Laptop thieves targeting SF hot spots

This story sounds a little like an urban legend -- sort of like those tales of crooks finding laptops in car trunks via Bluetooth that surface every couple of months -- but the San Fran Chronicle insists it's true: according to the paper, laptop thieves are targeting WiFi hot spots such as coffee shops. The thugs aren't just snatching the computers of anyone foolish enough to take a biobreak and leave their ThinkPad or PowerBook unattended -- in some cases, they've actually gone so far as to grab laptops from people while they're actually using them, and stab them if they resist. (ok, the Chron's only identified one stabbing victim -- but do you really need more than one to creep you out?) According to the Chron, San Fran's coffee shops have seen a spike in laptop thefts, and city cops expect to see as many as 70 laptops stolen by the end of the year, up from just 18 in the early WiFi days of 2004. Of course, once SF is completely WiFi'd, laptop users will be able to spread out just about everywhere, which could lead to more thefts -- or make things harder for thieves, as users ditch coffee shops to work in more secure locations like bank vaults and police stations. Better get that latte brewing, sarge!

[choco @ Apr 10th 2006 11:54AM]

Well, I guess I should stop leaving the house. I might get carjacked, mugged, raped, aborted, terrorized, and now laptopjacked.

[JE @ Apr 10th 2006 12:10PM]

It's true. The guy who got stabbed at Mission Creek is a good friend, and he spent almost a week in the ICU. Another popular cafe for the sticker-adorned laptop - less than two blocks away - was hit a few months ago. In that case, one of the employees saw it happening, jumped over the counter and gave chase, but the thieves had a getaway car around the corner ... back up your data!

[jared @ Apr 10th 2006 12:17PM]

The part of me lacking sympathy for those who publicly flaunt their electronics bling is smirking at visions of Starbucks poseurs gettin straight jacked fo they lappiez.

The potential victim in me says "driver-encrypted virtual filesystems and basic situational awareness: not just for spies or college girls."

Please post an update when the first whelpy hacker lets loose with a chrome 45 to thwart the theft of his MacBook, injuring a barista and totalling a $4000 espresso machine.

[jared @ Apr 10th 2006 12:19PM]

@2: sorry about your friend; best wishes for a swift and full recovery.

[Coyote @ Apr 10th 2006 12:47PM]

This is one reason Im glad I live in the sticks, most people here think bluetooth is something your dog gets. But that doesnt stop me from having a bios set password and hard drive locks in place.

Say anybody got the link to the story about a guy that stole a lappy with bios locks and got cought by tech support when he tried to get it unlocked?

[aaron @ Apr 10th 2006 1:08PM]

#3, A lot of these people aren't yuppies going out to flaunt their equipment. In fact, considering this is the Bay Area, many of them are programmers for some top tech firms.

The guy with the knife doesn't know what kind of file system you have and he doesn't care. All he sees street value.

As for situational awareness, if somebody were to lean over you in any setting, your first instinct would be to be ready to answer whatever it is they are going to say to you. I think the odds against being randomly stabbed are sufficiently low enough where you may not expect it. Also if you RTFA, you'll see that the guy actually did have situational awareness and did notice that somebody was fidgeting with his power cable which is why he got up and subsequently stabbed.

Even if he didn't notice what was going on around him, big deal. People are working so hard nowadays that it feels good to feel like part of society every once in a while. So the guy chooses to get some work done at the coffee shop. When you're focused on working on something real heavily (say, perhaps, your jackassed post) your awareness would be diminished. You wouldn't get too much done if you stopped to check out every person who walked in.

Don't come on here just to be a dick. Some guy got stabbed in the chest, had a collapsed lung and had his chest cavity fill with blood. Luckily he didn't die. Why would you put your thumbs in your ears and wave your fingers at him like that?

[Terry Wallwork @ Apr 10th 2006 1:08PM]

Hmm, do you think that bluetooth sale will be affected when the specifications on the box read:

Ibm pc
500mhz processor
128meg memory
4 pints of fresh blood
3 bandaids
911 speed dial

:)

[Sean D. @ Apr 10th 2006 1:09PM]

Last week, the SF Guardian had a similar article. They were calling it iJacking. Article is here:

http://www.sfbg.com/40/25/news_ijacked.html

[Poopmaster @ Apr 10th 2006 1:23PM]

Not coincidentally, SF has one of the most restrictive gun laws in California which in turn, has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the U.S. Result? Thieves are confident that folks won't/can't resist and they strike in the open. Yeah it sucks, but at least you can pee on the street whenever you want and have the government pay for your sex-change operation!

