I got a call from The Maryland State police yesterday. They had caught some bad guys stealing things from unlocked cars in Rockville, MD. They had recovered a collection of things, including a MacBook Pro with a MacMedics account on it. The police needed help figuring out what was stolen and what was not.
They provided me with Mac’s serial number, and I was able to figure out that it was a refurbished Mac that I had sold last month to a customer who lived in Washington, DC.
I gave the police the owner’s information, and they contacted them so they could pick up their Mac at the Police Station.
If you lose your Mac and your name is familiar, like Heather Kelly, the police are going to have a hard time finding you. However, if you leave our demo account on the unit or add an account for MacMedics, then there’s a good chance we can help get the unit back to you!
Our customer was super happy that we were able to help the police in recovering their stolen Mac!
MacMedics Tips:
A. If your Mac falls into the wrong hands, you will want to have FileVault activated! It’s free and built into the OS. Just turn it on. If you forget your main password, you can use your iCloud account or a recovery key generated when you set up FileVault. If you choose the recovery key option, you must print it out and store it safely.
B. If you leave a MacMedics account or want to add one, you should change the account’s password and demote it to “Standard User.”
C. There is some logic to having a “Bait account” on your Mac. If your account is protected with FileVault, there is NO WAY the bad guys can access your data without knowing your password, and they CANNOT reset it! If you have a bait account like in the picture above, the bad guys might use it and connect to the Internet, allowing you to find out where your Mac is, and you can then turn that location over to the police. Also, if they sell the Mac, the person who bought it might try to use it. Make the password easy and put a “hint” in that reveals the password.
