Stolen Laptop Recovery – Traveling Mark

Stop Theft Plate – Tagging my Laptop to Prevent Theft

Laptops come in a variety of slick designs which along with their great resale value make them an attractive target for thieves. After my laptop was stolen, I was gonna watermark my new laptop with irremovable information that would identify me as a rightful owner. Just as I was about to do that, I found out about Stop Theft Security Tracking Tags and ordered one to use as a superior way to watermark the laptop which not only watermarks it, it further deters theft, increases chances of recovery and unlike regular, hand-crafted watermark, increases resale value if the equipment is sold by the rightful owner. I had ordered my Stop Theft Plate and received it in a little over week despite international shipping (from the USA to Canada). Installation of the tag was easy and straightforward except from one inconsistency in the manual which kept me constantly confused (hope Stop Theft people are going to look into that and fix it). This is how I went about tagging my laptop to prevent theft with Stop Theft Plate:

Photo: My Stop Theft Tagging Plate Came in This USPS Package

Stop Theft Tag – What’s In The Box

My Stop Theft tag came well packaged, shipped by USPS after I opted against the UPS delivery (my previous experiences with items shipped to me via UPS from abroad resulted in prolonged delays due to excessive screening of international shipments using non postal delivery services). The box contained the Stop Theft kit and a sales receipt. Within the Anti-Theft System box were the following items:

Stop Theft Steel Plate with Red Warning Sticker
Instant Adhesive
Cleaning Alcohol Swab

Photo: The Package Contained Stop Theft Kit and Sales Receipt

Photo: Stop Theft Kit Contained Tagging Plate, Adhesive and Alcohol Swab

Stop Theft Tag Installation

Tagging my laptop with a Stop Theft plate was simple and straightforward except from a confusing statement on both the kit which contained the installation instructions on its rear side as well as on the pdf document containing installation procedure posted on the Stop Theft website. The confusing part consisted of referring to the instant adhesive as “adhesive’, “glue” and “gel”. In order for the tattoo to properly etch on the casing of your laptop, it is important to apply a thin strip of “gel” which will activate chemical process resulting in permanent ink on your equipment. Because you will not find anything labelled as “gel” in the kit supplied to you, referring to something this important as “gel” is extremely confusing and makes you feel like you are not doing it correctly.

Photo: Stop Theft Kit Contained Installation Instructions

I believe Stop Theft people should revise their installation instructions and clarify this statement. Since there is no gel provided with the kit, only Instant Adhesive, it would be advisable to refer to it as such throughout their installation instructions. Confusing the crap out of their customers doesn’t do the otherwise solid company any good. The process of tagging my newly purchased Samsung N150 netbook is shown below with pictures:

I wanted to have the plate on the lid of the laptop, to ensure it is highly visible, but chose the far end of it so it doesn’t deface the flipping side of it too much. In order for the tag to properly attach to your equipment, it is essential that you choose a flat surface and DO make it the front of your computer, not some obscure side of rear end.

Photo: My Samsung N150 Netbook Ready to be Tagged for Theft Prevention

Step 1: Cleaning the Area for Tagging

Photo: Cleaning Swab Contains 70% Isopropyl Alcohol and Works Great in Removing Impurities and Oil Deposits

Photo: I Cleaned the Far Corner of the Laptop Lid with Alcohol Swab and Let It Dry Thoroughly Before Proceeding

Step 2: Applying Gel to the Plate

Photo: Loctite 454 Instant Adhesive Bonds Skin Instantly. Only Apply Small Amount to the Plate to Avoid the Excess Oozing Out from Under the Plate

I applied a thin strip of adhesive along the entire width of the tattoo and a tiny drop near each corner of the plate before placing the plate on the case.

Step 3: Apply Tagging Plate to Laptop

Photo: I Kept the Plate Firmly Pressed Against the Case to Ensure Firm, Airtight Bond for About 20 Seconds

Step 4: Apply Red Warning Sticker

Photo: After Steel Plate Was Firmly Affixed, I Applied Red Warning Sticker Next To It

Step 5: Register Tagged Laptop

After proper hardware application, I went to www.stoptheft.com/trackset to register the laptop and link it to my tag ID. The warning sticker which informed me not to forget about the registration as sole application of the plate without registration of the ID is worthless was on the steel plate and I removed it after I was done registering.

Careful application of the adhesive should ensure that you don’t experience any excess oozing out from under the plate after application. However if you go overboard applying too much, take the protective backing you peeled from the back of the steel plate and use it to gently wipe off the excess.

