Archive for the ‘Recovery Stories’ Category

When customers report their computers missing, we work in parallel with local law enforcement officers to recover it. And since we recover an average 100 laptops per week, that means we deal with a lot of law enforcement agencies.

And even though we’re working exclusively on our customers’ behalf, it’s easy to see why we wind up making a lot of fans among police personnel in the process.

In countless cases, the information we provide not only leads to the recovery of a laptop, but also to clearances of additional crimes. As the following law enforcement testimonials show, these can include other thefts, the sale of stolen merchandise, and even unrelated crimes, such as drug dealing.

“Recently, we had a computer that was equipped with Computrace LoJack for Laptops stolen in a residential burglary. After about 3 weeks of absolutely no leads that panned out, I got an email from Absolute Software.  We were able to work together to locate the computer in a matter of days.  They even provided sample search warrants and case law examples that assisted us in getting the first search warrant of this type in our county.  We were able to recover the computer and are working the case back to the suspects that stole it.  The Absolute Theft Recovery Team was great to work with and extremely helpful!”
Detective Scott Athmer
Highland Police Department
Highland, IL

“Absolute Software was phenomenal with finding a laptop that was stolen from a residential burglary in my jurisdiction.  We had no physical evidence or other leads to solve this burglary.  Within a very short time I was contacted by Absolute to advise that they had located the laptop and had already contacted the local law enforcement jurisdiction to retrieve the laptop computer.  Within a week, the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office in Tillamook Oregon had recovered the stolen computer from a subject who had purchased it on EBay®.  Furthermore, I was able to obtain leads on who had stolen the laptop and currently in the process of subpoenaing the records for suspect information.  Without your technology, it would have been impossible to recover this stolen property and obtain a suspect.  I’d like to thank all of the staff at Absolute Software for their dedication and professionalism in handling this case.”
John S. Barnacle
Detective Commander
Willowbrook Police Department
Willowbrook, IL

Indictments and criminal complaints are unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

We want to trust the people who provide home services. And, in most cases, that trust is well founded. But this recovery story serves as a warning that sometimes there’s a bad apple in the bunch.

Our customer’s laptop was stolen from his home in a daytime burglary. Within two days, the computer was online and making contact with the Absolute Monitoring Center.  The Absolute Theft Recovery Team was quickly on the trail. They provided information to local police that helped them quickly locate and recover the computer, which they returned to our relieved customer. But the story didn’t end there. A relative informed police that the suspect worked for a lawn care company. Sure enough, it turned out that company had mowed our customer’s lawn the day of the crime. Putting two and two together, the detective working the case connected several other unsolved burglaries to the light-fingered lawn guy and recovered property belonging to other victims.

Indictments and criminal complaints are unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

They don’t really wear capes and have super powers. And it’s not true that they never need sleep, either. Still, the officers of the Absolute Theft Recovery Team do an incredible job and have some pretty interesting stories to tell about it.

If you’ve ever wondered how they do what they do, now’s your chance to ask. Gabrielle Plé has been with Absolute Software for 7 years. She’s agreed to share some of what goes on behind the scenes during a laptop recovery.

So if there’s been something you want to know about the Recovery Team’s work, leave a comment with your question. Gabrielle will answer as many as she can.

If you have a support question, please visit Absolute Global Support

Indictments and criminal complaints are unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

10 days after theft, Absolute had identified the user and location of a stolen laptop and facilitated its recovery. A little detective work uncovered that the laptop’s current user was no thief at all– he had innocently purchased the machine days prior from a local computer shop. To ensure that he was refunded for this shady transaction, police escorted the man to the store’s customer service department. 

With a little encouragement from a friendly officer, the store offered the man a full refund.  They even sold him another second-hand machine, for what they assured him was a ‘great price’. Unfortunately, a quick check of the laptop’s serial number revealed that it was hardly worth the discount – it too was a stolen item.  As were several other items on store shelves. The computer shop in now out  thousands of dollars, and has more than a few questions to answer… 

Indictments and criminal complaints are unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This laptop was stolen from a university auditorium after the cable was forced open. Within a couple days of theft, Absolute had identified two unauthorized users – both students at the school. The Recovery Team passed this information over to police, who recovered the stolen computer and probed the suspects for further details.

Interviews broadened the scope of the case; the two students were soon connected to a number of other on campus laptop thefts. Three additional stolen computers were recovered, and a third suspect identified. As it turns out, a school janitor had been particularly helpful, and for a small fee, was giving our varsity thieves access to a number of otherwise secured areas.

Police decided to visit the custodial co-conspirator next – and proved to have impeccable timing. The janitor in question just happened to be using a stolen laptop when police showed up – and the laptop just happened to belong to the university that employed him. Or used to employ him, we should say. The janitor has since been arrested, and the students are left a few credits short thanks to expulsion.

