Question Track stolen laptop after wipe?

[Rockies21]

I am wondering what the chances are of getting back a laptop that has been wiped? And how would someone go about this? I appreciate the help.

 

[COLGeek]

Unless you had something installed before the loss, you can't do this. It just doesn't work like portrayed in TV and movies. Sorry.

 

[USAFRet]

I am wondering what the chances are of getting back a laptop that has been wiped? And how would someone go about this? I appreciate the help.

On a scale of 0-100%, somewhere between 0 and 1%.

 

[punkncat]

Your best bet in a situation like this is to make a police report and document the model and serial number. IDK the details of the theft but "once a thief" so when the police inevitably come across these folks and/or it turns up in a pawn shop it could be returned. It is quite common for criminals of this type to be stopped for another crime or infraction and it could be found that way. Here, pawn shops have a responsibility to report items brought in. Someone is supposed to be checking that information against stolen but is really hit and miss based on whether the dept has the resources to have someone doing so.

If you had this laptop registered under your MS sign in there is a chance that it could show back up in "your devices" online but it isn't going to give you an actual (physical) address.

 

[Rockies21]

I have some identifiers like service tag and stuff. Do you think let's say if they sold it somewhere and someone used the Dell Support to update then they could find it or anything? Just reaching for something I guess..

 

[USAFRet]

I have some identifiers like service tag and stuff. Do you think let's say if they sold it somewhere and someone used the Dell Support to update then they could find it or anything? Just reaching for something I guess..

Maybe.
But that would require Dell to know that service tag was stolen, and have a function to act on that.
And for the thief to sell it to someone who would go to Dell for service. Unlikely.

 

[Rockies21]

Maybe.
But that would require Dell to know that service tag was stolen, and have a function to act on that.
And for the thief to sell it to someone who would go to Dell for service. Unlikely.

What I mean is the DellSupport application... like the machine checks in using the app and Dell could see that and contact the user?

 

[USAFRet]

What I mean is the DellSupport application... like the machine checks in using the app and Dell could see that and contact the user?

Thats what I meant.

Dell would have to have a function for you to report that as stolen, and then....what?
They tell the user that he is using a stolen laptop? Likely he already knows.

Contact you? Then what?
You and they would still not have a physical location. Not nearly enough for police to act upon.

 

[Rockies21]

Thats what I meant.

Dell would have to have a function for you to report that as stolen, and then....what?
They tell the user that he is using a stolen laptop? Likely he already knows.

Contact you? Then what?
You and they would still not have a physical location. Not nearly enough for police to act upon.

It is possible they won't know if say the device is sold on a marketplace online, ebay etc etc. It may be important to mention it is a work device - no tracking software on it. Not sure if this makes any difference.

 

[USAFRet]

It is possible they won't know if say the device is sold on a marketplace online, ebay etc etc. It may be important to mention it is a work device - no tracking software on it. Not sure if this makes any difference.

This is all speculation...😉
Encapsulated in my original "0 to 1%"

And even if Dell tells that user he is using a "stolen" laptop...then what?
You're relying on his good graces to turn it in to the police? And be out that money.

Anything is possible.
Just unlikely.

 

[General_Cool]

A lot of laptops that are stolen are in a shipping container bound for Africa by the end of the week; you are never getting that laptop back.

Unless Dell is hiding something from its consumers (which they probably are), there is nothing installed on Dell laptops by Dell themselves that allow remote tracking of the device without the user's consent. Nobody is going to consent to having their location revealed knowing they're using a stolen laptop.

I had a friend who's DJI drone was stolen after it lost connection behind a skyscraper and did an emergency landing. We checked the GPS location two months later and it was in Ghana.

 

[Rockies21]

A lot of laptops that are stolen are in a shipping container bound for Africa by the end of the week; you are never getting that laptop back.

Unless Dell is hiding something from its consumers (which they probably are), there is nothing installed on Dell laptops by Dell themselves that allow remote tracking of the device without the user's consent. Nobody is going to consent to having their location revealed knowing they're using a stolen laptop.

I had a friend who's DJI drone was stolen after it lost connection behind a skyscraper and did an emergency landing. We checked the GPS location two months later and it was in Ghana.

I get what you mean, I'm just assuming the people who buy the laptop will be a person who might buy it off an ebay type site or something thinking its legit. Not all laptops will be shipped off to some underground black market.

 

[DSzymborski]

I get what you mean, I'm just assuming the people who buy the laptop will be a person who might buy it off an ebay type site or something thinking its legit. Not all laptops will be shipped off to some underground black market.

Unfortunately, no matter who bought it, where, and when, there's no mechanism to track the laptop unless it's something you installed, either physical or software.

 

[Corwin65]

In the movies you'd find some 14 year old kid who would trace it back to which table in an apartment the unplugged laptop was. In reality, report the theft and move on. Be like Elsa . . Let it Go.