Photo: My Samsung N150 Netbook Tagged with Stop Theft Security Plate

My laptop was protected. Stop Theft is a simple, yet effective way to watermark the equipment. I was gonna watermark my laptop anyway, but Stop Theft plate made it simple, more effective and more elegant, while retaining the resale value while in control of the rightful owner. This protection will be on my laptop for as long as the laptop is around. If I decide to sell the laptop, new owner will get it with complimentary Stop Theft protection. This added value will increase the resale value of the unit. There are no annual or renewal fees to continue having the tagged equipment protected.

Stop Theft Tag – Security Tracking of Office Property

After I had my laptop stolen, I realized that one of the most powerful and easiest to implement ways to deter theft and identify yourself as a rightful owner even if the laptop is not in your hands is by permanently watermarking your unit. If you are able to make a permanent, irremovable mark on a visible part of your laptop, than chances of resale drop significantly, value drops insanely and chances of recovery increase. Writing your name and contact email address with accompanying text that identifies you as the rightful owner with a permanent marker would be somewhat good, but carving the information in just in case someone uses a solution that can wipe off the permanent ink is even better. This is what I was going to do but then I found out about much better a solution, one that serves a bunch of other good causes – Stop Theft Tag for Security Tracking of Office Property.

Photo: Stop Theft - Security Tracking of Office Property Package

Stop Theft is a security plate that gets permanently attached to your office equipment (most popular with laptops, but can be used with other office equipment) and requires great amount of force to remove. Any attempt to remove Stop Theft tag results in visible damage to the equipment which significantly decreases its resale value. Removal of the plate also reveals the etching below which is permanently tattooed on the casing of your equipment and contains words “Stolen Property” along with the toll free number (+1 800 488 STOP) which connects to the Stop Theft’s recovery hotline. This toll free number also appears on the security tag along with bar-coded ID. There is a highly visible, well worded warning on the tag which makes everyone aware that tagged laptop is police identifiable and contains other information to quickly facilitate the recovery of your laptop whether it’s stolen, lost or misplaced.

While the Stop Theft tagged laptop is under your control, its value is increased. However if stolen, the tag which is attached at a prominent location, along with the chemically bonded tattoo below make it impossible to explain to a potential buyer, completely eliminating the elicit resale value of the property. Because Stop Theft tag links the equipment to one particular user, this user can sell the equipment along with the access to their Stop Theft account which could serve as added value that comes with the laptop, increasing its potential worth.

The downside of permanently marking your laptop at a highly visible spot is that it ties the laptop to you forever. That diminishes its resale value even if you as a rightful owner decide to sell it. It could also deface your notebook and make it look very visually unpleasing or downright hideously ugly. Stop Theft Security Tracking Tag solves these issues with style, provides the same effect as you would achieve with your own, hand crafted watermark, adds a patented method that etches a permanent, unremovable tattoo to your equipment but also provides easy and free ways for contact rightful owner without disclosing their identity and contains strong language that would make would-be thieves think twice before they touch your laptop. Most of all, unlike self made watermark, Stop Theft Security Tracking Tag adds resale value to your laptop for as long as it is the rightful owner who is looking to sell it. In the hands of the thief, it does exact opposite.

Photo: Stop Theft Tag Applied on My Samsung N150 Netbook

Stop Theft Security Tracking Tag costs only $20 to buy. If you purchase larger quantities of the tag, price per tag becomes significantly lower. This can be particularly invaluable for the use by organizations with many portable devices (such as laptops). Because of attractive price when you buy a bulk of 10 plates and because of savings on shipping, I thought of buying 10 at the same time and possibly using it overtime on new laptops I may buy in the future or some other equipment (use of Stop Theft Security Tracking Plates is not limited to laptops). However I have eventually decided to go with only one after discussing my options with Doug Belfiore, one of the people behind Stop Theft.

Talking with Doug of Stop Theft was a positive experience that further proved the company is on top of the game and uses coveted human approach. Replies were timely and contained no cut and paste phrases. Doug was responding directly to me, addressing directly everything I asked about and talked like a friend, rather than some machine that must deal with customers every day. I had no doubt that Stop Theft is a solid company. I did my research and found nothing but good things that people had to say about them and their product. It is a great value for money and an invaluable security feature that could save you from a lot of grief.

Because Stop Theft is a US based company (located in Norwalk, Connecticut), the tags are shipped from there which means longer waiting times and higher overall cost for all of use who don’t live in the US. Shipping to Canada was almost $12 US (shipped by USPS – the less expensive of two available options) which increased the cost of the whole ordeal by more than 50% however the plate came well packaged and was shipped swiftly (USPS tracking number was emailed to me within hours of order placement), causing no delays in application. I was truly excited when I got the parcel as it made me instantly feel as though the chances of losing my laptop to a theft again dropped significantly. I could not wait to apply the security sticker to my machine.

