# My MacBook Pro Was Stolen!



## 8127972 (Sep 8, 2005)

I had a break in yesterday afternoon. It set off our security system but by the time the cops got there, the thieves were gone. They took my MacBook Pro along with my wife's gold jewelry. 

The MacBook Pro is password protected, so I figure it's going to end up in a Apple store or AASP at some point as I don't see these guys as being smart enough to remove the password protection. The specs are:

- 15.4" MacBook Pro Santa Rosa Model
- 4GB RAM (aftermarket)
- 250GB hard drive (aftermarket)
- A black skinit.com skin on the back that says "Sends other UNIX boxes to /dev/null/"

The serial number is W87272V3X91 and it was purchased at Carbon Computing Toronto in July 2007. 

If you spot this notebook, call the police and reference report 3111853 and please PM me. 

Thanks for your help.


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

Might as well call local AASPs and let them know as well. A few keep lists of stolen serials.


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

Hopefully the police in TO keep tabs on pawnshops, since that is where many of these stolen items end up. They started a program here in Hamilton and they have found tons of stuff, and of course, since most of these B&E bozos are on drugs, they leave their real name and address with the pawnshop...


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Sorry to hear about your losses.


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## The G3 Man (Oct 7, 2008)

.


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## Snowy (Dec 13, 2008)

Geez. I don't know what happened to my reply.
Too long winded I guess and it disappeared...

Anyways, very sorry for your loss and inconvenience
We had the same thing happen to us a couple of years ago.

There is a program that the police and pawn shops use to merge serial #s and hopefully get a "hit" for stolen property.
The police found the scumbag that broke into our house and they didn't exactly say how they caught him, just "a tip".
I know this program is in Alberta, not sure if it's Canada wide or not.

I sincerely hope they catch whoever is responsible and you get your stuff back.

Don't forget criminals are dumber than a sack of hammers...


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

*The G3 Man* - it's never a good idea to include your name in forum posts. Just a suggestion.


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## 8127972 (Sep 8, 2005)

Thanks for the suggestions and the well wishes. 

I've sent all of the Mac dealers I can think of a message about the theft. I've also had the help of Apple Customer relations as well. Plus I am now the proud owner of a new MacBook Pro (2.66 Ghz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD) as I needed one to try to pull photos off of iPhoto from the SuperDuper backup that gets made nightly (See, backups are important) so that I can file my insurance claim. 

One other thing, I had a motion sensitive camera in my place that took pictures of the dirtbags. The cops have these and they've said that "we've gotten people with less" so I'm hopeful that these dirtbags are going to be in jail shortly.


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

8127972 said:


> Thanks for the suggestions and the well wishes.
> 
> I've sent all of the Mac dealers I can think of a message about the theft. I've also had the help of Apple Customer relations as well. Plus I am now the proud owner of a new MacBook Pro (2.66 Ghz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD) as I needed one to try to pull photos off of iPhoto from the SuperDuper backup that gets made nightly (See, backups are important) so that I can file my insurance claim.
> 
> One other thing, I had a motion sensitive camera in my place that took pictures of the dirtbags. The cops have these and they've said that "we've gotten people with less" so I'm hopeful that these dirtbags are going to be in jail shortly.


sorry to hear about that, but it sounds like you're doing everything possible to get it back.

i don't work for these folks, but I have this installed on my machine.

http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/

You might want to review it for your new machine just in case.

Good luck getting the old one back and keep us posted.

Cheers,
keebler


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## RunTheWorldOnMac (Apr 23, 2006)

The Doug said:


> *The G3 Man* - it's never a good idea to include your name in forum posts. Just a suggestion.


Man you must be bored.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

8127972 said:


> One other thing, I had a motion sensitive camera in my place that took pictures of the dirtbags. The cops have these and they've said that "we've gotten people with less" so I'm hopeful that these dirtbags are going to be in jail shortly.


Can you tell us about the setup? It would be useful to know what works.

Also, when they're caught, please do update us.


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## FeXL (Jan 2, 2004)

HowEver said:


> Also, when they're caught, please do update us.


Yeah, we'll be by with pitchforks, tar, feathers & a long pole...


