[PerlAddict]

Long story short, my first trip to Oakland (technically we were going to Emeryville) last Wednesday involved me having to take a couple of BART trains from the airport to get to the shuttle stop for my hotel, and I left my backpack full of electronics in the seat next to me when I transferred from the first train.

Inside it I had my Asus Transformer TF101 with the dock, Kindle 3G Keyboard, and Lumix LX-5 camera, among a variety of other things (wallet with ID, hard drive, headphones, Sansa Clip mp3 player).

I was just curious if anyone had any other ideas for how to track down a wifi-only tablet if it hasn't been formatted already. I already installed "Plan B" from the Android Market via the web, but unfortunately when I was using the tablet on the plane ride over, I turned off wifi and sync. I'm guessing without sync turned on, Plan B won't install with the push-from-browser-market method unless somebody turns it back on.

I called the BART offices several times and submitted a Lost Item report, and I've just been watching my credit cards and accounts to see if I notice anything unusual. The first thing I did was send myself an email to the address on the tablet's first homescreen hoping someone would snoop and get curious, and then get a soft heart. I've also kept an eagle-eyed lookout on Craigslist and Ebay. Since my ID with my address was in the bag, my biggest hope was that maybe some kind-hearted older lady who doesn't know how to use Google found it and decided to pack it up and mail it back to me.

The reality is that at 11:15 PST last night, I got my first hit on whether my stuff had actually been picked up or turned in. Someone used my Kindle to download a free eBook entitled, "La prisión de Black Rock (Spanish Edition)."

So not only does someone definitely have all my stuff, but there's a good chance English isn't their first language. Regardless, I went ahead and sent the following document to my Kindle, entitled "IMPORTANT NOTICE - READ IMMEDIATELY":

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

This Kindle 3G Keyboard, Serial Number XXXXXXXXXXXXX, has been reported to Amazon as lost or stolen. Please immediately contact its rightful owner, registrant XXXXXXXXXXXX, via phone at XXXXXXXXX or via email at xxxxxxxx@gmail.com. Failure to contact its owner within 24 hours will result in this device being erased, locked and blacklisted from Amazon and all related Kindle services.

This Kindle 3G Keyboard was in a backpack that was taken from a train in San Francisco. There were also several other items in the backpack, including a wallet with ID, tablet computer, camera, hard drive, mp3 player, headphones, audio speaker, and a pair of prescription glasses.

A reward is being offered for these items. If you will contact the owner immediately to arrange return of these items, no questions will be asked.

END OF NOTICE

Not holding out much hope now, though, and getting ready to cancel all my credit cards and change my passwords now that I know it's definitely not been turned in to lost & found.

It's a shame more people can't just do the right thing when all the information they need to do so is staring them in the face.

[noxqzs]

That completely sucks man, and definitely contact the banks to freeze the accounts. That should be the first thing you do, always, when dealing with finances.

[PerlAddict]

Thanks. Doing that now. Since they were all Visa cards, I was considering just leaving them open to see if they had any activity I could trace (since the BART police said there was nothing to file a report for since no crime had been committed unless they actually used my ID or finances) or to avoid the hassle should they have turned up in lost and found. But since that's not the case, it's time for all new cards.

I've had my account number memorized for over half my life ... I'm almost more annoyed at that than somebody using my Kindle. Heh.

[gregmacknass]

This is exactly why I always keep my wallet in my pocket. It is such a pain to get a new ID, cards, and everything else. I wouldn't put id theft out of the picture either, seeing that they have your ID. Another reason that when I travel I take my junky 5 year old laptop that is barely worth $150 or so, so if I lose it then it's no big deal. It's easy enough to go and change some online passwords in the off chance the person that found it is tech savvy enough to crack a windows password. Sorry about your luck, and if nothing good comes of the situation, then take it as a lesson learned (be it the hard way).

[PerlAddict]

I can't keep my wallet in my back pocket, unfortunately ... gives me too much back pain. I wish I had a junky old laptop to take with me places; the tablet was a company tablet. Of course, being that the company is a family business that I'm a part of, it still hurts the personal finances a bit. The biggest bummer was the LX-5. That was such an awesome camera. At least I'd downloaded most of the pictures of our kids from it recently.

[Weatherlite]

Well, I can't address the question of how to track it down, but I can recommend that you call the BART main office, Oakland PD and the county sheriff as well. I know it's most likely in someone's possession right now, but as a dispatcher for my county/city PD I am surprised at the number of items people actually turn in. You just never know, an honest person may have been the one to stumble upon it. Besides, you'll likely need/want a police report anyway for the cards/IDs...especially if you happen to have any kind of insurance which might cover the loss of the equipment.

[rollincoaster]

Originally Posted by Weatherlite

Well, I can't address the question of how to track it down, but I can recommend that you call the BART main office, Oakland PD and the county sheriff as well. I know it's most likely in someone's possession right now, but as a dispatcher for my county/city PD I am surprised at the number of items people actually turn in. You just never know, an honest person may have been the one to stumble upon it. Besides, you'll likely need/want a police report anyway for the cards/IDs...especially if you happen to have any kind of insurance which might cover the loss of the equipment.

Based on what he posted above, the person isn't very honest, as they downloaded an ebook in Spanish to the Kindle

[Deathhorse]

crappy story man i try not to tote around anything valuable except my wallet. And if it hurts my back side i move it to the front pocket.