"This Guy Has My Laptop"!!!

HellFireClub · 02-06-2011 12:03pm #1

Excellent news story, some theiving little runt get's outfoxed by the victim, who manages to get a pic of the thief via the webcam in the Laptop, reports it to police who treat it as a low priority crime which is unlikely to result in the return of property, until the victim then sets up a website to catch the little runt after he has a pic of him!

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0602/breaking22.html

Police in the United States have recovered a stolen laptop after its owner secretly took photos of the suspected thief and recorded his location.
Joshua Kaufman of Oakland, California, was dismayed to hear from police that his case had been given a “low priority,” and that he was unlikely to recover his property.
Mr Kaufman set up a website called “This Guy Has My MacBook”, where he posted images taken from the laptop’s built-in camera. The site quickly became an internet sensation, and growing media interest led to police re-examining the case.
Mr Kaufman used an application called Hidden to take the photos secretly, and also to track the location of the person with it. He began spreading the word on Twitter on Tuesday morning, receiving over 26,000 links to his website from Twitter users and over 40,000 Facebook links.
Oakland police arrested a suspect, named in reports as Muthanna Aldebashi, late on Tuesday evening.
According to Mr Kaufman: “The police used evidence I had gathered using Hidden . . . that he was a driver and tricked him into picking them up.”
Police took laptop from the suspect's home later that evening.
Mr Kaufman told his Twitter followers: "The officer was so kind on the phone: ‘It's these kinds of partnerships that make things happen.'"

http://thisguyhasmymacbook.tumblr.com/

kingtut · 02-06-2011 12:05pm

Ha ha brilliant

bonerm · 02-06-2011 12:09pm

Reminds me of this lying dipshít.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqPPSlYUBeE

Dravokivich · 02-06-2011 12:10pm

his case had been given a “low priority,”

Compared to:

Assualt?
Murder?
Kidnappings?
Drugs?

Bottle_of_Smoke · 02-06-2011 12:11pm

eh does that program allow you to take photos of people with their webcams? or did he already have it installed or what?

TheZohanS · 02-06-2011 12:12pm

A lot of people are saying that this is a viral marketing campaign.

mathie · 02-06-2011 12:12pm

Wow I must purchase a copy of Hidden after reading this sham deeply informative and not at all staged article.

HellFireClub · 02-06-2011 12:13pm

TheZohan wrote: »

A lot of people are saying that this is a viral marketing campaign.

Funny you say that, after reading the website, it had crossed my mind...

Saila · 02-06-2011 12:14pm

bonerm wrote: »

Reminds me of this lying dipshít.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqPPSlYUBeE

WTF, whats the back story there

HellFireClub · 02-06-2011 12:15pm

Anyone else see a common page theme here?!?

http://hiddenapp.com/

http://thisguyhasmymacbook.tumblr.com/

Same colour blue header text titles and very similar page layouts and colour backgrounds!

Saila · 02-06-2011 12:15pm

TheZohan wrote: »

A lot of people are saying that this is a viral marketing campaign.

photo looks fake alright :cool:

Sykk · 02-06-2011 12:17pm

bonerm wrote: »

Reminds me of this lying dipshít.

That's pretty interesting.. What happened in the end? I take it he had feck all data on it and was just trying to get his laptop back.

TheZohanS · 02-06-2011 12:18pm

HellFireClub wrote: »

Funny you say that, after reading the website, it had crossed my mind...

And look at the style and layout of the dudes website compared to the hidden app website...very suspect...

edit: you beat me to it HFC!

HellFireClub · 02-06-2011 12:19pm

Looks like he got me anyway, AND THE IRISH PAPER OF RECORD, THE IRISH TIMES HAHA!!!

:D:D

Dyr · 02-06-2011 12:20pm

bonerm wrote: »

Reminds me of this lying dipshít.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqPPSlYUBeE

The guy who stole the most important laptop in the history of the world must have been brcking it lol. Apparently everyone up to batman, columbo and the navy seals were after him :rolleyes:

_feedback_ · 02-06-2011 12:21pm

HellFireClub wrote: »

Looks like he got me anyway, AND THE IRISH PAPER OF RECORD, THE IRISH TIMES HAHA!!! :D:D

Me too

When pointed out, it is fairly obvious though.

