Breaking into Mac laptop

[Kevin]

Oh he has his email address but can’t actually login?

PM me the email I can do a cursory look.

Unfortunately if he worked for Rackspace, he probably had decent security practices.

[Burnadell]

Thanks, Kevin. You are correct about the location of the Model #. I looked at mine, and it is just so small that I had to get a magnifying glass. My bI is on his way to Dallas today to finish cleaning out his son's condo.

[dustoffer]

I have an iPad that updated and then I was unable to unlock it as I had forgotten the password. Took it to an apple store and they wouldn’t unlock it without the sales receipt to prove I was the owner and it wasn’t stolen.

In this case, with a death certificate, you might be able to get it opened.

[AtTheWall]

Have his Dad look for an external backup drive, his son may of used periodic updates to run backups externally to cover his data. If he used TimeMachine (MACs backup program), you may be able to mount this external backup drive to your MAC, and check for access?

The newer MAC Book Pro laptops come with a T2 chip, you can't pull the SSD (drive) out and mount it since the drive is encrypted by the T2 chip on the primary MACs motherboard.

If he turned on FILEVAULT, it will be impossible to gain access to any data and or login info. By default, FILEVAULT is not turned on and must be specifically selected by the owner.

Find his backup drive. If you do, you can locate a relatively newer MAC, and run a restore from his TimeMachine backup, to a different MAC but, the hope is, he didn't encrypt his backups to the external drive.

If he did, it will be impossible to gain access to the backup.

[TxBowHntr]

I am sorry for what your BIL is having to go through. Prayers up for the family.

I am not tech savvy so I am not trying to give advice on how to get into the computer. But a potential solution to the problem would be to go to the bank and have them freeze the account(s). It seems like this would be an easier solution to stopping the withdrawals than getting into the laptop. A power of attorney and/or death certificate should be enough to have the accounts frozen.

[WItoTX]

Another option is go to the bank and freeze all withdrawals

Sent from my motorola one 5G UW ace using Tapatalk

This. Bring evidence to bank, tell them everything needs to be frozen, and start there.

Also, how do they know there are withdrawal's from the account if they do not have access?

[AtTheWall]

And prayers and condolences to you and the family - Mr. Randy.

[jmac24]

My son had his Mac stolen in College Station in December. He could look on his phone and give the police a general idea where it was as long as it was still on. He went to the Best Buy guys to get another one and told them his story. They did a little digging and told him that unless they found someone on the inside at Apple, no one was getting into the computer. Not sure if it is true, but this is what the Geek told him.

[yaqui]

1. Get a death certifiacate.
2. Have his bank accounts frozen.
3. Talk to the folks at Rackspace about the current password her was using. It might be the same. But there may be a way to check the password login via Terminal.
4. His backup may be on the cloud.
5. Have his dad look all around the house for a password for the laptop. And a password for a Password app that stores all his passwords. Most tech folks do this.
6. The passwords may be different for each bank account and for each service.
Good luck to you.
It is not impossible, but it may take a long while. Have the dad talk to his other tech friends and ask them too, they may have taken about it. I keep an envelope at work that says open if I am dead. It has my master password to my password app. I have no idea what my passwords are for anything. Except TBH. That one is pretty easy...

[Burnadell]

Thanks for alll of your input. For the record, his bank account is now frozen, and he has a death certificate. This is a complicated story, and my BIL is 82 years old, going blind, almost dysfunctional, and is hardheaded and a dumbarse...has not listened to my advice.

His 51 year old son was a hoarder and shopaholic. When my wife drove them to Dallas for the first time to the condo (6 days after his son had died!), they were all in shock and overwhelmed at what they saw. His son had a roommate, and his roommate's friend were there and had already gone through everything. Both of them are tech guys, and we believe they withdrew the funds from his 401k/bank and likely his passwords. Not only that, his son's wallet and telephone were missing. It is a fustercluck, and my nephew in Dallas has now taken charge, but he does not like confrontation and has not confronted the roommate and his friend, so I have been trying to guide them...problem is they don't listen and ignore my advice!!! Before my BIL and SIL went to Dallas to his son's condo I gave them a legal pad with a long list of things they needed to do to get control of his estate and assets. They did not follow my instructions and tossed the list!

