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Stolen goods from eBay
Comments
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Any idea how long it's likely to take for the police to even contact me about this laptop? It's been over two weeks now and I know many of you have said it's not 'high priority', etc, but I was planning on selling the laptop before I found it was stolen because I have wedding bills to pay within the next two weeks and my bank have just told me that they won't do a charge back until the laptop has been physically taken by the police.
Any ideas/advice?0 -
and my bank have just told me that they won't do a charge back until the laptop has been physically taken by the police.
I would think about challenging the bank as I would feel it was up to me not the bank when to do a chargeback. You can always ask someone; consumer helpline here:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/contact/index.html#1
The FSO look to be the right people to ask as they talk about chargebacks (scroll down the newsletter) on the same site:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/3/plastic-cards.htm0 -
I would think about challenging the bank as I would feel it was up to me not the bank when to do a chargeback. You can always ask someone; consumer helpline here:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/contact/index.html#1
The FSO look to be the right people to ask as they talk about chargebacks (scroll down the newsletter) on the same site:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/3/plastic-cards.htm
You can't do a chargeback whilst you still have the item, otherwise it would constitute chargeback fraud.0 -
Surely I have a right to see proof that the laptop is indeed the one they claim is stolen? I.e. I should be entitled to see a copy of their receipt with the laptops serial number.
You know full well they don't have this (it's very rare for the receipt to include a serial number)
There is no way to permanently remove data, even if you use "US Government Standard" data removal tools... if someone wants to get the data, they will (although obviously nobody is going to put that effort in in this case)I secure erase all hard drives before selling them (to US government standards) so there would be no hope of getting any data from it.
I would remove your hard drive and explain you've sold the original, however this puts you in exactly the same situation as the original seller...Nothing I say represents any past, present or future employer.0 -
When you buy a computer from Dell, you get the invoice in the post a week or two after you receive the computer and the invoice has the service tag on it which is unique to each machine.You know full well they don't have this (it's very rare for the receipt to include a serial number)
I fail to see how me selling the hard drive out of a computer I legitimately purchased puts me in the same situation as the original seller selling me a laptop that they stole!I would remove your hard drive and explain you've sold the original, however this puts you in exactly the same situation as the original seller...0 -
AFAIK the service tag identifies the model & specification, rather than the individual machine.When you buy a computer from Dell, you get the invoice in the post a week or two after you receive the computer and the invoice has the service tag on it which is unique to each machine.
If it didn't, then it would be pointless having both a serial number & service tag...
You have no idea if the person you bought it from actually stole it (although it looks that way), but you have still handled and resold stolen property...I fail to see how me selling the hard drive out of a computer I legitimately purchased puts me in the same situation as the original seller selling me a laptop that they stole!Nothing I say represents any past, present or future employer.0 -
You know full well they don't have this (it's very rare for the receipt to include a serial number)There is no way to permanently remove data, even if you use "US Government Standard" data removal tools... if someone wants to get the data, they will (although obviously nobody is going to put that effort in in this case)
I would remove your hard drive and explain you've sold the original, however this puts you in exactly the same situation as the original seller...
You can easily permanently remove data, loads of people tell you it's impossible but they are wrong. if you use a white out program to overwrite all sectors where the data was stored multiple times it's gone.The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head. Terry Pratchett
http.thisisnotalink.cöm0 -
AFAIK the service tag identifies the model & specification, rather than the individual machine.
If it didn't, then it would be pointless having both a serial number & service tag...
Sorry, but you're completely wrong. I'm sure others will back me up but the service tag identifies the individual machine. You can go to the Dell website, input the service tag and it will tell you exactly what hardware/peripherals were shipped with that specific machine, including any built to order customizations and will tell you exactly what warranty that specific machine has and when that warranty expires.
When you contact Dell Technical Support, you give them a service tag, and they then find out, from that, who the machine belongs to (which is what happened in this case). The Serial Number is never needed with Dell machines.
If the seller didn't steal the laptop, they wouldn't have made out that they'd owned it for months and months when in fact they'd only had it a couple of weeks.You have no idea if the person you bought it from actually stole it (although it looks that way), but you have still handled and resold stolen property...0 -
Sorry, but you're completely wrong. I'm sure others will back me up but the service tag identifies the individual machine. You can go to the Dell website, input the service tag and it will tell you exactly what hardware/peripherals were shipped with that specific machine, including any built to order customizations and will tell you exactly what warranty that specific machine has and when that warranty expires.
When you contact Dell Technical Support, you give them a service tag, and they then find out, from that, who the machine belongs to (which is what happened in this case). The Serial Number is never needed with Dell machines.
If the seller didn't steal the laptop, they wouldn't have made out that they'd owned it for months and months when in fact they'd only had it a couple of weeks.
You are absolutely right on both points.0 -
No, you can't. Even once you've overwritten the data, there are still magnetic traces of what each bit used to be. Even after 35 passes it's still possible to get some data back - sure, not everything, but still quite a lot.adouglasmhor wrote: »You can easily permanently remove data, loads of people tell you it's impossible but they are wrong. if you use a white out program to overwrite all sectors where the data was stored multiple times it's gone.
Of course again, this is forensic work and *very* expensive so it's unlikely to do be done in this case.Nothing I say represents any past, present or future employer.0
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