Two Texas A&M University students had their laptop computers stolen in separate incidents, and Computrace® LoJack® for Laptops was instrumental in getting them back. While one of the thefts occurred in College Station, TX, the other took place thousands of miles due south — in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In the first instance, a thief broke into a College Station residence by forcing open a locked bedroom window. By the time the residents returned, all the expensive electronics had been removed from the home, including a laptop belonging to an A&M student.
Fortunately, the laptop had Computrace LoJack for Laptops installed on it, a computer theft recovery service by Absolute® Software that tracks, locates and recovers missing computers. If the computer is stolen, LoJack for Laptops reports its location using any internet connection.
The student reported the theft to police, and then notified Absolute’s Theft Recovery team. When the computer went online, a Theft Recovery Officer provided the IP address of the stolen machine to the College Station Police Department.
Police used the information provided by LoJack for Laptops to prepare a subpoena, then visited the subscriber’s home address, where the stolen computer was recovered.
In an unrelated computer theft case, Texas A&M student Steve Kinard Jr. was studying abroad in Buenos Aires in June 2007, when his laptop computer was stolen. It was a brazen theft in broad daylight, as his computer was taken from the bag sitting beside his chair while he ate lunch at a restaurant.
The Absolute Theft Recovery Team had little problem identifying precisely where the stolen computer was once it touched the internet, even though it was in the southern hemisphere. Then, working with Buenos Aires police officers, the Theft Recovery Team provided critical location information, leading to the successful recovery of the stolen computer.
Steve Kinard Sr. is convinced that his son’s purchase of LoJack for Laptops was critical in recovering the laptop and recommends students preparing for college purchase a laptop security solution.
“My son and I are extremely grateful to Absolute Software for the return of the new laptop,” said Kinard. “Computrace LoJack for Laptops works even in other countries! I recommend it to everyone I speak to, especially students.”
