A smart-thinking laptop has landed an Invercargill man in trouble.
On June 5, the laptop was passing through Wanaka with its owner, who left it in his car parked at the Wanaka lakefront.
Someone took the computer from the car and left town.
Then, on June 9, the laptop sent an email to its owner, enclosing a screen shot of an Invercargill man using it at Christchurch Airport.
And to make it easier for police, the laptop also sent a GPS position of its location.
The Invercargill man was arrested by airport police and charged with receiving stolen property.
Constable Bruce McLean, of Wanaka, said yesterday the laptop contained a piece of anti-theft tracking software called "Prey''.
The company marketing the software says, on its website, the software will "sleep silently in the background'' until it is triggered from the owner's prey account.
"Your device will gather and deliver detailed evidence back to you, including a picture of who's using it, often the crucial piece of data that police officers need to take action.''
Const McLean said the software was "incredibly helpful'' in recovering stolen property. Similar versions were available from a variety of sources.
"If every laptop had a similar sort of system ... surely it would have a marked effect on laptop theft.''
Shelley Huang, media and community relations manager for New Zealand's biggest insurance company, IAG, said yesterday two of its brands, AMI and State, had 5000 laptop claims each year, averaging $900 each.
"We understand that the majority of the laptop claims are about accidental damage and less than a quarter of them are theft-related claims.''
