My stolen Kindle has been returned - should I file a police report?

February 3, 2012 3:06 PM

Should I file a police report about a stolen Kindle that has since been returned to me? The thief used the device to make purchases on Amazon as well.

I'm posting anonymously because this involves a crime. I am located in Michigan.

I purchased a Kindle for my boyfriend for his birthday. He is bored a lot at work, so he reads it a lot there. The other day, he apparently left it at work. He didn't notice because he usually keeps it in a large bag and assumed it was in there.

Later that day, I started receiving emails from Amazon saying that purchases were being made with the Kindle. The nature of the purchases made it clear that they weren't being made by him. I quickly changed my Amazon password, deregistered the Kindle and went home - I was out at the time.

Around the same time the purchases were made, I received an email stating that an unauthorized email address was attempting to send a file to the Kindle. The message included the email address, which was a person's name.

It turned out that the person who stole the Kindle was a coworker of my boyfriend. I got in touch with Amazon customer service, and they issued refunds for the ebooks and gift vouchers that the person had ordered, which totaled more than $50.

In the meantime, the person has taken on a very apologetic attitude. They returned the Kindle, but they have not been fired despite a supposed zero-tolerance policy about theft.

The person is now saying that she did nothing wrong. My boyfriend is not happy; I'm not either.

I have the Kindle back, and I have been issued refunds. I am torn about whether to file a police report or not. Is it worth it? I have plenty of evidence in the form of emails.

The main reason I want to file a police report is because this person stole from me. I'm certain the only reason she confessed and gave it back is because she knew she'd been caught red-handed.

What do you think, hivemind?

posted by anonymous to law & government (46 answers total)

Yes do it. Personally, I would screw them to the wall because people like that drive me c-raxy.
posted by fshgrl at 3:11 PM on February 3 [6 favorites]

Police report. She stole stuff, she committed fraud, and she's a liar. Document everything.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 3:13 PM on February 3 [16 favorites]

Yes, I'd report this to the cops.

The only downside I could see would be if your boyfriend would have to keep working alongside the thief. That said, I have a very, very hard time believing that she wouldn't be fired for stealing coworkers' stuff.
posted by Sticherbeast at 3:13 PM on February 3 [3 favorites]

I would. Even if nothing happens as a result of it, if they do something like this again, they won't be able to say "oh no it's the first time I've done anything like that it's totally unlike me", because there will be proof that that's a lie.
posted by brainmouse at 3:13 PM on February 3 [4 favorites]

The person is now saying that she did nothing wrong.

So what's her side of the story? Did she think it was her Kindle?
posted by yoink at 3:14 PM on February 3 [13 favorites]

Boyfriend should start by reporting this to human resources. No reason to mention he sometimes reads om the Kindle at work, that's beside the point and there's no rules against bringing a Kindle into the workplace. Theft from co-workers is probably grounds for termination. Then turn them in to the police.
posted by beagle at 3:14 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

If I was in the cube next to your bf, I'd want the police report filed so that ,at the very least, she thinks about it for a while before she grabs my iPad.

Also, I enjoy chatting with cops. They have good stories.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 3:19 PM on February 3 [3 favorites]

His work may not have fired her ~because~ there was no police report. Without an outside authority investigating it, it IS a he-said she-said story.
posted by saucysault at 3:26 PM on February 3 [11 favorites]

So, they didn't return it until you called them on it? Do you think you would have got the Kindle back if their email address didn't identify them?

If the answer to the second question is no, I'd go with the police report.
posted by utsutsu at 3:33 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

Definitely report it to the police, and get a case number. Then, hand a copy of the paperwork or case number over to boyfriend's HR "to follow up." As others have said, it may be the reason she wasn't fired is because there was no police report. Nail her to the wall. (Can you tell I've been a theft victim a few times?)
posted by xedrik at 3:33 PM on February 3 [3 favorites]

Boyfriend should consult with HR and see what they think about a police report. Because they may be doing nothing because their hands are tied in a he-said/she-said situation, or they may really, really, really not want to deal with this.

And as unfair as it is, if HR really, really, really does not want your boyfriend filing a police report, then doing so could make his job very difficult.
posted by jacquilynne at 3:35 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]

You absolutely should report it, I think. It's not about the money. She thought it was okay to help herself to his property. She's not going to just suddenly decide it's wrong and never steal again. That takes some intervention.

