My friend's macbook got stolen, what can i do about it?

[dalearyous]

if i knew the mac address of his macbook that was stolen is there any possible way i could track it or watch for it on the net? basically it got stolen out of his car and the only possible way i could maybe maybe find it that i could think of was his mac address considering that is the only unique thing on a laptop when it comes to internet. can anyone help me?

 

[RebateMonger]

MAC addresses don't normally propagate beyond the first router they encounter, so they are invisible to the rest of the Internet.

 

[skyking]

you might get really lucky if the thief was at your school, for instance. beyond that, no.

 

[ktwebb]

Unless he/she is tech savvy AND the NIC will allow it, he/she could always spoof the MAC addy.

 

[Tarrant64]

Wouldn't it show up if the person who stole it tried to get support from Apple or something? It would be registered in your friends name, correct?

So pray that it breaks or something...

Also, be on the lookout for the kid at school with a brand new mac. 🙂

 

[dalearyous]

Originally posted by: skyking
you might get really lucky if the thief was at your school, for instance. beyond that, no.

what do you u mean?

yeah we are at a major university and its very possible.

 

[Cooky]

then ask the school's IT to watch out for the MAC add.
Some universities restrict their ports so that only paying students who've registered their MAC addresses can connect. (just like most ISPs)

 

[Tarrant64]

Originally posted by: Cooky
then ask the school's IT to watch out for the MAC add.
Some universities restrict their ports so that only paying students who've registered their MAC addresses can connect. (just like most ISPs)

Yup, this most likely will work. If it's connected to the network at school it's more than likely IT can see it. Put a word in and they can probably tell you exactly where it's at.

 

[azev]

the questions is, do you even have the mac address recorded somewhere ???

 

[TG2]

MAC address might be in the router DHCP tables possibly (if he was using a router) or hopefully maybe MAC filtering if using wireless?
Good luck

 

[dalearyous]

yeah i need to do some digging in the router to find his mac address. going to be tough. i can also get that info from apple

 

[thescreensavers]

You are never going to get that laptop back never eva. tell your friend Dont be stupid and put ur laptop in your car. again but you have found out the hard way.

 

[Parkre]

Originally posted by: thescreensavers
You are never going to get that laptop back never eva. tell your friend Dont be stupid and put ur laptop in your car. again but you have found out the hard way.

That's just harsh... I never lock my vehicle (I can't, it's a jeep), but I rarely keep anything in it of value ('cept my Oakley's).

People shouldn't have to lock their cars thinking everyone trying to steal stuff. I hate that. However, if I ever saw someone snooping around in my jeep.... he's not goin anywhere but the hospital. I have had my jeep for a little over a year and it's been broken into 5 times that I know of. And the only thing that was taken was my gf wallet and cell (she forgot them).

My friends and I want to start a sting operation.
We'd have a flashing cell-phone in my jeep console. The 5 of us would wait with Paintball guns (w/ frozen paintballs of course) in various locations. Whoever picks up the cell-phone gets be pelted with frozen paintballs at close range. Theft seems to have increase this past year on campus, and half of my friend's car have been broken into. I have had my bike stolen. AND UMR CAMPUS POLICE REFUSE TO DO SHLT!!!!

 

[dalearyous]

parkre...good idea until you kill or ruin someone's face/ eye sight with paintball gun. you might as well be shooting real bullets, legally. i agree people shouldn't have to lock their cars and thescreensaver's post is stereotypical negative response. my friend and i caught someone snooping in our parking lot and we threw him out of the parking lot. idiot came back and lets just say it wasn't pretty. i was just mainly looking for a decent idea on how to possible catch the person. im not expecting to find it. but just in case.