If you came home to find your MacBook Pro's been stolen, you'd be somewhat peeved, understandably. That's exactly what happened to animator Dom tel Torto, when he returned to his flat just off London's Holloway Road on 4 February.
But instead of wanting revenge, he just wanted to find out what'd happened to it. So he activated a tracking app he'd already installed, called Hidden App, The Telegraph reports.
His laptop somehow ended up in Iran's capital Tehran. And while Dom didn't get it back, the story does have a happy ending.
Hidden App not only reported that Dom's laptop was 3,000 miles from his London home, it also sent back photos captured from the webcam, mostly of an unsuspecting family using the device. In an attempt to reclaim his laptop, and all the work and personal files thereon, Dom set up a website called Dom's laptop is in Iran, and posted the images from Hidden App. And they got quite a following around the world.
So much so that the family in the pictures saw them and got in touch with Dom, explaining that they bought they laptop without knowing it'd been stolen. Feeling a little embarrassed about posting pics of innocent people, Dom took down the snaps, and let the family keep the laptop as a gift.
"The innocent new owners of my laptop have been in touch and are mortified about the story and are keen to return the laptop," Dom wrote on the site." Given the huge error of judgement on my part in sharing the story and failing to respect their privacy I have asked them to keep it by means of an apology."
All's well that ends well.
Have you ever had any of your tech pilfered? (Maybe by someone using chopsticks, like this chap.) Did any apps help you get it back? Let me know in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.