I hope you send a response via the contact form to respond to yoink's question above. I'm also curious as to what her explanation was.
posted by heyho at 3:45 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

I'm guessing this is not the kind of job with "HR". Probably a store clerk or other job where its ok to read as long as you are physically present. So police report all the way...
posted by fshgrl at 3:50 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

In that case, he should take his boss's temperature on the issue all the more -- HR will have to at least pay lip service to following the rules, but a manager of a franchised store or other person wielding significant power will be pretty much be able to fire him if he makes their life more difficult than they care for.
posted by jacquilynne at 3:53 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

Does she have a kindle? Did she think it was hers at first?

ALSO


I'm confused about this whole thing.

- If it was a gift to your BF, then it is BF's property not yours. Unless I missed something there, like you only loaned it to him?

If it's his, he'd have to report it to the police, not you.

- Uh, are you SURE he didn't give it to her to use or something??

I ask because it sounds like the Kindle didn't become "stolen" until after you noticed Amazon purchases that would have been unusual for you boyfriend to make... Is it possible your BF didn't know you get notifications about his Amazon history and he's covering up loaning it to this chick for some reason?

It's possible this person stole the Kindle from and is so stupid she didn't know the Kindle would be traced. I just find that hard to believe in this day and age, though.

Sorry if I'm off-base. I'm just trying to figure out under what circumstances she doesn't feel she did anything wrong. Do they work with the public? Maybe she found it, thought it belonged to some unfindable stranger ... But again, in this day and age, it's easy to track the owner's of smart devices through their subscriptions and accounts... Most places that serve the public have Lost & Found policies....

If she really did steal it, urge your BF to report it. If it was a misunderstanding, let it go.
posted by jbenben at 3:57 PM on February 3 [11 favorites]

i really think you should do whatever your boyfriend wants to do with all this. it's his day-to-day that's going to be affected, not yours. i think it's important for him to find out why she wasn't fired and what his boss's opinion on a police report would be. he's basically been "made whole", as in he/you didn't lose any money, i think it's more important to figure out what good or harm a police report could do.
posted by nadawi at 4:12 PM on February 3 [3 favorites]

If it's your boyfriend's Kindle, even the police will say it's up to him to file a police report.

That said, why is your billing info still on the Kindle if it's his? I'd remove that immediately and make him register it in his name, with his billing info.
posted by Unsomnambulist at 4:15 PM on February 3

I too vote for report this to the police then let BF give a copy of the report to HR. Not so much to be vindictive or anything, but because I think it very doubtful that someone would START with rooting through another person's large bag and stealing a Kindle --- it's more probable that this is just the latest in an escalating series of thefts, and she just hasn't been caught before this.
posted by easily confused at 4:19 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

From the OP:

Fshgrl - You are correct. He actually works at a hotel.

jbenben - I am absolutely certain that my boyfriend had nothing to do with this.

yoink - I'm as baffled about that as you are. We've heard that comment through other people at his work. She's apparently been saying that. She's obviously making the whole situation worse for herself. I really don't get why she's blabbing about it in the first place.

The Kindle is registered to me partly because I also use it from time to time. I like to use it to take advantage of the Prime members' lending library feature. I have Kindle for iPad too, but boyfriend and I live together and share the Kindle as well. The billing is in my name, but I trust him not to place orders without telling me. None of that is the issue. I think because it's in my name that I'm the one that needs to file the report, but I'm sure the police can confirm that for me.

I should also mention that I sent an email to her address before we got the Kindle back. She replied saying that she had it but didn't realize that things were being charged. In other words, I have a confession.

posted by jessamyn at 4:30 PM on February 3

i really think you should do whatever your boyfriend wants to do with all this. it's his day-to-day that's going to be affected, not yours.

This. Ask your boyfriend. This may impact his job and life. If he's cool with it, do it. If he's not, don't.
posted by MoonOrb at 4:41 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

She replied saying that she had it but didn't realize that things were being charged. In other words, I have a confession.

That's not necessarily a confession. Was she telling you that she had thought the Kindle was her own, but now knew better?
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:30 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

Maybe I am out in left field here, but it doesn't sound to me like she intended to steal anything. It sounds like your boyfriend accidentally left it sitting out at his job, she came across it, was bored, and started reading stuff on it while she was bored at work. Not knowing, like she said, that it was costing money. You said he left is there and all this happened later the same day. I don't know, man. If I worked at a low paid desk job with a handful of other people and one of them left their Kindle there I'm almost certain I would read something on it during my shift. With no malicious intent at all. Is it all possible that you are making the least charitable reading possible of this?
posted by cairdeas at 6:49 PM on February 3 [8 favorites]

I've never used a Kindle. Is it not very obvious that downloading material costs money? And are items not priced in an obvious way? I assumed it worked like iTunes on my iPod, in that one has to jump through a hoop or two in order to make a purchase. If it's a one-click purchase and your email and password are saved, and she's unfamiliar with the device, then cairdeas is making a fair point, and the whole story makes more sense. Hmm.
posted by heyho at 8:16 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]

I am torn about whether to file a police report or not. Is it worth it? I have plenty of evidence in the form of emails.

