't even press charges or fuck up his life in any way... but believe me, I've been very tempted to inform his bitchy girlfriend of the truth; that he's been cheating on her. I see no reason to lie for someone (which I already have several times, because he asked me to and I'm a good friend), who's going to come into my home and freaking STEAL something so expensive and SO important to me.
7. Call all of my banks and change my account/credit card numbers and report to them that my information has been compromised.
8. Call Best Buy (where I bought it from) and find out if I have theft insurance on it, to ask if they have any suggestions... like what the normal protocol is for this kind of thing, and also to get the serial number if I can, so that I can complete the next few steps.
9. Call Apple, report my laptop as having been stolen. Ask them the same things as I'm asking Best Buy.
10. If the above two options fail, call my homeowner's insurance and report that it was stolen; see if they have a policy for covering burglary/theft.
11. If the above options fail, my last resort: call the police in my city as well as his, report my laptop as having been stolen, and press charges. Anything I need to do to get it back. I'll be desperate by this point anyway, if it comes to this... I hope not though. I really just WANT MY FUCKING LAPTOP BACK!!

The list seems rather short for the situation... I feel like I'm missing some steps. So any feedback from anyone who has been in this situation, or who at least has a lot of knowledge about this stuff, please feel free to add anything else! Whether I need to modify a step, or modify the order of the steps I'm taking, or if you have another step you can add... seriously, anything... I'm really desperate and I need all the help I can get at this point. My mother is letting me use hers now, but she made it very clear that it's only a temporary thing while I change my passwords and try to figure this out. Which is understandable - it is her laptop - but I'm going to have zero access to a laptop after today/tomorrow. And without a laptop, I can't do well in school, I can't work my job... I can't get any of my personal information or prevent other people from seeing it and probably doing shady things with it... I'm just really, REALLY screwed if I don't have my laptop back. FUCK. Help, please?!

Thank you and I will love you forever if you can help me!!

 

[xburtonchic]

By the way, I'm sorry for the really long post... as well as the double post... just please read it, I know it's long, but if you think you can help me please read it. Thank you

 

[bagochina]

I guess next time you will know not to keep sensitive data on your computer.

It sounds like your doing all you can [more than the police would] be doing other than go over to his house and demand answers.

 

[batmanplaybaseball]

Yeah generally the police are going to be useless in this type of situation. They don't put a high priority on petty theft cases, and their success rate in dealing with them reflects that. However I recommend informing the police *cringe* for a number of reasons. One, if you do find your laptop up for sale on ebay, craigslist, or in some pawnshop, it will be much easier to get your merchandise back if you have a verifiable and recorded claim that it was ever stolen in the first place. Also if you, for whatever reason, wanted to make a civil lawsuit against him in the future, you would need to have this incident on record as having happened, and having happened when you say that it happened.

My steps would be this,

- Call Apple and ask them for their help. At the very least try and get some sort of identification number for your laptop. I know that for iphones at least that they have a process of reporting your particular device as stolen and have way of identifying it if it becomes active again.
- Call Best Buy and ask for their input. Assuming that you bought the computer there, you could also ask for more identification information.
- If you didn't get it at Best Buy, contact wherever you did purchase it and do the same thing.

*Do all of the above immediately.*
*Remember that if they can't help you in any other way, such as tracking your laptop or locking it down, the important thing is to have some sort of identification information to provide to law enforcement so that your particular laptop can be recorded as stolen*

- After that, call the police and report the situation. If they try to shrug it off and take your information over the telephone, I would personally insist by going down to the police station and visually making sure that some sort of report is being filed.

*Make sure to get a copy of the police report. Actually you should be getting copies of as much of the process as possible*

- Check internet auctions and similar websites. Make sure to print out anything that you believe pertains to your computer.
- Check pawnshops. Bring a camera so that you can take pictures. Perhaps ask to see a computer you believe to be your own, under the auspice of purchasing it. Get a good look at the identification number. Take a picture of that. Include the pawnshop environment in at least one picture. Try not to draw attention to yourself doing this.


Apart from all that, I really don't know. It already sounds like you have taken the necessary steps of changing your passwords and financial information. How to deal with him on a personal level is something that only you are going to know how to do.

 

[Chilli]

Here's a question. Was you running Lion and have a iCloud account? If so, iCloud has a Find My Mac feature!

 

[Mariposa]

1. Cancel/change all account passwords to something he does not know.

2. Report the matter to the police. Definitely get a case number and copy of the report.

3. Abstain from calling him incessantly or anything that could be construed as harassment.

4. Going forward, never keep a text file of your passwords on a machine that could be compromised.

Notes: If you have the box your laptop came in, you've got a serial number. If you have the invoice, that's even better - it establishes that YOU bought the machine.

 

[freddy47]

Your list is good, do all those things. Plus break it off with your so called "friend" dude. If you know for sure he stole it then make it plain and clear you two are not friends anymore. Otherwise this type of abuse is just gonna continue. If it were me I would go ahead and tell his girlfriend that he has been cheating. Just as a last fuck you. It seems from what you have said about him he deserves it.

Also I highly doubt the cops will do anything. The only thing you will accomplish by calling the cops is what Batman said. It makes it official and gives you a slightly (keyword is slightly) bigger chance of recovering your laptop. Cops don't give a shit about thefts that are below 10,000 dollars (in the States anyway I dunno where you live) and they will likely see your report as more of an annoyance rather than their job. It is sad but it's true.

However if you can get incontrovertible evidence that he stole the laptop (and I mean completely undeniable evidence) THEN the cops MIGHT do something about it which is kind of ironic because it means you are doing all the detective work lol. Otherwise honestly the cop rout is pretty much just a formality.

If all else fails just learn from this. DO NOT store all your valuable information in a laptop. DO NOT trust that dude ever again. And finally DO NOT make friends with assholes that steal and insult you.

 

[ReHab_SwAg]

what a scum

 

[queenbee1127]

If he tries to pawn it, most pawn shops have a 30 day holding period where they reserve the merchandise before they sell it, just incase it actually is stolen property. A girlfriend of mine got jewelry stolen and pawned by her brother, and was able to recover it because she found the pawn shop who had it before the grace period was up and they were allowed to sell it.

This is super, super shitty and I would feel the same way you do if I was in your position. My life is on my computer, which is why I have a 2TB external drive and copy over every now and then. It doesn't replace the fact that your hardware is gone or that your information could be compromised but at least all your pictures, music and documents are technically safe.

Another thing I would do would be to explain to your professors or employer the situation, if it is going to have an impact on your performance. If you were working on a paper due in the future, tell your teacher; same with work. For now, I would invest in a thumb drive and do your work at a public library or on campus where they have free access to computers.

I would go into Apple and do everything you can to obtain information about your specific machine, and see if there is any way they can locate it. Apple is famous for their stellar customer service, they will do everything they can to help you. If you can get the serial number, even better. Unfortunately, unless he stole your charger too or has access to an Apple charger, the machine will inevitably die and the locater service won't work - but he won't e able to use the computer either. Like others have said, the cops won't help you but if it was me, I would file a report simply so I had some evidence that the theft did occur, and if it comes into play later down the road, at least you will have that evidence.

I am so sorry this happened to you, best of luck