[x23 @ Apr 10th 2006 1:25PM]

I wish to warn you about a new crime ring that is targeting business travelers. This ring is well organized, well funded, has very skilled personnel, and is currently in most major cities and recently very active in SAN FRANCISCO. The crime begins when a business traveler goes to a COFFEESHOP for a drink at the end of the work day. A person in the COFFEESHOP walks up as they sit alone and offers to buy them a drink. The last thing the traveler remembers until they wake up in a hotel room bath tub, their body submerged to their neck in ice, is sipping that drink. There is a note taped to the wall instructing them not to move and to call 911. A phone is on a small table next to the bathtub for them to call. The business traveler calls 911 who have become quite familiar with this crime. The 911 operator tells them to remain still, having already sent POLICE to help. The operator knows that both of the business traveler's LAPTOPS have been harvested. This is not a scam or out of a science fiction novel, it is real. It is documented and confirmable.

[photogeek @ Apr 10th 2006 1:33PM]

hm... another optioon is to install a spiked edging around the laptop, so if someone grabs the laptop, they'll get a few holes in their hands. plus, the sight of the spikes might deter the theives to boot :)

[Hannah @ Apr 10th 2006 1:48PM]

You know how some people have their wallets attached to small chains or bands of elastic or something? That way, their wallet is attached to them and makes it impossible for thieves to make a getaway with their loot. Maybe they should start implementing some similar thing for laptops - you could have a cord attached to the machine at one end and your wrist or ankle at the other. Just having that cord visible would be useful, since it would serve as a deterrent.

[jared @ Apr 10th 2006 1:49PM]

@6 (Aaron):
First, I can only assume you wrote that entire character-impugning rant in the 12 seconds between I confirmed comment #3 and comment #4.

Second, instead of linking to your friend's band in your sig, why not offer a mailto so I could respond to you privately.

Thirdly, my bad. I totally agree; it's not at all cool to make light of our fellow humans getting stabbed in the chest. And I give blood on a regular basis to help science frustrate the jackers. But seriously, when I see folks taking up window seats with laptops, regardless of their professional stature, I want to slap their collective bitch up.

[NNTPgrip @ Apr 10th 2006 1:50PM]

HAHA, good thing San Francisco is banning firearms.

To think, it would only take news of ONE coffee shop patron shooting and killing ONE of these attackers, to stop the whole thing.

I guess the their smug cloud hasn't combined with George Clooney's acceptance speech to make all of San Fran dissapear into its own asshole yet.

[Dolomite @ Apr 10th 2006 1:56PM]

In the words of Willie Sutton: "because that's where the money is" Of course computer theives will target places that have computers... duh!

[BK @ Apr 10th 2006 2:05PM]

Piece of advice to #10: if you're going to try to spread urban legend, please don't bother doing so in Engadget posts. The readers here are just a little smarter than that the average layman. ;-)

[Eli @ Apr 10th 2006 2:10PM]

I'm going to third or fourth the "if they could carry guns this wouldn't happen" opinion.

Same as England. Banning guns just means only the criminals have them.

[bastard_surlyone @ Apr 10th 2006 2:16PM]

I am a big, burly, bearded, biker-looking sysadmin.

About a year ago, I was in a coffee shop. I needed to hit the restroom, so I looked around, and calmly pulled out my coldsteel ti-lite (a large folding knife that looks like a switchblade) and laid it across the keyboard of my powerbook.

After I got back, a "socker mom" at the next table asked why I had left the knife on the laptop. I responded with "if I come back and somebody's in the process of stealing my laptop, he should be armed. It's only fair."

She laughed nervously, then looked at the big bowie knife hanging from my belt, got quiet, packed up, and left".

:)

[LennyMan @ Apr 10th 2006 2:28PM]

@16 - Compare the number of shootings in the UK per capita against the US, and then make a sensible comment about gun-crime.

I live 15 miles outside London, and there has not been any Gun-crime in this area (save for the odd bank-robbery every 10 years or so) against individuals for as long as I can remember. I wonder how many people have been shot within 15 miles of NY in the last week. I am not saying that violent crime is not present in the UK, but to suggest that allowing people to carry guns will solve a problem is both uninformed and naive.

[choco @ Apr 10th 2006 2:41PM]

Guns solve everything! Just go visit Baghdad... a utopia of crime free, relaxed living.

[aaron @ Apr 10th 2006 2:50PM]

jared,

you may reply to me privately, as my original and this post include both my email address and my band's website which is about 90% blog and 10% band.

