28 CommentsBwog’s just been tipped that at least four laptops were stolen roughly between the hours of 2 and 4 this afternoon. At least 2 from Claremont, 1 from Wien, and 1 from McBain. A Claremont security guard reports seeing three “unfamiliar faces” being signed into the building between those hours this afternoon. Another tipster informs us that there are large signs at the Wien security desk alerting everyone to lock their doors. If you saw something or know anything, tip us and call Public Safety at 212-854-2797.
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28 Comments
@Anonymous The attacks seem coordinated, since laptop thefts aren’t that common, especially when they occur during the same time period, to the same class (all sophomores), and are all macbooks. no one individual would be stupid enough to go to all 4 dorms in a short time span, the most likely thing is a group of 2 or more students who coordinated the thefts.
@Public Safety Public Safety offers a free service called PC Phone Home. Go to Low 101 and ask them for this service. This is like a GPS thing for your computer, if someone steals your laptop, and turns it on, it will send a signal that will be picked up by the New York Police Department. They have recovered stolen Columbia laptops in places as far away as Dubai using this service. Additionally, you can get your laptop engraved and registered with the NYPD there. They put a sticker on the bottom of your laptop which may deter criminals from taking your specific laptop in the first place.
You may need to make an appointment, so call in advance.
@lazy sometimes if I’m sitting in my room doing something / trying to nap / just being really fucking lazy I will just not answer the door unless I’m expecting someone or they knock several times, expressing urgency. if someone came in to my suite while I was chilling in my bed, thought I wasn’t home and then tried to come in my room and steal my shit? OH HELLLL NO.
I can’t even imagine how large of a shit I would flip. We have really sharp knives and heavy pots in my kitchen, and trust me, this thief would not want to be at the receiving end of my frightened surprise.
you have been warned.
@... it is definitely a student who lives in the housing system. they got in by swiping. and they used their real id because the security at cmont definitely knows the claremontians. and laptops fit in backpacks so unsuspiciosly. does security have the right to look through your bag on your way out of a building? i don’t think so. this was not security’s fault. i wish we could be more trusting and leave our doors open without worrying about potential assholes.
it’s pretty clever to steal at this time, because suite selection is so soon. i wouldn’t be too alarmed if someone rang my doorbell and asked for a tour to help with their decision. or if no one answers they can open my unlocked door and… kleptomagic
@Hmm No shit, Sherlock. What do you think Public Safety is doing?
@lolol Obviously, public safety failed here. Keep digging, Watson!
@Obviously? Public safety generally sucks, but I don’t think its at all obvious that they’re to blame for this one. Especially if the students left their doors unlocked, and especially especially if the thieves were students themselves.
@A clever thief would’ve stolen someone else’s id. What guard actually looks at the photo?
@Anonymous actually, I tried borrowing someone else’s ID when I had left mine in a friends room my freshman year (I didn’t know better, obviously)… and the guard actually checked the name, didn’t let me in of course, and kept the person’s ID and made them go to Low security office to retrieve it.
I felt retarded. So yeah, learn from my stupid mistake and just don’t do it.
@Hmm: This is probably why they make people swipe in. They can check to see if anyone’s CUID was swiped in to all three of those places in that time period.
@Anonymous there’s a glitch on the site. when i click next page/page 2, i get sent to the mobile site instead.
@Hans Does this happen consistently or only every once in a while?
@Anonymous happens to me consistently
@Hans Could you do me a favor and send us (either by form or email) some details, such as what browser you’re using?
@Anonymous happened to me too, im using firefox 3.5.8 for mac os x 10.5
@Yes, they should check for matching names, but if the thieves had any sense, they wouldn’t leave their real names/IDs . . .
@True, but They still would need three separate students to sign them in (because you have to live in the building to sign someone in, and because they could easily check who the student was that signed them in through the book and swipe records).
Something’s fishy…
@that is if that person gave their real name too. Nobody ever checks those, and they really should.
@I'm no CSI but why don’t they just check the sign in log for those buildings? if the same people’s names come up for each affected building, that’s a pretty good sign. there can’t be that many guests signing in on a weekday afternoon. isn’t this the exact point of the sign in sheets?
@that only works if it was actually visitors and not students. Which as much as I seriously hope it wasn’t students, I think I prefer that to the thought of random people coming in and thieving things
@Anonymous I read this and for a second looked around to see if the laptop I was reading this on had been stolen.
@hehe Me too! and i thought i was the only one retarded enough to do that…
@wow lmao me three
@Varun hahahha amazing.
@wait aren’t a lot of people that get signed in “unfamiliar faces?”
Its also weird, because who (besides drunkies at 2 AM) checks random rooms to see if they’re unlocked?
@Kid I used to swipe IDs for Public Safety and a lot of the time, people would sign in the same person or people pretty consistently. I dunno, friends/siblings/boyfriends/girlfriends who live or go to school nearby? It wasn’t all that common that I would see a totally new face get signed in.
But yeah, checking random rooms to see if they’re unlocked is pretty damn weird. Lock your doors, people!
@Agreed I used to see the same group of visitors so often that I knew most of them by name, as well as the people they were going to see. Of course there are always a few new people, but the majority of visitors entering dorms are regulars.
@Also That’s assuming they were going into unlocked rooms. Dorm room locks are incredibly insecure, I can think of at least three different ways to pick/circumvent most of the locks, and have easily broken into my own room after being locked out.
The most vital part of dorm security is keeping people out of the building who don’t belong, and public safety does a good job of that overall. If the person(s) did belong in the building, then we’re in real trouble. A fellow student (or better, a group of students) could easily find out the class schedules of other students, make sure the kid left the building, and pop, grab a laptop.
Moral of the story: if someone wants to steal your shit, they will. We’re very lucky to be in a place where so few people want to steal our shit.