I guess I would ask myself what there is to gain for turning her in to the police.

At worst, she thought she had scored a free Kindle that was lying around at work. She wasn't even smart enough to google how to reset a Kindle or whatever before using it. This is not an accomplished thief that you'd be putting away.

At best, she's a harmless coworker who didn't realize that she was buying stuff on her coworker's account and returned the Kindle as soon as someone let her know what was going on.

So I would ask myself, does filing a report make her less likely to do it again? Does it fairly or unfairly saddle her with a record (whatever her intent was)? Do I feel like the police need to be involved to make the situation right, or have things already been sorted out?
posted by no regrets, coyote at 8:41 PM on February 3 [4 favorites]

This is not an accomplished thief you'd be putting away.

I am dubious of the argument that punishment for dumb criminals should be deferred because they are dumb or until they are better at crime.

Unless she's last on a three-strikes charge or something, your thief is not going to do hard time for ereader theft. I will be surprised if the police even file charges instead of a stern warning or whatever. But it's still worth filing so the record will be there at the next hotel that employs her to dust cases in the lobby jewelry shop.
posted by nicebookrack at 10:00 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

I still don't understand why you think this was theft and not innocent misuse on her part, since it sounds like your bf left the Kindle unattended.

Don't be mean. Nothing was lost.

If she found the Kindle and intended to keep it, I agree she would have reset it.

Case closed.
posted by jbenben at 10:15 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]

Report it to the police.

I don't know why jbenben says That reporting the theft of your property would be mean! Amazon refunded the purchases to you because you were on top of things, but who knows what she may have stolen from others before this? What if she is stealing from guests at the hotel?

I'd be really irate that the company wasn't following up on this thieving coworker. You'd think they'd want to have her gone, with the liability she could be to the company, even if they don't care about her stealing from their employees.

You can't buy things on the Kindle without actively trying to. If you are SURE your boyfriend didn't lend the girl the Kindle, file a police report.
posted by misha at 10:26 PM on February 3

If I worked at a low paid desk job with a handful of other people and one of them left their Kindle there I'm almost certain I would read something on it during my shift

Whoa, really? Don't you see how that is crossing a line, taking someone else's property and treating it like it's yours? If they left their wallet, would you spend their money, too?
posted by misha at 10:30 PM on February 3 [5 favorites]

The only thing that's going to answer jbenben is if this girl has her own Kindle or not. If she does, then it makes sense. Does he have a case on it or anything immediately personalizing? A special background? It does seem weird she'd be so nonchalant about putting her own verifying email address in if she didn't think it was hers, but some folks are hopeless.

I've not used a Kindle, but it seems odd that the actions that she was taking -- that cost you over $50 -- weren't labeled with a price point somewhere on the interface (at least it seems that way in her response that she didn't know charges were being made). I know that, while annoying, the iOS App Store forces you to enter your password for verification for each purchase (unless sequential), and others do not -- at least by default. She would have been able to make unlimited purchases, but I'm not exactly sure "didn't know" they weren't free passes the sniff test unless there's some serious UI issues going on.

OP - you said she "returned" it -- does that mean she took it home with her or simply left it back at the workplace for him? Other co-workers are acting weird about it, but nobody's actually given her a stern talking to or told management?
posted by june made him a gemini at 10:46 PM on February 3

Yeah, I'd be irked if someone picked up my tablet and messed around with it, just played a game or something, but it seems monumentally difficult to see how any of this--ordering books and gift vouchers--could have been done by mistake. Too, it was returned after you sent the email.

I'd report her and if I was a colleague of your BF, I'd be unhappy if you or he didn't.

(By the way, tons of people aren't close to savvy about how all these things work. It strikes me as entirely plausible that she didn't realize how traceable her actions were.)
posted by ambient2 at 10:54 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]

Did she actually remove the kindle from the premises, or did she use it at work? (You say she 'returned' it, which could just mean she handed it back to your boyfriend.) Also, I might be a bit dense, but I can't work out from your follow up if she's claiming she thought the kindle was hers? In general, it's difficult to answer the question without knowing why she believes she hasn't done anything wrong.
posted by hot soup girl at 10:58 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

cairdeas: If I worked at a low paid desk job with a handful of other people and one of them left their Kindle there I'm almost certain I would read something on it during my shift

misha: Whoa, really? Don't you see how that is crossing a line, taking someone else's property and treating it like it's yours? If they left their wallet, would you spend their money, too?

