MacBook Bandit Caught with “Hidden” App

Thanks to the power of modern-day technology, an Oakland, California man was able to retrieve his stolen MacBook yesterday.

A thief broke into Joshua Kaufman’s apartment on March 21, taking his MacBook and a few pieces of jewelry.  Fortunately for Kaufman, however, he had installed the app called “Hidden” on his laptop in December, which allowed him to take pictures of the thief and capture his Google ID.

Kaufman's MacBook was able to capture photos of the thief thanks to the app Hidden.

Frustrated that the police weren’t focusing too much on the case, Kaufman decided to put the pictures on a Tumblr blog last Friday, which he aptly titled “This Guy Has My MacBook.” The website features four different pictures of the man, reportedly named Muthanna Albedashi, as well as a screenshot of the bandit signing into his Google account and one of him deleting Kaufman’s MacBook account.

The blog spread like wildfire and helped Kaufman’s case gain more priority within the Oakland Police Department.

“I reported the crime to the police and even told them where it was, but they couldn’t help me due to lack of resources,” Kaufman said on the Tumblr. “The tumblelog didn’t receive much attention until I tweeted about it on the morning of Tuesday, May 31. Within a few hours, it was tweeted and liked thousands of times. Late Tuesday afternoon, I received a call from Officer Joshi of the Oakland Police Department after she was contacted by ‘Good Morning America.’ She told me that the Oakland Police Department would be following up on my case immediately.”

Hours after calling the blogger, police arrested Albedashi thanks to Kaufman’s collection of evidence.

“An Oakland police officer just called me to let me know that they arrested the guy in my photos!” he posted Tuesday night. “ BOOYA! The police used my evidence (email which pointed to a cab service) that he was a driver and tricked him into picking them up. Nice work OPD!”

The Hidden app Kaufman used to retrieve his MacBook will, according to its website, locate a stolen computer “anywhere on the planet,” collect photos of the thief and screen shots of the computer in use, and will also help the owner work with the police when recovering the stolen computer. It is available for Mac users only and costs $15 for a year of protection.