theft

To catch a thief, with monitoring software

If you have ever had a laptop or smartphone stolen, you probably found yourself fantasizing about capturing the thief red-handed. I know I did when I lost my smartphone last year.

I used the Lookout mobile security service to locate where the phone was on a map and made it "scream" a few times. But I didn't want to knock on a stranger's door all by myself and ask if they had my phone, and the battery had died by the time I could take someone with me. I just wasn't sure I was ready … Read more

Watch an iPhone being stolen from a baby

People steal iPhones.

It's just a symptom of our times. We just can't get enough entertainment, you see.

So here is some footage, courtesy of the Sun and a store's surveillance camera, that appears to show how heartlessly some humans can be in their quest for a free smartphone.

The baby is 20-month-old Luella Reid.

Her mom, Danielle Hinngian, reportedly gave her the iPhone so that she could watch "Barney The Dinosaur" while mom shopped in Ormskirk, northern England.

What the footage appears to show is an older man sidling up to Luella's pushchair. … Read more

Can the Tesla Model S unkill the electric car? CNET On Cars, Episode 3

A Tesla Model S is a very hard car for reviewers to get significant time with. The company has exactly two press cars for the globe, prioritizing all other production to deliver to patient buyers. So it was with no small pleasure when Tesla's Shanna Hendriks let me know she had an S ready for me to play with for a full day (which turned out to be more like a day and a half). I hope you'll find my take a little refreshing as this car has been talked about and bloviated over like nothing this side … Read more

Did the TSA gank your missing iPad?

If you've ever had an iPad or laptop go missing from the airport, it may have ended up in the home of a TSA officer. ABC News caught one security officer red-handed with a stolen iPad using the "find my iPad" feature on iOS after it disappeared from the Orlando, Fla., airport.

ABC News staff was actually able to watch as the iPad moved away from the airport to the home of officer Andy Ramirez 30 miles away. Fifteen days later a camera crew showed up at Ramirez's house to confront him and attempt to reclaim the iPad. … Read more

A crazy iPad theft witnessed by '50,000'

When it comes to iPads, there seems little sense of proportion.

Some heads are still spinning after an iPad got swiped in San Francisco yesterday, and the alleged thieves then went on a rampage in order, it seems, merely to get away.

The way the San Francisco Chronicle tells it, the suspects took a backpack containing the iPad from a woman walking along the street.

They made one tiny mistake. At least initially.

"We had 50,000 witnesses who saw it and called," Capt. Ann Mannix of the San Francisco Police Department told the Chronicle.

Yes, it's … Read more

iPhone, iPad thefts jump 40 percent in NYC

The Big Apple is seeing a surge in stolen Apple devices.

The latest data from the New York City Police Department shows that iPhone and iPad thefts have soared 40 percent this year so far, compared with the same period last year.

Between January 1 and September 23 of this year, a total of 11,447 cases of stolen iDevices were reported to the New York City police, a rise of 3,280 over 2011, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said in a report sent to CNET.

"As if to mirror the market place, thefts of Apple products increased this … Read more

London store loses its entire iPhone 5 shipment to theft

Police want to question an O2 shop assistant over the theft of iPhone 5 handsets from one of the operator's stores in London.

Around 250 handsets, worth about £100,000, were stolen from the O2 Store in the Tandem Centre in Colliers Wood near Wimbledon at 1.30am this morning. The stolen devices included the store's entire stock of iPhone 5 smartphones that were due to go on sale at 9am the same day.

The arrival of the iPhone 5 on Friday generated huge queues outside Apple Stores in London and across the world. However, the number of buyers at shops run by networks such as Three … Read more

Thief drives straight through Apple Store window

Perhaps he thought the iPhone 5 would already be there.

Who can imagine why someone would risk the sensitive fenders of his BMW to drive straight through the front window of the Apple Store in Temecula, Calif.?

And yet here is footage of a smash, a grab, and a slight thoughtlessness, given that the robbers seemed not to have factored in the security cameras.

Footage that was release to YouTube shows action that seems as incontrovertible as it is rather tragic.

I am grateful to the BBC for grabbing this footage and smashing it into my eyes.

Some will be … Read more

How to prevent phone and tablet theft

If you're under the age of 25, there's almost an even chance you have lost your cell phone or had it stolen at least once. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted last April, 45 percent of cell phone users between the ages of 18 and 24 have had a phone lost or stolen.

The survey also found that 3 out of 10 cell phone users between the ages of 35 and 54 have misplaced their device or had it stolen, as Kashmir Hill reports on Forbes.com.

There's nothing new about cell phones being popular … Read more

Grand Theft Auto goes 'Back to the Future' with DeLorean mod

A fan had a dream. He dreamed he would some day roll around Vice City in a souped-up DeLorean, dressed as Marty Mcfly, packing heat, and terrorizing the town. Then he made it happen.

The creator of the Back to the Future Grand Theft Auto mod (SeedyROM34 on YouTube), spent months working on the elaborate creation with many hours of file editing thrown into the bargain. This is quite a bit more than just a skin. There's time travel, an excellent-looking Marty McFly character, and a detailed DeLorean complete with flux capacitor.… Read more