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Re:Cops Cuffed Me for Selling My Own Mac by somecoder on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @12:08PM (#11714762)
Unfortunate. And scary.

What's a C-number?

Re:Cops Cuffed Me for Selling My Own Mac by coldcode on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @12:12PM (#11714793)
Serial number on MacbookPros start with a C, mine does at least.
Re:Cops Cuffed Me for Selling My Own Mac by zodPod on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @12:19PM (#11714858)
In the article, the guy seemed to believe that it wasn't the serial number. That it was something you had to turn the computer on for or something.

> Derek tells the woman the C-number is off. Not the serial number—they were looking for some other number in the computer.

Re:Cops Cuffed Me for Selling My Own Mac by teh_klev on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @12:59PM (#11715217)
I don't know Macs, but dell tag numbers are burned into the BIOS. Possibly checking that instead of a sticker that could have a fake serial is a more reliable method of verifying the number. i.e. your less than technically competent thief might not know about this or how to change the BIOS one.
Re:Cops Cuffed Me for Selling My Own Mac by Declanomous on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @12:19PM (#11714857)
Phonetically C-number and serial number sound close enough that I'd suspect C-number is a memetic mutation of serial number. I wonder if "Derek" was trying to look up the UUID of the system.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/25/mac-101-finding-your-macs...

Re:Cops Cuffed Me for Selling My Own Mac by legulere on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @01:06PM (#11715263)
Maybe the MAC number with the letters spelled out and he didn't hear it fully?
Re:Cops Cuffed Me for Selling My Own Mac by tremon on Tuesday May 17, 2016 @12:33PM (#11714987)
It's your entry in Apple's global customer database.

/s