Stop Theft Security Tracking of Office Property Website is located on www.stoptheft.com

DISCLAIMER:

The preceding is my personal review of the office equipment security tracking system Stop Theft. I have not been paid to post this review.

Check out how I tagged my laptop with Stop Theft plate to prevent theft.

Formatted CF Card Files Recovered

As soon as I got back to Canada from the Dominican Republic where my laptop was stolen I started the process of data recovery from the Compact Flash card I have previously formatted. I believed I will be able to recover most of the files that previously occupied the unused space of the card, however there were many files on the card that were taken after I have formatted it. The space these new files occupied was unrecoverable. The question now stood – which of the files missing will I not get back because the sectors have been overwritten with new data.

I must say it comes with great relief that the process of recovery went without major problems and I did recover most of the files I lost when my laptop was stolen. There were more than 7,000 pictures on my CF card when I formatted it and I recovered more than 5,000. The files I was not able to recover were those that were overwritten by new files and unless I get my laptop back (I still keep hoping that by some magic divine intervention I’ll get it back) I won’t see them again. However I can’t complain because after I found out that my laptop was stolen and realized that I lost all of the pictures I took in South East Asia, I was truly devastated. Seeing most of the pictures again was a great relief.

Photo: Sandisk Extreme III Compact Flash Card I Recovered Formatted Data From

This basically means that I’ll be able to continue with my journal without the need to skip and never cover the rest of my trip in Cambodia and my enjoyable stay in Vietnam and Thailand. Most of the pictures I am missing are from Siem Reap, Cambodia. Those include smaller temples in and around town, and small venues and cultural events I visited or participated in before going to Angkor Wat Archaeological Park. Occasional image here and there is missing from the rest of the card as well, but I’m still happy and grateful that I was able to get 5,000 unspoiled pictures back. I do not have any of the emails I sent and received since August 2009, I don’t have any contact information on people I met during my travels, I lost all of the documents I was working on, website updates, videos and so on and unless I get my laptop back, I may never see those again, but at least I have most of my pictures back because pictures will serve as memories for years and years to come.

I have a lot of work ahead of me trying to catch up with where I was before my laptop got stolen. So much headache caused by one malicious person who did not hesitate to steal from me while I was helping her. It was a really painful and expensive way to pay for my willingness to make the world a better place. I keep my head up high and remain positive about the fact that for each bad person, there are a dozen nice people. Getting over this horrible experience will take some time, catching up with loss it caused will take a lot of money and extra work, but I do keep my head up high and continue looking forward because no matter how much I like it or not, I cannot change the past. It has happened. I had my laptop stolen for being trusting and eager to help. It’s time to learn from my own mistakes and move forward. I did all I could to recover my laptop and so far it has not paid off, however If I am meant to get it back, I will. In the meantime, I’m moving on and looking forward to new, better life ahead of me.

Stolen Laptop Recovery Reward

As I was done talking to Domingo, we went across the street to talk to the guys who were at the spot where I picked up a hitch-hiker who stole my laptop. Since these boys are there every day, they were the ones most likely to match the description of the thief with an actual person. Domingo was always by my side interpreting from English to Spanish and vice versa making everything go smoothly. When he translated my offer that I would pay a $1,000 reward for information that would lead to recovery of my stolen laptop, I noticed that the eyes of those guys instantly popped and their ears were listening faster than Domingo was able to speak.

I made it absolutely clear that I wanted my laptop back and was able and willing to pay a reward to a person who could get it back for me. $1,000 reward may not seem like a big deal to most western people, but it is a huge chunk of money in the Dominican Republic. It was clear that if I am able and willing to pay such reward, the Dominicans will instantly be able and willing to go out of their way to deserve it. I once again went through thorough description of the thief making my best to give as much information as I could recall, even though as a driver I kept my eyes locked on the road, not on my passenger so my memory of what she looked like is very sparse. Afterall, I am a responsible driver who realizes that my own safety as well as safety of all other people aboard are in my hands and I don’t take that lightly. Unfortunately, because of that I did not gawk at the thief so there were only sparse details.

Several key points I have mentioned instantly rang the bell of one of the boys from the area who said he knew who the girl was and knew where she lived. He said he remembered her because she comes here hitch-hiking for Santo Domingo often and spoke to her on several occasions. As somewhat friend, he knew her family and address so we got in the car and drove to where he said she lived. The reward I offered for recovery of my stolen laptop was a massive motivator so these boys were on their tiptoes to find the way to recover my laptop. Off we went to the house of potential thief.