At least in the United States, I don't believe this is true. Years ago I bought a laptop for a too-good-to-be-true price on Craigslist. As it turns out, the laptop I purchased had some kind of hardware lojack and I had a uniformed police officer and detective show up at my door, and later found myself responding to their questions at the station. When all was said and done, I was without the laptop and receiving $50/week until the full amount of $700 was received from the thief.