No. But if they left a novel behind, I might read it. Or if they left a magazine. If they left a Game Boy behind, I might play it. If they left a Rubik's Cube behind I might play with it too, etc. I guess it seems more normal to me because I have worked jobs like this before (reception desk at a gym including overnight shifts) and people did that all the time. Like people left their magazines and stuff behind all the time and other people read them, it wasn't a big deal at all. I totally understand how different people would feel differently about this -- just wanted to offer an a different perspective to the OP. I also don't have a Kindle and have never used one so I don't know how clear/obvious it is when you're doing something that costs money.
posted by cairdeas at 11:39 PM on February 3 [3 favorites]

I don't know what kind of kindle we're talking about here, but when I go to the Amazon store, the menu item says "Shop at the Kindle Store" and when I go to a detail page, it says "Buy" and if it's prime it says "borrow for free". So its pretty clear what you're doing every step of the way. Also, we're talking about Amazon, who doesn't know that you have to buy things there?

There are really only two explanations for this--either she genuinely thought it was hers (unlikely given the fact that if it were, why would it have someone else's books, collections, name, and account in it?), or she freaking stole the thing, ran up charges, and then stupidly got caught red-handed with it. Ninja, PLEASE.

I don't know if I would want to deal with the drama for low payout of involving the police, but if you AND your boyfriend do it would not be unreasonable.
posted by Kimberly at 12:50 AM on February 4 [1 favorite]

(that should have said, "When I go to the Amazon store on my Kindle ...")
posted by Kimberly at 12:53 AM on February 4

Whether I order something directly from my Kindle or shop from Amazon on my laptop, it is VERY CLEAR that I am spending money, as well as very clear exactly how much those items cost: any argument that she might not have known that she was PURCHASING items is extremely weak. Also, considering what items she saw listed on the screen when she first turned it on, I truly doubt she could have "mistaken" this Kindle for her own. This person KNEW that wasn't her bag she was rooting through, she KNEW that wasn't her Kindle, she KNEW she was spending someone else's money: she KNEW she was stealing, and she needs to be stopped.

Since Op and BF have their Kindle back, it's quite possible that the police will decide not take things any further than merely making a report; however, a copy of that report might be enough to take to HR.
posted by easily confused at 2:33 AM on February 4 [1 favorite]

From the OP:

Thanks for the responses.

She did remove the Kindle from the premises and took it home. There is a lost and found lock box available. Guests routinely leave things, and the employees are obviously supposed to turn them in. The Kindle was not in the employee break room. It was most likely on the front desk itself. For all she knew, it was a guest's.

I'm positive she knew it wasn't hers because she attempted to send a file to it from her personal email. To do that, you have to know the special Kindle email address, which is usually based on the Kindle owner's regular email address. She was savvy enough to figure that out, and the email address would have made it clear that it wasn't hers. Furthermore, my full, legal name appears on the main screen.

To complicate matters, the immediate supervisor is a friend of the person who stole the Kindle. The manager is gone on vacation.

posted by taz at 3:27 AM on February 4

I'm pretty disturbed by the working-in-a-hotel angle. This is someone who is professionally entrusted with access to others' possessions. They should have good boundaries.

If the manager isn't there, I'd wait until s/he got back before evaluating this as a "nothing being done" situation. The supervisor may not have firing authority, or may be reluctant to proceed without the boss around.

Get the police report. Give it to the manager. Let them deal with it. Beyond that, I'm not sure that further lobbying on your bf's part would be politic.
posted by dhartung at 4:38 AM on February 4 [8 favorites]

Now it sounds like she thought it was a guest's. Wonder how much other left-behind stuff she has at home.

And isn't trying to buy something on someone else's Amazon account credit card fraud? She might just barely be able to get away with saying she bought books by accident, but gift vouchers? If I were running a hotel, I'd get rid of her in a hot minute.
posted by BibiRose at 6:32 AM on February 4 [3 favorites]

I'm positive she knew it wasn't hers because she attempted to send a file to it from her personal email. To do that, you have to know the special Kindle email address, which is usually based on the Kindle owner's regular email address. She was savvy enough to figure that out, and the email address would have made it clear that it wasn't hers. Furthermore, my full, legal name appears on the main screen.