[LennyMan @ Apr 10th 2006 3:02PM]

@16 - sorry, that was meant to be @18

(oops...)

[Nick @ Apr 10th 2006 3:07PM]

Of course I can't speak for the public at large, but not even once here in the Metro DC area have I ever seen someone here in a hotspot cafe on their laptop NOT doing work or a presentation for some client. I have heard of teens taking their parent-purchased laptops to coffee shops to look the part, but I've never seen it happen.

As a person in the IT field, I know that when I stop for a tea (hate coffee) at a cafe, the LAST thing I want to do is be staring at a computer screen while I relax. The most I'll do is keep my wifi enabled pocket pc phone on vibrate on my belt if something urgent comes up, but otherwise, that's my break from computers, not an alternate office.

That's just me, and I only can vouch for the people around the Annapolis/Metro DC area.

[Khaytsus @ Apr 10th 2006 4:04PM]

#19,

I would have stolen your knife and laughed when you got back. You can keep the Mac.

[oshean @ Apr 10th 2006 4:11PM]

Hello!! You can secure a cable lock to most tables. If it's too much of an inconvenience to use the cable lock then you shouldn't be using your laptop in public.

[Sean P. Aune @ Apr 10th 2006 4:20PM]

It's really happening. A friend of mine was in a park when she got jacked. She was typing away and they took out from under her. She was not "flaunting" her gear as one poster suggested, she was just trying to use the Wifi since she had just moved to SF and not had an internet connection set up yet. How dare she.

She called me within minutes and had me go and change all her passwords to be on the safe side.

[Tucker666 @ Apr 10th 2006 4:50PM]

A remote controlled spike would be awesome...bloody, but awesome. Most systems now come with some kind of CompuTrace feature that will connect to the net any way it can and notify some service of your system's IP and all that once you report it stolen. For DELL the option cannot be disabled once enabled, can't be wiped with a bios flash, and works pretty well!

[stab_my_left_side_plz @ Apr 10th 2006 5:16PM]

This is just going to happen more and more all over. San Francisco has it bad right now because of it's high amount of people with laptops and a significant number of petty criminals in the projects -- some of which happen to butt up against more affluent neighborhoods. Guns won't solve a thing, often these thieves work in pairs or small groups. One does the thieving, one pretends to be a bystander that gets in your way, pretending to accidentally bump into you, preventing you from giving chase. If you attack the "bystander" you get arrested for assault and then you pay the criminals twice,

Sometimes I have to go to a cafe to get work done as well, I always try to choose something far in the back. Freaking sucks I can't sit where I want just because fear of getting ganked.

[M @ Apr 10th 2006 5:22PM]

No Marina/Mission flame wars? Interesting.

I

[creamedcow @ Apr 10th 2006 5:49PM]

Why would there be a Mission/Marina flame war? There are just as many laptops in both places. Though you'd more likely find a laptop for sale in the Mission for 1/10 the retail price.

[zzzzzzzzzz @ Apr 10th 2006 5:49PM]

"early WiFi days of 2004"??

engadget staff probably also think AOL invented the internet.

[Nick Radonich @ Apr 10th 2006 6:07PM]

Any public place I go, I have a laptop lock cable, which I usually wrap around the table (if it's a very heavy table) or some other known, fixed object. The lock cables are fairly inexpensive and most, if not all laptops have cable lock provisions. I think it would be quite obvious if someone tried to take your laptop and had to carry the whole damn table out the door (one coffee shop I frequent has 50+ lb marble tables). Plus the cables themselves are rather strong, not easily cut.

Just my $.02

[Solver @ Apr 10th 2006 7:32PM]

What they need to do is have really doppy looking people using extremely high tech laptops in public, like BAIT. Then when the criminals attack, a Swat team led by Jack Bauer would take down the thief, and then he would be taken back to CTU headquarters to be interrogated. Once the criminal HQ is located, Jack Bauer would lead an attack and recover all the stolen laptops.

No for real, this needs to happen. They do this for prostitution and other scams. It would be one of the easiet things to pull off as well, and who said this needs to be a real police force. I think a team of maybe like 5 sorta strong nerds could pull it off.

[torcik @ Apr 10th 2006 7:33PM]

Since this is happening in the bay area,a Smith&Wesson 44. Magnum should do the trick. Do you feel lucky punk.

[c.Lake @ Apr 10th 2006 7:58PM]

What is with all this animosity towards San Francisco? Do you really believe that just because you live in the sticks or the mid-west, that automatically makes you safer from crime? You are MORE likely to get attacked in the suburbs or the country, than in the city, because you wont see it coming.