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## 8127972 (Sep 8, 2005)

HowEver said:


> Can you tell us about the setup? It would be useful to know what works.
> 
> Also, when they're caught, please do update us.


I'll update you accordingly. 

The camera setup comes from a company called Axis and the specific camera I am using is this one:

AXIS 207W Wireless Network Camera - with built-in microphone for audio | Axis Communications

It has a built in distro of Linux that has an SMTP server, web server and custom software to detect motion and light changes. Basically you can configure the camera to monitor a specific area and if there's any motion or light changes in that area, it sends you an e-mail with pictures attached. You can also route video through the webserver and access it live via the web page. I have a static IP so I set up my router to route port 80 to the internal IP of the camera (which is also static). You can also have it save video via FTP to another location (I haven't done that part). 

So in my case, it caught the break in as well as 6 of Toronto's finest entering my place with guns drawn. The cops have all of the images and we'll see what happens next. 

Just to warn you, the camera isn't cheap. But Axis are the people you want to go to for IP based video security. If you see a camera at a shopping center or someplace else, chances are it's an Axis product. That's why I went with it.


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

8127972 said:


> One other thing, I had a motion sensitive camera in my place that took pictures of the dirtbags. The cops have these and they've said that "we've gotten people with less" so I'm hopeful that these dirtbags are going to be in jail shortly.


Cool!! Sounds like you have a pretty slick security system.


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## 8127972 (Sep 8, 2005)

kloan said:


> Cool!! Sounds like you have a pretty slick security system.


Sadly not slick enough. I care about the fact that I lost my MacBook Pro, but I had it backed up so some time this afternoon transferring things over to the new one and I was largely back in Business. 

What I really feel gutted about is my wife's jewelry. Most of what was stolen were gifts from our wedding. A lot of it imported. You can't replace that. I really feel bad that she lost that stuff. I wish I could have done more to prevent it.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

It's an obvious suggestion and of course the police are covering this angle as well, but that jewelry is bound to turn up in a local (yes I know the GTA is huge) pawn shop at some point.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

8127972 said:


> Sadly not slick enough. I care about the fact that I lost my MacBook Pro, but I had it backed up so some time this afternoon transferring things over to the new one and I was largely back in Business.
> 
> What I really feel gutted about is my wife's jewelry. Most of what was stolen were gifts from our wedding. A lot of it imported. You can't replace that. I really feel bad that she lost that stuff. I wish I could have done more to prevent it.


Sounds to me like you took all reasonable precaution. No need to feel badly about that. Crap happens.


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## sashmo (Oct 19, 2002)

keebler27 said:


> i don't work for these folks, but I have this installed on my machine.
> 
> http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/
> 
> ...


Thanks for that info. I'm going to check that out.


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## RC51Pilot (Mar 26, 2004)

Cool security setup - now if you could just connect a mini-gun to that, loaded with non-lethal rounds of course, that would be something to see them get pelted as they run right back out the door. 

Hope you get your stuff back, and I really hope these scumbags get caught.


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## Snowy (Dec 13, 2008)

Another thing that would really help is engraving your name and phone # on everything of value.
I bought an engraver at Home Depot for around $30 and it works great. Just takes a bit of practice to get used to.

I know, I also had jewelry stolen and it's gone forever. That one really hurt. The electronics can be replaced, but different with jewelry.

When I went down to the police station to collect some recovered items, it turned my stomach to see some of the stuff recovered and what sentimental value that I'm sure much of it, had to innocent people.


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## bgw (Jan 8, 2008)

Jewellery goes to the bank. It should sit in a safety deposit box 95% of the time!

Sorry about your loss. Hope the police nail the bastards.


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## 8127972 (Sep 8, 2005)

I just purchased Undercover (thanks Keebler). I also have installed iAlertU as well so that I am covered when I go to a coffee shop or something. 

Just as an update. The police will have video from my condo from the timeframe of the break-in sometime tomorrow or Monday. Every entrance and exit has a video camera, so the police should be able to see them leaving. That will hopefully help catch the scumbags.


