Laptop Stolen and Compromising Data of Nearly 100,000 Alum from U.C. Berkeley Recovered   9/16/2005 - 838 views,

Shuki Alburati claims that he bought it from someone, the woman believed to be the original thief, for $300. Alburati said that the woman promised that the laptop was not stolen.

Alburati then sold the laptop on eBay for $1,159, a more than $850.00 profit, well, unless you take into account his bail, which has been set at $20,000.

That laptop is now in the possession of the authorities, who say that the hard drive had been wiped clean,, and it is unclear whether the students’ data was accessed before the wipe.

According to a statement from U.C. Berkeley, “UC police note that while a lab analysis could not determine whether the sensitive campus data was ever accessed, nothing in their investigation points to identity theft nor individuals involved in identity theft. It appears … that the intent was simply to steal and sell a laptop computer.”

According to U.C. Berkeley, Shuki Alburati told police that “it is his practice to install a new operating system or erase and wipe clean old data from a computer before posting it for sale online.”

Good thinking. But perhaps not as good as not selling stolen property at all.