Stolen Laptop In London Sends Spy Photos From Iranian Capital

The software send images to Dom whenever the laptop is used, most
 showing a woman in various poses in the same residence

When a burglar broke into a London flat and stole an expensive laptop, its owner was relieved he had taken the time to install security software to track its location. Until it turned up 3,000 miles away in Iran.

Animator Dom Deltorto returned to his north London flat, just off the Holloway Road, on February 4 to find he had been burgled and that his iPad and MacBook Pro were missing. Luckily, he had taken the time to install an application called Hidden App that would report back to him with the laptop's location and photographs taken on the built-in camera.

But for more than a month he heard nothing, until, on March 23 - his birthday
- the software emailed to say that the laptop was in Iran's capital, Tehran. It also attached two images taken from the built-in camera, which appear to show a family who is now using it, framed by the built-in cupboards in a gloomy, windowless room.

The software continues to send images whenever the laptop is used, most showing the same woman in various poses in the same residence.

The software send images to Dom whenever the laptop is used, most 
showing a woman in various poses in the same residence

One shows, inexplicably, her with what appears to be a baby's bib balanced on her head. In another she wears a hooded dressing gown. The software has also shown that the MacBook's new owners have been using it to enjoy music by Iranian artists Dayan and Naser Zeynali.

Armed with these images and an exact location, Mr Deltorto called the Islington burglary squad, who had previously dusted for fingerprints but drawn a blank.

"The software gives you a latitude and longitude and it's supposed to be accurate up to two metres. I phoned them when it got the email and told them it was in Iran and they thought it was funny," he said. "I thought it'd be more local than that."

Unfortunately, the police said that Iran was out of their jurisdiction and that there was little that they could do apart from report it to Interpol - but warned that it was unlikely to be considered a high priority and may not be investigated for several years.

With little hope of an official resolution, Mr Deltorto has now resorted to setting up a website called Dom's laptop is in Iran and posting images and updates from the laptop's new keepers in the hope that somebody will be able to identify them.

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