How to find a stolen PC using its serial number?
Solvedbazfile Posted messages 58449 Registration date Status Modérateur Last intervention -
Hello everyone,
So I'm reaching out to all of you a bit in despair following the theft of my PC, let me explain:
A few months ago, I put my PC setup up for sale, I found a buyer who came to pick up the setup and a few days later, I realized that he had tricked me (gave me a fake check... showed a transfer on my account... anyway).
So I filed a complaint, as usual the police aren't doing much...
Now it has been several months, and I would like to know if it's possible to locate a PC, with the serial number, a serial number that I found on Windows with the device registration, even though the PC has been reset to factory settings before the sale.
Can someone enlighten me? Or at least tell me if there is another way?
Thank you all..
4 réponses
Hello,
Am I not the snake that bites its own tail?
For a software like Prey to have a chance of locating a PC, it must have been installed beforehand (and that PC must not have been formatted or the software uninstalled, which is not difficult even without going through the control panel).
As for the rest, even if a hypothetical serial number or hardware identifier were collected online, we would be back to square one, and it would be improbable that law enforcement would requisition all manufacturers and internet service providers that might be involved.
Therefore, there seems to be no other hope, even if it is slim, than that same law enforcement tracks down the miscreant because it involves a bounced check or an identified check thief.
To suggest Prey or other location software, one must know its functionality quite well. As Brucine rightly points out, the location software must be installed on the PC for it to be possible. In any case, these location software are useful in case of loss of the PC, not in case of theft, since thieves are always quick to format the PC and thus erase any location software.
So in summary, as for locating your PC, it won't be possible; your only hope is that the police catch the thieves.
Yes and no.
A bank check must be verified with that same bank, and the transaction should therefore occur during business hours after calling that bank, not based on a number provided by the buyer but found on an official document; it incurs fees that the buyer is unlikely to want to implement when the amount is relatively limited.
Instant transfer is (apart from cash) the only relatively safe method, all others, including traditional transfers, potentially exposing to the risk of post-cancellation.