Indictments and criminal complaints are unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Absolute pinned down the exact location of this laptop 3 weeks after it was stolen in a home burglary. When met by police, the unauthorized user was quick to hand over the machine, and explained that it was a gift from her boyfriend (touching!). Officers decided to pay him a visit next.

It appears that the boyfriend was more than just a burglar – upon hearing police arrive, he attempted to flush a large quantity of narcotics down the toilet. He was not quite quick enough, however, allowing police to seize this soggy packet – along with another $10,000 worth of drugs, dispersed throughout the house. The boyfriend is facing felony drug charges.

Indictments and criminal complaints are unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Disgruntled, a terminated employee ditched her company car in a vacant parking lot. She claimed that she had also ‘returned’ her work computer by leaving it in the trunk – but upon retrieving the vehicle, employers found no such machine. They reported the computer stolen to Absolute and police. 

A week into the investigation, Absolute confirmed that the ex-employee was in fact still using the laptop. Not only did the Theft Recovery Team trace the computer to her home address – they also found she had used it to write several blog posts that were less than flattering to her former employer.  Armed with this evidence, Absolute sent police to her door.

Police were met with resistance – the former employee denied playing any part in the laptop’s theft. In fact, according our suspect, she hadn’t seen the machine since the day she left the company. Yet when presented with Absolute’s evidence, her tone abruptly changed. To avoid further conflict, she sheepishly handed the machine over to police.

Indictments and criminal complaints are unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This laptop was one of four machines recovered by Absolute after a mass on-campus theft. Posing as a prospective student, a rather crafty thief arranged a campus tour. He expressed particular interest in computer science, and requested a visit to the school’s IT department. This visit gave him just enough time to scope out the building – including a storage room that housed several tempting laptops. The following night, the suspicious student-to-be made his move, breaking into the store room and taking an armful of computers with him.

Less than impressed by the shady scholar, Absolute was able to identify this unauthorized user by deploying a number of forensic tools on the stolen laptop. This intel was passed over to police, who had all of the details necessary to serve a search warrant on the user’s home. Our thief was met at the door by impatient officers – at which time he decided it was best to cooperate and hand over the stolen machines. Meanwhile, police decided it was best to charge him with 10 counts of felony.

Indictments and criminal complaints are unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This week, a few people who should have known better:

But – how could she have known?
How could she have known that her new laptop was stolen property, an unauthorized user recently pleaded with police. After all, she had just travelled across town to meet an anonymous seller at the park for a late night transaction, and he seemed nice enough. Plus, who knew that the school name and number etched into the laptop’s shell meant it belonged to someone else? Turns out, police and Absolute did…

Not exactly store shelves…
This unauthorized user was busted within six days of Absolute receiving the theft report. Pleading ignorance, the user claimed he had made a legitimate transaction – from a  man who had twenty-some ‘secondhand’ laptops stored in the trunk of his car. Suspicious, no?

It seemed like a steal…and it was
Caught red-handed, the unauthorized user of this stolen laptop claimed innocence – he didn’t know it was stolen when he bought it from a stranger for $60. Talk about a steal… Given the laptop was just months old and valued at over $800, police felt our user should have known better – so recovered the laptop, and charged him with possession of stolen property.

Indictments and criminal complaints are unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Biggest Bust
A commercial laptop theft spurred the Absolute Theft Recovery Team into action. After tracking the stolen laptop for several days, they had gleaned the user and location information police needed to exercise a search warrant. The warrant’s findings: said computer, controlled substances packaged for resale, narcotics – and a female occupant ready to be arrested and charged for multiple offenses. For the police officer involved, this recovery marked his fifth facilitated by Computrace technology.

Least Grateful House Guest
A customer recently crossed paths with a woman who appeared to be down on her luck, so offered her a place to stay for the night while she sorted out other arrangements. Returning from work the next day, the customer received a note from the house guest – she’d spilled water on his laptop, had taken it to be fixed, and would be back in a couple of days.  Unfortunately, days turned into weeks, and weeks into a stolen laptop. The Absolute Theft Recovery Team took over, and after tracking the laptop from one end of the state to another, the rest was history.

Most Enviable Location of Theft
This laptop was stolen from a home burglary in a coastal Portuguese town. The Absolute Theft Recovery Team worked closely with local police to not only recover the laptop – but, in the process, also helped uncover a large theft ring that had plagued the small area for quite some time. Several other stolen items were confiscated, and the laptop returned to its rightful owner.

Indictments and criminal complaints are unproven accusations and the accused in all cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty.