Bitcoin stolen while laptop was in Apple store

#1

Post by golubevpavel » Thu, Feb 13, 2014, 6:44 PM UTC

This is a sad story how I got robbed for $8500 while my laptop was in Apple Store.

I dropped my laptop at Apple Store, the Falls in Miami to fix minor cooling system issue on Feb 2. And picked it up on February 4. Cooling system was fine, but when I launched my Bitcoin wallet, I realized that over 10BTC (worth $8500 at that moment) has been transferred from my wallet (https://blockchain.info/tree/111322425) on Feb 3, 20:25, when my laptop was in Apple. It was very stupid, but yes, my wallet was not encrypted.

I checked Mac system logs and it says that my laptop has been booted on Feb 3, 20:36, only 11 minutes after my BTC have been stolen. Looks like someone has connected my laptop as external drive and scanned it before booting it up.

I never used my wallet on other devices. I never download suspicious stuff from the Internet. I never hand my laptop to anyone else. I have not been using my wallet for about a month before I dropped it at Apple.

Nevertheless, I downloaded latest antivirus software and performed full system scan — no viruses.

I filed a police report and talked to the manager at Apple Store. It's been a week and there is no update.

$8500. Nobody cares. I wonder what else people copy from laptops when you drop it for service.

The moral of the story — encrypt your drives.

Re: Bitcoin stolen while laptop was in Apple store

#2

Post by nppc » Thu, Feb 13, 2014, 6:51 PM UTC

Moral of the story - do not leave your money with others if you want it back.

Re: Bitcoin stolen while laptop was in Apple store

#3

Post by patio11 » Thu, Feb 13, 2014, 6:57 PM UTC

Speak to an attorney. You may have signed something which waives all claims, but even if you don't have a prayer of winning in a court, at the very least an attorney is going to pester the heck out of Apple rather than waiting around by the phone for them to make it their problem.

Re: Bitcoin stolen while laptop was in Apple store

#4

Post by d0 » Thu, Feb 13, 2014, 7:03 PM UTC

Moral of the story: don't deal with the Apple Store. The amount of people I know who have had their data trashed (after possibly being cloned) is quite high. The solution to most problems is wipe the machine. They usually come to me after telling them to fuck off. I haven't had to destroy a single machine yet.

We're talking trivial shit like an HP printer driver thrashing the CPU or corrupt mail folders.

Seriously, 11 people so far and I don't repair Macs for a living.

I wouldn't trust them with an etch-a-sketch.

Also treat your computer like a credit card. If it goes out of sight, you're fucked, encrypted or not. FileVault and BitLocker are faulty by design.

Re: Bitcoin stolen while laptop was in Apple store

#5

Post by golubevpavel » Thu, Feb 13, 2014, 7:08 PM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #3

Speak to an attorney. You may have signed something which waives all claims, but even if you don't have a prayer of winning in a court, at the very least an attorney is going to pester the heck out of Apple rather than waiting around by the phone for them to make it their problem.

Well, yes, they informed me that I might lose my data, but they did not inform me, that it might be stolen.

I tried to settle it down, but it looks you are right and I have to hire an attorney to get my money back. I wonder how much it will cost me.

Re: Bitcoin stolen while laptop was in Apple store

#6

Post by ef47d35620c1 » Thu, Feb 13, 2014, 7:09 PM UTC

Sorry to hear about your loss. I hope they catch the thief.

Another very good reason to encrypt your hard drive is to prevent others from placing data on it. If they can access the drive, their motive may be to frame you by placing illegal files on your drive rather than simply taking your files.

Think about it.

Re: Bitcoin stolen while laptop was in Apple store

#7

Post by golubevpavel » Thu, Feb 13, 2014, 7:11 PM UTC

ef47d35620c1 wrote: post #6

Sorry to hear about your loss. I hope they catch the thief. Another very good reason to encrypt your hard drive is to prevent others from placing data on it. If they can access the drive, their motive may be to frame you by placing illegal files on your drive rather than simply taking your files. Think about it.

I never suspected it could happen at Apple. And it's not about $10, you know. It's $8500! I was counting on that money.

Re: Bitcoin stolen while laptop was in Apple store

#8

Post by golubevpavel » Thu, Feb 13, 2014, 7:15 PM UTC

d0 wrote: post #4

Moral of the story: don't deal with the Apple Store. The amount of people I know who have had their data trashed (after possibly being cloned) is quite high. The solution to most problems is wipe the machine. They usually come to me after telling them to fuck off. I haven't had to destroy a single machine yet. We're talking trivial shit like an HP printer driver thrashing the CPU or corrupt mail folders. Seriously, 1…

Hm. What's wrong with FileVault?

I knew that there could be some issues with my laptop after service it Apple, they informed me about it. But I thought to myself, come on, it's just a minor cooler issue, they won't even need to login to fix it. How could they possible break anything.

Re: Bitcoin stolen while laptop was in Apple store

#9

Post by headShrinker » Thu, Feb 13, 2014, 7:20 PM UTC

ef47d35620c1 wrote: post #6

Sorry to hear about your loss. I hope they catch the thief. Another very good reason to encrypt your hard drive is to prevent others from placing data on it. If they can access the drive, their motive may be to frame you by placing illegal files on your drive rather than simply taking your files. Think about it.

Maybe I'm not hearing you right. You are talking about a conspiracy to frame a complete stranger? While it's possible and easily doable, dare I ask, "why would anyone care to do this?". For fun? What financial gain is there in framing a stranger?

My drives are encrypted btw.

Re: Bitcoin stolen while laptop was in Apple store

#10

Post by d0 » Thu, Feb 13, 2014, 7:22 PM UTC

golubevpavel wrote: post #8

d0 wrote: post #4

Moral of the story: don't deal with the Apple Store. The amount of people I know who have had their data trashed (after possibly being cloned) is quite high. The solution to most problems is wipe the machine. They usually come to me after telling them to fuck off. I haven't had to destroy a single machine yet. We're talking trivial shit like an HP printer driver thrashing the CPU or corrupt mail folders. Seriously, 1…

Hm. What's wrong with FileVault? I knew that there could be some issues with my laptop after service it Apple, they informed me about it. But I thought to myself, come on, it's just a minor cooler issue, they won't even need to login to fix it. How could they possible break anything.

FileValult problems: http://mjtsai.com/blog/2012/08/07/filevault-2s-apple-id-back...

AFAIK they don't login to fix hardware issues -- they netboot diagnostics software but on multiple occasions I was informed by people that Apple had "made a backup of their system" before a reinstall. What that entails and what the retention policy is, I do not know but I suspect unless they're doing a three-pass erase on their temporary storage devices afterwards (which is unlikely) then your data is easy pickings...

My MBP, which is incidentally knackered, is still FileVault encrypted. It will stop a casual theif getting in but not much more