STOLEN GOODS, PLEASE WATCH OUT FOR IT.

[ollypenrice]

A regular guest and friend, also an SGL member, has had the following items stolen in the Netherlands where he lives. The optics will likely appear on Ebay or other equivalent site. Please look out for them and PM me directly if you have the slightest suspicion. Thanks,

Olly

- MacBook Pro
- Canon EOS 5D Mark II
- Takahashi TSA-102 (in flightcase)
- Takahashi FS-60 (in Pelicase)
 

 

 

[Victor Boesen]

Sorry to hear that his (very expensive) equipment has been stolen... I will look out for it!

[Peter Drew]

Always sorry to hear such news having been a victim myself. Although I'm sure we will be vigilant, unless the items have some defining characteristic or security marking, it can be difficult to differentiate between "hot" and genuine offers. 

[oldfruit]

Sorry to hear that also. Always grieves me to hear of folks having their hard earned kit pinched. Hope it turns up.

[MarsG76]

That 5ux... some people a low scum... I hope your mate get his stuff back.

[RayD]

That's awful, I really hate reading things like this.

Don't suppose he has the Tak serial numbers to make it easier?

[RichM63]

Unfortunately the first 2 items won't raise any red flags at all, as bog standard on 2nd hand sites. Unless posted together, which won't happen.

However the TAK's are in a different ball park. I'll modify my search parameters to include them for a while.

Snag is, likely snot rag, has no idea and has moved them on to someone who knows how to get shot of them.

Your friend should advise the genuine S/H dealers that we all use; about the Serial Numbers, ID Tags, to input them into their computers.

Then give up and instigate an Insurance Claim.

Rich

 

[johnfosteruk]

41 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

 it can be difficult to differentiate between "hot" and genuine offers. 

If anybody is in the market for any of the models stolen they should ask for proof of purchase. Genuine sellers will very likely have retained this.

However, the Mac and the Canon will probably shift out of a car boot somewhere local. 

The other two may well end up online though. 

[xtreemchaos]

it sickens me everytime somebodys kit gets nicked, I know if it was me id feel terrible. I will keep both my eyes out for it. hopefully we can spot the kit and help to track it down. charl.

[Charic]

Olly, your friend might be able to 'find my Mac' using the iCloud find my Mac option! Even if the Mac is switched off, it can register its location when its powered on again.

The police could then be informed of it's whereabouts? The downside is that not everyone has this feature setup correctly, but may prove useful if it is!

[MarsG76]

5 minutes ago, Charic said:

Olly, your friend might be able to 'find my Mac' using the iCloud find my Mac option! Even if the Mac is switched off, it can register its location when its powered on again.

The police could then be informed of it's whereabouts?

Excellent tip....

 

[mftoet]

It is me who is unfortunate. Burglary in broad daylight. Thanks for sharing, Olly. I can give the serial numbers for the Canon 5D MK II and TSA-102:

Canon 5D MK II: S/N 2764B016AA

TSA-102: S/N 07068

“Find my Mac” is enabled, so there’s hope. EDIT It should generate an alert on my iPhone when switched on / connected to the internet.

Changes are rare the items will be found and returned. I’m insured so hopefully most items can be replaced from insurance money. The wedding ring of my wife has also been stolen. That is an emotional loss. 

[David P Osborne]

Really sorry to read /hear this. Same thing happened to me early January. I understand that if you have an Icloud account you can somehow remotely set up your Ipad so that when it is switched on you get an alert and also it locks the screen with message saying stolen. No idea how to do this though. Friend did it for my wife's Ipad which was stolen along with camera and my eyepieces. Fortunately scope was too big. I hope your insurers play ball as mine did - cash settlement for the astronomy gear.

[Charic]

39 minutes ago, mftoet said:

“Find my Mac” is enabled, so there’s hope.

Its my assumption you have an iPhone?

I have just tested my system, It works!

I logged into the iCloud using the mobile, selected 'find my phone'  and selected ( in my case , ALL DEVICES ).

The results shown on the  map are true/accurate.

 

[RayD]

Don't rely on the "find my Mac" system though.  It was really intended for loss rather than theft.  Less so on phones as they have GPRS, but with a Mac, when switched on it would be very unlikely to be connected to the internet (won't be near an active connection) so it won't ping.  The thief then just does a factory restore and goodbye data.

It is worth a try but I doubt it would be very successful.  I think as noted above, the Mac in a goner, but fingers crossed for the Tak's as these will be much harder to shift.

[Charic]

15 minutes ago, RayD said:

Don't rely on the "find my Mac" system though.  It was really intended for loss rather than theft.

........find my Mac knows the difference then? 

If there's any hope of finding, and thats whats needed, some hope, then this method is one of them. If the theft was just an opportunity, it still might be traceable. Not all thefts are carried out by smart people, desperate maybe, but not always smart. All my gadgets are passworded, ALL the time. Even when I nip out the room and the system screen darkens, I need to log in again, learnt from a previous experience?

I once left an in-use Android phone on a table at work, my work mates left some real bum shots in the photo section, if you know what I mean? Trust no-one! 

The real loss here is the information, contacts, data, photos, most of, unless backed up on the cloud or another external device, have gone forever. This would 'p' me off.

If the stolen device is passworded, then its still possible your data will stay safe, unless someone is desperate to dig deeper.

An insurance claim, if sufficient will/may replace like-for-like, but insurance companies don't give money away, especially if they find a flaw in your system?
Example, I once lived in a house for a few Years, but did not read the small print on my  recurring policy ( who does?)  and it occurred that some of the locks did not have a British kite mark, which invalidated that policy?

Starting to put a downer on what is already a sad tale, lets hope something good follows.

[RayD]

10 hours ago, Charic said:

........find my Mac knows the difference then? 

It doesn't have to, they are different things.  A lost phone (Mac in this case) is normally on, a stolen one is normally off.

It was originally installed in IOS to find phones (it was called find my phone), which as I also noted have GSM/GPRS which means they are constantly updating last known position.  Mac's can't do this, but as the last known position is logged, assuming you were on a wifi connection, then you can start your search there (typically helpful if lost but not if stolen).  A standard thing for thieves is to immediately factory reset without the Mac noting its position.  Contrary to popular belief most are not interested in the data, which is far more traceable than the computer, they are interested in selling it on for £100 as quickly as possible.

Of course even with phones you can just turn them off and drop out the sim.  Samsung has noted this and if the phone is locked, you actually now have to unlock with your code to turn them off.

In short, find my phone (Mac) is about finding the item's LAST position, not tracking its journey if stolen.

I really don't want to derail this thread as I am gutted for the victim having suffered the exact same thing myself, losing very important data, so it needs to stay on track.  My post was intended only to highlight reality, and the fact that the laptop is probably gone and to concentrate efforts on far more traceable items such as the Taks.  I never intended to open a debate on how find my Mac works.