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## The G3 Man (Oct 7, 2008)

Student license: $39

Im buying undercover 

Morgan


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## Chas3 (Jul 14, 2007)

If only we could shoot burglars in the kneecap, ahh one can dream.


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## 8127972 (Sep 8, 2005)

I have some pictures to share from my break in. Below are the suspects from the break in. The images are from my condo entrance and are the best lead the police have. We're looking for the black female and the black male in these pictures. Please take a look at them and if you recognize them, call Toronto Police and reference occurrence 3111853. Alternately, you can call CrimeStoppers at 222-TIPS if you don't want to give your name, but please reference the same occurrence number. 

Thanks.


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## Griz (Apr 2, 2008)

There was a news article a while back of a woman who was able to remotely access her mac with her mobile account and take pictures of the thief (turned out she knew him). 

Similar to this Undercover thing. 

Just saying that, hey, if you can remotely access your computer...try (you probably did already).

I shut up now.


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

*good luck*

I hope you get it back.


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## Griz (Apr 2, 2008)

Chas3 said:


> If only we could shoot burglars in the kneecap, ahh one can dream.


Oh you're too nice!

two words: "power tools"

beejacon


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## imobile (Oct 6, 2007)

*Maybe a 'paint' gun?*



RC51Pilot said:


> Cool security setup - now if you could just connect a mini-gun to that, loaded with non-lethal rounds of course, that would be something to see them get pelted as they run right back out the door.
> 
> Hope you get your stuff back, and I really hope these scumbags get caught.


Japanese police are looking into that as a weapon.
Why not?
Japanese police think they can use paintball guns to stop criminals | Japan Probe

Tis a sad reflection upon society that such security now seems necessary in one's 'castle' ....


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

I'm quoting this for a reason (which I'll explain in a few days).




The G3 Man said:


> Ouch, seems to be a lot of break-ins lately. Our garage was broken into on the weekend and 3 generators, a compressor, a wheelbarrow, and a gas-powered chain-saw was taken.
> 
> What area are you in?
> 
> Morgan Figueiredo


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## macintosh doctor (Mar 23, 2009)

8127972 said:


> I had a break in yesterday afternoon. It set off our security system but by the time the cops got there, the thieves were gone. They took my MacBook Pro along with my wife's gold jewelry.
> 
> The MacBook Pro is password protected, so I figure it's going to end up in a Apple store or AASP at some point as I don't see these guys as being smart enough to remove the password protection. The specs are:
> 
> ...


I am sorry for your loss, but the police have done their job and thats where it ends..
Now you have to decide what its value of your loss and claim it with insurance, but insurance will not cover gold unless you had that policy - that said, should you file a claim know that your claim will be on file for 9 years. if you claim - you will be considered high risk, going forward and I believe there is a total of 3 lifetime claims before they write you off.. [ unwritten insurance rules.. - they suck.. don't they ? - had this happen to a client. ]

Your best bet is 1. not post your personal info on the internet. police report # 
2. you gave so much info that if a thief would not want to sell on ehmac - you gave him a heads up.
3. just post the specs and serial number. but that too is a lot of info.
[ I know you are calling mr. negative by now.. just trying to help. ]

Here is a story that happened to our client. their sales rep left a laptop on the front seat of the car, laptop was stolen. The thief waited 30 days before using the unit. we know this because we installed Orbicule | Undercover - Anti Theft solution for Mac OS X: Recover your Stolen Apple Computer
which allowed us to find out the address and IP where the thief was, plus took screen captures of the thief, key logging and website shots and emailed us regularly. 
we took that to the Police.. they arrested and recovered the laptop.. great software..
now the bad news, the thief was a career criminal who vowed to hunt down my client and educate them LOL [ my client left that job for another ].. 
moral of the story you can't always win.


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## macintosh doctor (Mar 23, 2009)

just remember if the criminals troll this site, they may get upset and pay another visit.. 
just saying.. be careful.. as it happens in 3s..

edit.. I hope you didn't store Visa numbers, SIN etc on the computer. if you did.. 
call up all your credit cards up and report your SIN as stolen as well.. 
because now you have a possibility of identity theft on your hands too.
Change all your passwords to your sites you deal with. Not sure how computer savvy these criminals are.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

There are definitely criminals checking in.. but the thread started in 2009.



macintosh doctor said:


> just remember if the criminals troll this site, they may get upset and pay another visit..