Foolishly believing that you and your kids are safer in the suburbs. Crime happens EVERYWHERE! Which is why criminals target malls and supermarket parking lots, because of that FALSE "sense of security" suburbanites have. Next thing you know -- BOOM! You're the next statistic, crying at the police station, "I can believe this happened here!"

If I sound paranoid -- I am, because, I have no illusions when I walk out my front door.


(Also, as for the "South Park" Smugness joke -- it's totally true. We wear it like a badge of honor, "DON'T HATE!")

[Mike Campbell @ Apr 10th 2006 9:43PM]

@#10

Brilliant! Just wanted to pay my compliments; your post had me laughing my ass off on an otherwise dreary day. I can't believe noone else commented on your clever reworking of that old urban legend that every traveler has probably heard in one form or another.

Nice.

[Brad @ Apr 10th 2006 9:55PM]

Even though I don't live in SF, I guess I might start carrying a knife with me when I take my laptop out in public.

[Jamesology @ Apr 11th 2006 2:06AM]

I thought this was the everday life of americans. Why is this news?

[Corey @ Apr 11th 2006 2:43AM]

I like this idea... But how about if your laptop gets 50 yards away from say your cell phone or something, a self-destruct system activates, the extra drive is actually 1lb of C4... ;) talk about a "power book"!

~P

You know how some people have their wallets attached to small chains or bands of elastic or something? That way, their wallet is attached to them and makes it impossible for thieves to make a getaway with their loot. Maybe they should start implementing some similar thing for laptops - you could have a cord attached to the machine at one end and your wrist or ankle at the other. Just having that cord visible would be useful, since it would serve as a deterrent.

[gadjitfreek @ Apr 11th 2006 5:06AM]

I have decided not to take my little laptop with me when I fly out to Denver this summer...I will be taking a Jornada 720 instead. I will secure my gadget bag to my carry-on bag before placing it on the belt at security. I don't know whose bright idea it was that you have to have your laptop out and exposed on the belt, but as long as that rule in in force, the laptop stays home. The fact that other people find it necessary to hurt other people is a sickening fact of life.

[junyo @ Apr 11th 2006 6:58AM]

@20 "Compare the number of shootings in the UK per capita against the US, and then make a sensible comment about gun-crime." Yes, you're more likely to get shot in the US, but overall you're far more likely to become a victim of a violent crime in the UK/Wales, at least according to the UN's criminal victimization stats. Counter the conventional wisdom, the UK has significantly higher rates of general theft, violent crime - especially "hot" or "push-in" robberies - than the US. And the US crime rates have been falling for the last several decades, even as US gun laws have loosened. That's not apocrypha or a single person sample of "well, there's no crime near me" that's documented fact.

"I wonder how many people have been shot within 15 miles of NY in the last week." Quite a lot I'd imagine. Funny though that NYC has more draconian gun laws than SF, approaching UK levels of control. So does Washington DC and Camden NJ, which perpetually contend for the "Most Dangerous City in America" title. Acknowledging the corelation doesn't prove causation, one can contend that there's no direct link between liberal gun laws and increased public safety, but one would also have to acknowledge that almost no data shows that the disarming of law abidding citizens works to increase their safety, while signifcantly simplifying the criminal's risk/reward calculation. Cheers.

[alternapop @ Apr 11th 2006 4:58PM]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/11/BAGPJI79QB1.DTL

Authorities pulled a man's body from the waters of McCovey Cove in San Francisco near AT&T Park on Monday afternoon, and police are investigating whether the man was a burglary suspect who had been chased from the UCSF Mission Bay campus earlier.

UCSF's public relations office on Monday night issued a statement recounting the following chain of events:

A man entered a community center on UCSF's Mission Bay campus Monday afternoon and stole several laptop computers and other pieces of personal property. Someone at the center dialed 911 shortly before 2 p.m., and UCSF police responded.

Several witnesses at the center reported that the man ran out of the building and at least one person chased him, losing sight of him near the canal of McCovey Cove.

Police and firefighters searched the area around the canal and discovered the body of a man matching the description of the suspect. He is believed to have drowned. The body was identified as Maurice Tillmon, 27, of San Francisco.

[alexdh @ Apr 12th 2006 1:18PM]

San Francisco Starbucks' have notices on their bulletinboards warning patrons about increased laptop theft.

[sarchi @ Apr 13th 2006 2:22AM]

Will this eventually improve security at cafe worldwide