A real life idiot plot

[Haven]

I need to write this down here, because I want to tell someone, but this is the kind of thing I really don't want to tell anyone I know.

So a few months ago, I got my laptop stolen. I filed a police report, but really there wasn't anything that could be done. Eventually, I got it replaced thanks to insurance.

However, because I am a total moron, I didn't change my passwords. Yes, I know how completely idiotic this is, I've already beaten myself up over it--but I'm far from the only one. It seems like this guy sent out an email under my address...with his email address and real name included. And he was emailing a website about "finding a laptop without having to buy anything".

I'm going to go to the police with this tomorrow. I'm not sure how I'm going to explain my stupidity, but fortunately that's still not a crime (right?), so they should still be able to get this guy with this evidence.

[Divine Comedy]

Well you didn't do anything wrong so yes they could find that guy.

However in all likelihood, unless the guy is that amazingly stupid, this is probably someone who bought it from a pawnshop.

But then you might have just gotten incredibly lucky here.

[Rutskarn]

Good point there, Divine.

Still, it's your rightful property, and someone selling it to a pawnshop probably had to give some sort of personal information. I have a feeling you can get your property back, as well as a little vengeance.

[mercurymaline]

Everywhere I know of requires photo ID to hock something. Pawn shops keep records for just this reason.

[xPANCAKEx]

go for it - you've done the hard work, now the police get the easy job of nabbing the guy and bringing their conviction rate up

and if they're unco-operate, write to your local paper - easy story for them criticising local police incompetence when they've been handed all the evidence they need to carry on an investivation... could put pressure on them to do their job

[Divine Comedy]

You should be able to get an IP address from the E-mail, as most every program requires one be logged. Having that could make things very easily, unless your laptop has Wi-fi and he used a public connection. Even then you would probably be able to find him with a little legwork.

Of course that's assuming the police won't do it for you. Really it depends on the quality of the police in your town. Some places have great forces that really care and make a difference, and others will just laugh at you over wasting their time.

[Haven]

So I went in, said I had a name and email address, and apparently that isn't enough information to even try to look! I was talking to someone very, very unhelpful, too. She wasn't a detective though, I guess I'll have to go in and hope one's around next time, or call ahead.

Highlight of the conversation: "Do you have any idea how many people have the same name?" (Which, let's just say this guy's name was quite distinctive--and also, FFS, the email, which I'd printed out and was showing to her, was for him to sign up for something at a public business; they could have just called the place and said "Hi, do you have in your records someone named **** who signed up for a session on X day?") I mean, I could probably find this guy myself, just with my own resources, but THAT wouldn't be the best idea. (Unless I had a domino mask and a costume, at which point I just punch him and take my laptop back...except I'm pretty sure this isn't the DCU, a fact which is constantly ruining my plans)

I also didn't have the serial number of the stolen laptop on me, though (which is another part of the "I'm an idiot" thing). I didn't get a chance to talk to an actual detective, so I guess I'll have to go back and try to reach one next time. Armed with the serial number (if I still have it; I'm pretty sure I do, somewhere).

On the other end of things: anyone have any idea how to get the IP address of where the message originated from in GMail? Google's help pages don't seem to have anything on it, and they make a point of how you can't contact their support team (supposedly, you can after you follow the troubleshooting steps, but they didn't even have a topic on how to find the IP address). Which I guess is something you can do if you're providing a free service and hence aren't accountable to anyone, but it still seems kind of boneheaded.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

I would either call or go to the police station again and insist that you speak with a police officer, not a civilian clerk.

[Collin152]

If all else fails, go for the masked vigilante route and see if you can't manage to snag a sympathetic jury if you get called out on it.
It'd make a sweet news story, see.

[Ascension]

In a growl reminiscent of Bale's Batman...

"I am Laptopman. Now give me back what's mine."

[Lupy]

I may be able to help you find the IP, but I think you'd be better off going to talk to a real police officer.

EDIT: Here is the easy way to tell where the person is accessing your gmail from: linky. (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/check-if-your-gmail-is-hacked-with-activity-monitor/)

[Divine Comedy]

Yeah Lupy actually posted a good link.

I do some private investigation on the side. Sounds like you talked to someone who had no idea what she was saying. Let us know if you find out anything else, an actual detective worth his salt would have more than enough to go on here.

[Cookiemobsta]

At the very bottom of your Gmail inbox, it says "Last account activity X" where X is how long ago and on what computer. There's a link to the right of it that says details. If you click on that, it'll show you the last few times your google account was logged into, and what IP address logged into them.

[Fri]

Dammit, I hope you're not too late. I hate unrealized Hope Spot (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HopeSpot), especially in real life. My PC (and by extension, laptop) is my most valuable possession, so I know your grieve.

I agree that you should turn it to a real cop. Even in my country where policeman are mostly regarded as unprofessional nuisance, I believe that they'll act with that information. Even us got a cyber crime section, that can track things like this.