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## macintosh doctor (Mar 23, 2009)

HowEver said:


> There are definitely criminals checking in.. but the thread started in 2009.



damn, I should check dates more often. 
seems to be happening a lot on ehmac lately.


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## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

Own up to it, HowEver: you think you have purchased a stolen MBP, right? Not your fault exactly... Do you have an ID on the sellers? Am I right at all? If I'm right restitution between forum members is only proper. Well, good luck to all, maybe I'm guessing wrong. Just a hunch, maybe reading too much between the lines.
Never forget the existence of PM here.


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## macintosh doctor (Mar 23, 2009)

hexdiy said:


> Own up to it, HowEver: you think you have purchased a stolen MBP, right? Not your fault exactly... Do you have an ID on the sellers? Am I right at all? If I'm right restitution between forum members is only proper. Well, good luck to all, maybe I'm guessing wrong. Just a hunch, maybe reading too much between the lines.
> Never forget the existence of PM here.


WHAT!?!


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## HenriHelvetica (Oct 4, 2011)

i was wondering why this got bumped. Nice that it did though. That undercover app seems pretty useful. Can it and find My Mac work in sync?


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Nope.

I bumped the thread because Morgan Figueiredo (he also goes by Morgan Fleming) used his own name in his own posts here for a while, including this thread--and for the irony of him posting in a thread about stolen Apple stuff. He goes by "The G3 Man," and "mmfphotodude" in some places also.

He scammed me for cash for an iPhone that didn't exist, and he has scammed others, possibly many others, in many ways. He was arrested by the Toronto Police in February 2015, and then again in March 2015, and charged with multiple counts of Personation with Intent to Gain Advantage (identity theft), and multiple counts of Fraud Under $5,000, with more charges coming apparently.

It's possible he scammed other ehMac members also, maybe through ehMac or through other associations.

Feel free to post away.






hexdiy said:


> Own up to it, HowEver: you think you have purchased a stolen MBP, right? Not your fault exactly... Do you have an ID on the sellers? Am I right at all? If I'm right restitution between forum members is only proper. Well, good luck to all, maybe I'm guessing wrong. Just a hunch, maybe reading too much between the lines.
> Never forget the existence of PM here.


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## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

You have my sincerest apologies, However. At least now we know why you have posted, and it was very brave to do so. Sorry again!


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## HenriHelvetica (Oct 4, 2011)

DANG! ppl suck.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Thanks for that.



hexdiy said:


> You have my sincerest apologies, However. At least now we know why you have posted, and it was very brave to do so. Sorry again!


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## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

Utterly welcome. And no, I'm not from Japan


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## BReligion (Jun 21, 2006)

That's unfortunate to hear. He actually just sent me a PM about device unlocking through AT&T for my original iPhone 2G the other day.. was to the real AT&T site as far as I could tell. Seemed completely legit.

BReligion


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

hexdiy said:


> Own up to it, HowEver: you think you have purchased a stolen MBP, right? Not your fault exactly... Do you have an ID on the sellers? Am I right at all? If I'm right restitution between forum members is only proper. Well, good luck to all, maybe I'm guessing wrong. Just a hunch, maybe reading too much between the lines.
> Never forget the existence of PM here.


this is one of the biggest leaps in logic I've ever seen. were there posts deleted that would make this make any kind of sense?


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## macintosh doctor (Mar 23, 2009)

HenriHelvetica said:


> i was wondering why this got bumped. Nice that it did though. That undercover app seems pretty useful. Can it and find My Mac work in sync?


the answer is yes.. but undercover is way better.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

So, you're a pretty _massive_ fan of hyperbole, right? There was no harm done by hexdiy.



broad said:


> this is one of the biggest leaps in logic I've ever seen. were there posts deleted that would make this make any kind of sense?


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

It looks like "The G3 Man" was a forum member long enough to delete his post in this thread, if not others. He is charged with identify theft and fraud by the Toronto police, perhaps elsewhere as well.