Well played by them, it must be said.

HellFireClub · 02-06-2011 12:21pm

Is this a week for wind up's or something?!? First the viral rumour doing the rounds on FB and aTwitter (was even discussed on FM104 last night!), about a rapist in Tallaght which I put up a thread on last night, (and I had a source but it was on an Irish politicians website, wtf was I thinking?!?), which I now think is not true, then I get caught by this sucker!

Leeg17 · 02-06-2011 12:24pm

And I would've gotten away with it, if it wasn't for that pesky app!

Little Acorn · 02-06-2011 1:16pm

Well whether it's a scam or not, the pictures made me laugh.
"Guy sleeping on couch next to my macbook", "guy staring deliriously into my macbook",
but especially this one with the line:
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lm2tsy9bdN1qkzrzto1_500.jpg
"I really don't want to know what this guy is doing with my macbook" :pac:

Mr Benevolent · 02-06-2011 1:18pm

Dravokivich wrote: »

Compared to:

Assualt?
Murder?
Kidnappings?
Drugs?

Compared to stealing an iPhone.

Duggy747 · 02-06-2011 1:23pm

Can't provide the link now since at work but there was a video posted up here a while back from a hacker's convention.

One guy gave a humourous 20 minute story of how he managed to get his stolen computer back after nearly 2 years by taking pictures of the guy and getting all of his personal details and location.

tricky D · 02-06-2011 1:24pm

TheZohan wrote: »

A lot of people are saying that this is a viral marketing campaign.

Considering there have been many stories of this kind of recovery over the last few years, it would seem so. LocateMyLaptop, one of many, many services, have been going since at least 2008.

The framing of some of the photos looks too good to be true and the last photo on http://thisguyhasmymacbook.tumblr.com/ is shot from a very strange position - fully open, while driving, under the cntre of the dashboard and facing into yer man's face!!!

HellFireClub · 02-06-2011 1:26pm

But imagine if someone could get this "hidden" software onto your laptop!!! You'd basically have a hidden camera spying on you in your laptop!

paddydriver · 02-06-2011 1:33pm

We have customers who used "Computrace" on many laptops which is built into BIOS and following the machine. As soon as machine comes online it reports back details to your Computrace portal - in one instance a laptop was stolen and then on Christmas day it appears back online getting a new name, new user being setup etc; nice pressie for someone until the Guard's arrived up to do them for receiving stolen goods. The guy bought it in the local on Christmas Eve for €100.

stovelid · 02-06-2011 1:42pm

Dravokivich wrote: »

Rank:

1. Theft of Apple lifestyle accoutrements
/\

\/
2. Murder
3. Kidnappings
4. Assualt
5. Drugs

Er, did you read the OP properly?

Fyp.

stevenmu · 02-06-2011 1:43pm

HellFireClub wrote: »

Looks like he got me anyway, AND THE IRISH PAPER OF RECORD, THE IRISH TIMES HAHA!!! :D:D

Yes, I can't wait until a real paper like the Sunday World reports on it.

EXPOSED: High tech gangland criminal captured in daring operation using CIA spy techniques

Saila · 02-06-2011 1:44pm

tricky D wrote: »

Considering there have been many stories of this kind of recovery over the last few years, it would seem so. LocateMyLaptop, one of many, many services, have been going since at least 2008.

The framing of some of the photos looks too good to be true and the last photo on http://thisguyhasmymacbook.tumblr.com/ is shot from a very strange position - fully open, while driving, under the cntre of the dashboard and facing into yer man's face!!!

when it turns out to be fake, the US government will probably claim its actually real, just to cover the embarrasment of a company being able to **** all over its law enforcement recording procedures and foreign media taking it up, this is kind of scary in some ways that its possible to be done :S