[ThisLadyHunts]

Thanks for alll of your input. For the record, his bank account is now frozen, and he has a death certificate. This is a complicated story, and my BIL is 82 years old, going blind, almost dysfunctional, and is hardheaded and a dumbarse...has not listened to my advice.

His 51 year old son was a hoarder and shopaholic. When my wife drove them to Dallas for the first time to the condo (6 days after his son had died!), they were all in shock and overwhelmed at what they saw. His son had a roommate, and his roommate's friend were there and had already gone through everything. Both of them are tech guys, and we believe they withdrew the funds from his 401k/bank and likely his passwords. Not only that, his son's wallet and telephone were missing. It is a fustercluck, and my nephew in Dallas has now taken charge, but he does not like confrontation and has not confronted the roommate and his friend, so I have been trying to guide them...problem is they don't listen and ignore my advice!!! Before my BIL and SIL went to Dallas to his son's condo I gave them a legal pad with a long list of things they needed to do to get control of his estate and assets. They did not follow my instructions and tossed the list!

With all of what I know was very specific advice and a thoroughly detail list, at the end of the day, when you send the little fish into the shark tank, all they get is devoured. Send a shark.

[Burnadell]

With all of what I know was very specific advice and a thoroughly detail list, at the end of the day, when you send the little fish into the shark tank, all they get is devoured. Send a shark.

Yep, and when I asked my BIL if he had reported the fraudulent withdrawals, he said yes he had. Come to find out he just called the police and left a message; they have not called back! I am trying to obtain the roommate's friend's address, and I am going to get in his face. I LOVE confrontations!

Dee and I are going to Dallas tomorrow to drive them back since he has macular degeneration. On the way to Dallas, he hit a Sonic pull thru station, then sideswiped a car on the highway. We will not ride with him! Now he has a 16 ft trailer loaded with "stuff", and we don't want them killing themselves or someone else. Her sister suffers from severe neuropathy so she can't drive. Lots of drama!

[ThisLadyHunts]

Yep, and when I asked my BIL if he had reported the fraudulent withdrawals, he said yes he had. Come to find out he just called the police and left a message; they have not called back! I am trying to obtain the roommate's friend's address, and I am going to get in his face. I LOVE confrontations!

Dee and I are going to Dallas tomorrow to drive them back since he has macular degeneration. On the way to Dallas, he hit a Sonic pull thru station, then sideswiped a car on the highway. We will not ride with him! Now he has a 16 ft trailer loaded with "stuff", and we don't want them killing themselves or someone else. Her sister suffers from severe neuropathy so she can't drive. Lots of drama!

All due respect, they sound like couple of factory rejects with spaghetti where their spines should be. (I feel comfortable saying this because I have a greater-than-average number of these in my family. It just kills me!)

I’m glad you’re going to Dallas and can’t wait to hear about. Please take some video, because there’s nothing I love more than a good a**-kickin’!

[Monark]

All due respect, they sound like couple of factory rejects with spaghetti where their spines should be. (I feel comfortable saying this because I have a greater-than-average number of these in my family. It just kills me!)

I’m glad you’re going to Dallas and can’t wait to hear about. Please take some video, because there’s nothing I love more than a good a**-kickin’!

Sometimes I see good advice here & sometimes, not so much. This is one of the not so much ones.

Big shark going in with guns a-blazing will get you into a legal issue you don't want to have to deal with. If money was extracted from a 401K or bank account, there will be a trail. Follow this trail then let roommate's know it needs to return or legal repercussions are next. Techies are P--ssies. Shouldn't be too difficult.

[Burnadell]

Sometimes I see good advice here & sometimes, not so much. This is one of the not so much ones.

Big shark going in with guns a-blazing will get you into a legal issue you don't want to have to deal with. If money was extracted from a 401K or bank account, there will be a trail. Follow this trail then let roommate's know it needs to return or legal repercussions are next. Techies are P--ssies. Shouldn't be too difficult.

Ain’t gonna be no guns a blazing approach. I don’t do that. I’m just going to get in their face with a few questions and “explain” the rules, but I don’t have his verified address yet. My BIL will be there if I can get him to go, but he is one of those who talks big but is actually a wuss.