He remains: Morgan Figueiredo (aka Morgan Fleming), @mmfphotodude, [email protected] etc.

Perhaps this deserves a thread of its own.





HowEver said:


> I'm quoting this for a reason (which I'll explain in a few days).


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## sashmo (Oct 19, 2002)

There are a number of replies here and maybe this has been mentioned or maybe there's good reason for not mentioning it but what about Find My Mac:

https://www.apple.com/ca/support/icloud/find-my-device/


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## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

broad said:


> this is one of the biggest leaps in logic I've ever seen. were there posts deleted that would make this make any kind of sense?


Admittedly, my post was a bold but educated guess based on reading HowEver's 2015 posts in this old thread, being intrigued by the hints in them:


HowEver said:


> I'm quoting this for a reason (which I'll explain in a few days).





HowEver said:


> There are definitely criminals checking in.. but the thread started in 2009.


 And meant to provoke some clarification from the part of HowEver. Which it did, to the education/warning of all forum members here.
Once again, HowEver, sorry for this move. But thank you for bravely coming forward the way you have!
@ broad: yes, post # 5 by The G3 Man was deleted; not only that, but predictably enough it was


> Last edited by The G3 Man; Mar 16th, 2015 at 09:34 PM


.Probably to get rid of the signature.
Post # 5 must have read:


> Ouch, seems to be a lot of break-ins lately. Our garage was broken into on the weekend and 3 generators, a compressor, a wheelbarrow, and a gas-powered chain-saw was taken.
> 
> What area are you in?
> 
> Morgan Figueiredo


 (See post #30).
Also see post #7:


The Doug said:


> *The G3 Man* - it's never a good idea to include your name in forum posts. Just a suggestion.


Hows that for sleuthing, broad? Sounds a bit more logical now?


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

This takes a while to make its way through the legal system. Bumping it up.



HowEver said:


> Nope.
> 
> I bumped the thread because Morgan Figueiredo (he also goes by Morgan Fleming) used his own name in his own posts here for a while, including this thread--and for the irony of him posting in a thread about stolen Apple stuff. He goes by "The G3 Man," and "mmfphotodude" in some places also.
> 
> ...


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

At least now any potential buyer will get a shock if he's still selling and they check the web for any of the names he's used. "Scammer" seems to be a popular description… even if some of the posts seem familiar… 

https://www.google.ca/search?client...&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&ei=U2Z3VdCsFeHs8weswIHQBw


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Looks like he wants people to think that he thinks he got away with it. WHILE ADMITTING THAT HE DID IT. Not the brightest capacitor on the motherboard.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

And now.. he's claiming it was a laugh to see who's paying attention, as if people are just going to look away. Don't think so, Morgan. This is going to follow you for the rest of your days.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

He's still waiting for a trial date.




HowEver said:


> It looks like "The G3 Man" was a forum member long enough to delete his post in this thread, if not others. He is charged with identify theft and fraud by the Toronto police, perhaps elsewhere as well.
> 
> He remains: Morgan Figueiredo (aka Morgan Fleming), @mmfphotodude, [email protected] etc.
> 
> Perhaps this deserves a thread of its own.


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## hexdiy (Dec 18, 2011)

"Perhaps this deserves a thread of its own." I'm starting to think you are right. Scottfree, he thinks himself to be, right. We"ll see.
Scot free - meaning and origin.
Sadly, he is also flaunting an Apple adress: [email protected], and on MacRumors as well: mmfphotodude, macrumors member.
This could be real, could be a matter of identity theft as well.
Ok, let me look up some.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

There's this thread, also:
Morgan Figueiredo / Morgan Fleming / mmfphotodude is a scammer - RedFlagDeals.com Forums


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

The G3 Man / Morgan Figueiredo / Morgan Fleming / mmfphotodude

has now plead guilty to fraud and personation, serious offences.


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## andreww (Nov 20, 2002)

I remember selling my iPhone 2G to that guy. Thought it was strange that he was buying that phone because I knew he already had a couple of them and he was selling them as fast as he was buying them. I wonder if he was just buying them to try and extract personal info?


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