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My laptop was stolen, I have an IP, now what?

11 points by stealthy_anon ↗ HN
My laptop was stolen and I've been monitoring via remote desktop. They still have not logged any personal information, but I can see them browsing the internet. My remote desktop software gives me their IP address. Is that enough for the police to pin point their location? I tried www.infosniper.net but I only get a zip code, not really a precise location. Any other ideas or should I just wait until they log in to email or Facebook? Time is of the essence. At some point they'll figure out what those pesky "remote desktop activity" notifications mean.

Laptop doesn't have a web cam. :(

15 comments

[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 36.3 ms ] thread
JacobH
There are many stories of this. The more you know the easier it would be. The IP should be enough to locate where the person uses the pc. But check how often the same IP is used for a pattern. You also don't want to send the police, and the person is stealing wifi from a neighbor.
sown
I think you file a police report and tell them that you have the IP address. They can subpoena necessary information.
mouseroot
Try and have the stolen computer pull up google maps and pinpoint where it is via gps. or similair
Narkov
Not many computers have GPS capabilities.
cowsaysoink
No but modern browsers have geolocation and google has pretty extensive geolocation data.
runjake
No, but they do have Wi-Fi and most people's wi-fi access point-based geolocation databases are pretty good. I'd be surprised if it didn't present a reasonably accurate location (assuming the victim could get that info). It's very likely the thief lives in a population-dense area and is near at least one access point.
blacklooksgreat
Police will likely be clueless.

You might file a civil suit against John Doe for fraud.

Then you might subpoena the ISP to tell you who is using the IP.

Then maybe go the police with the evidence from your civil case.

bdunbar
Do you want it back? If you don't then burn it to the ground: shell in, use dd to wipe the disk.
adrianwaj
I'd put that on a delay if you can so that it gives some time to recover it.
bdunbar
If you recover the laptop re-install the software.

I will allow that if you _think_ you can recover it, then tracking your opponent is the best bet.

Maybe put DD on a deadman switch: if you don't check in every X hours poof. Now if they discover you can login ... they get a dead piece of hardware for their efforts.

adrianwaj
Don't know if this interests you, but many years ago I was at a gym, I put the laptop in a locker and later came back and it was gone. Someone must have seen me key in the temp PIN.

I reported what had happened and with a staff member, and so we then went through every locker (I didn't know how it'd help, seemed futile) but as it happened, someone had moved the laptop to another locker. To this day I regret not leaving some note in it, like "Yoohoo, you're now on film" and bustin his ass.

adrianwaj
Find a private investigator that specializes in this. When you find out an exact location, have the private investigator call the police in the area. Try to get pics of the laptop, and pics (ideally identity) of the person if you can in the meantime. Look for patterns in IP addresses to anticipate next moves.
acd
Google the ip, thats how I tracked down a hacker that hacked into my previous work computers. But I think the Google maps location tip by mouseroot is very good.