Here’s an incredible story of how author Sean Power retrieved his stolen 17″ MacBook Pro from 800km away, using Prey and Twitter.
Sean’s bag containing his laptop, some money and other important items was stolen. Three days later, he received a report from Prey noting the computer’s location and a picture of the alleged thief, which was taken by the MBP’s camera. Soon the man in custody of the laptop launched Skype from a bar, and Sean was able to learn his name.
Sean then took to Twitter, explaining the situation to his followers, who began to do a Google search on the name, determining that he was part owner of the bar. Sean then contacted the police while a Twitter follower volunteered to wait for them to arrive at the bar, posing as a woman who was waiting on a friend.
The police never arrived, noting that Sean hadn’t filed a stolen item report. In the meantime, Sean watched as the man checked his email and even his bank account. Eventually, Sean called the man’s cell phone.
The man freely gave up the laptop, bag and all of the stolen belongings to people in the bar.
It’s an incredible story, and one that could have gone very wrong (approaching an alleged thief is best left to police). Prey played no small role. This piece of software can take photos of a person using a computer as well as sceenshots, all undetected. It will use either GPS or Wi-Fi triangulation to note its location, and it can keep your data locked down.
It’s an incredible story, and we’re glad it worked out. Congratulations to Sean and Prey.
Man uses Prey to track stolen MacBook Pro hundreds of miles, calls thief originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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