GovFlu
04-29-2008, 10:32 PM
I have shared this information with quite a few people who are too worried about ID theft to actually do it, but an acquaintance of mine recently recovered ALL of his stolen computer goods, thanks to my simple advice.
Any number can be entered in the police "system" as a serial number as far as stolen goods are concerned, I highly suggested to my pal that he engrave and/or etch his drivers license number on all his computer gear... which he did, pretext being "CDL" for, duh, Calif drivers license. Something every cop in Cal will recognize. Besides that, an engraved cdl# that gets scratched out is the same crime as scratching out a factory serial #.. so criminals are hesitant to obscure any numbers.
Sure enough, his house was burglarized a few months ago, his computer shit stolen... all of it, along with his ability to earn a living... he was stressed and pissed. Then some cop from Merced County (northern Cal) calls him a week afterward... during a spot check of the local swap meet some observant cop noticed a CDL# engraved on several items, within minutes the gendarme were able to track my friend down by his license#... while checking out Mr. Swap meets story about where the gear came from... and the cdl# returned as "stolen" in system.
End result: swap meet people went to jail for receiving stolen property & my buddy got every last piece of stolen hardware back, intact, with literally $10,000+ worth of editing work / projects still there.
Any number can be entered in the police "system" as a serial number as far as stolen goods are concerned, I highly suggested to my pal that he engrave and/or etch his drivers license number on all his computer gear... which he did, pretext being "CDL" for, duh, Calif drivers license. Something every cop in Cal will recognize. Besides that, an engraved cdl# that gets scratched out is the same crime as scratching out a factory serial #.. so criminals are hesitant to obscure any numbers.
Sure enough, his house was burglarized a few months ago, his computer shit stolen... all of it, along with his ability to earn a living... he was stressed and pissed. Then some cop from Merced County (northern Cal) calls him a week afterward... during a spot check of the local swap meet some observant cop noticed a CDL# engraved on several items, within minutes the gendarme were able to track my friend down by his license#... while checking out Mr. Swap meets story about where the gear came from... and the cdl# returned as "stolen" in system.
End result: swap meet people went to jail for receiving stolen property & my buddy got every last piece of stolen hardware back, intact, with literally $10,000+ worth of editing work / projects still there.