Ah, okay. Thanks. Just making sure.
posted by Sticherbeast at 6:59 AM on February 4

Can you let us know what hotel this is, so that I can be sure not to stay there?

Of all the traits I'd like a hotel worker to have, the ability to resist stealing is probably near the top of the list.

And of all the traits I'd like a COWORKER to have, the ability to resist stealing my stuff is also near the top of the list.

If you're really so undecided, call the police non-emergency number and talk it over with someone there anonymously. A police officer can give you advice on the likely consequences of reporting vs. not reporting.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:00 AM on February 4 [4 favorites]

On my nook, it's ridiculously easy to purchase things. It does show the price, but if you just tap on it once, it's purchased. You can't even tell you spent money, because the price is gone.

Does the kindle operate the same? It's reasonable to expect a purchase screen first. She might've expected that.
posted by BurnChao at 12:05 PM on February 4

"To complicate matters, the immediate supervisor is a friend of the person who stole the Kindle. The manager is gone on vacation."

is this worth your boyfriend losing his job over or having a terrible time while he remains? it's not fair - but friendships often matter more in these types of jobs and she seems to have that on lock down.
posted by nadawi at 12:09 PM on February 4

Buying books on it is one thing and in the very furthest reachings of my imagination I can sort of see how this might possibly be accidental. But gift certificates? Just, no.

I would file the police report as long as your boyfriend is ok with it. Then when the manager comes back from vacation hopefully she'll deal with this situation better than the acting manager is doing, and the police report will give her ammunition to do so.
posted by hazyjane at 12:55 PM on February 4 [2 favorites]

the cops should have been called because this person committed multiple crimes--once by stealing the kindle and then again by buying stuff on it with your account. this behavior tells me that they have probably done this before with other equipment. bet she knows a lot more about a kindle the next time she gets her hands on one.

however it is now too late. when the cops talk to her she will have some absolutely wild story that will most likely put some of the blame on your boyfriend. the cops will have a tough time sorting that mess out. the end result will be that this will turn into a much bigger mess.

if i were in this situation i would be very polite and gracious to the thieving co-worker (and her supervisor) and not say anything about it. i would then wait until the manager and then meet with them privately, explaining to them about the theft and showing the emails and amazon info.

if she continued to work there after that meeting, i'd quit.
posted by lester at 2:41 PM on February 4

When you have your meeting with the supervisor, emphasize that since the Kindle was taken from the front desk, the thief likely thought it belonged to a guest; and if in this situation a guest discovered that a hotel employee had taken the guest's property, the hotel would now be in deep, deep shit, even if the Kindle were returned. Unlike a guest, you need not be bribed with hotel vouchers on top of a police report, and you are willing to be nice and not sue / leave nasty reviews on Yelp / complain to the Consumerist.

Also: consider this a sign to password-lock the Kindle and/or disable one-click checkout on Amazon to block the ability to make purchases without putting in a password. I'm too careless myself about clicking Add to Cart instead of Add to Wishlist to give that click a direct line to my credit card.
posted by nicebookrack at 11:56 AM on February 5 [3 favorites]

Document everything. Download and keep all the correspondence from Amazon. File the police report, and include the supervisor's relationship with the employee who took your boyfriend's Kindle on the report as the reason for your hesitation in filing the report.

Tell supervisor the steps you have taken, and stress the possibility of liability on the part of the hotel, as nicebookrack suggests. Tell supervisor that you realize she is in a difficult position, being the friend, but that you are uncomfortable with this employee continuing to have access to other's possessions, and that she has committed theft and fraud already, so you really cannot in good conscience let this go. If supervisor wants to step up and do the right thing and let the employee go, great, but if it is too difficult for her, you understand and you will be addressing the issue with the manager when she/he returns.

Then sit back and let them deal with the fallout. It is not your responsibility to worry about strained relationships between a thieving coworker and the supervisor covering her. Your boyfriend should not have to work in an uncomfortable workplace environment because he has to lock his belongings away from his coworkers.

Also, just as an aside: I've worked in the service industry, making ten cents above minimum wage. The low pay and the occasional boredom I experienced did not make me feel like I was entitled to use anything our guests or other employees left lying around, and a lot of lost items turned up. We had a guest leave a backpack behind, and I turned it in to security, because that's just what you do. Same with everything from expensive cameras, phones and gameboys to cheap sunglasses.

I later found out that the backpack, left by a guest from Europe, had, among other things, close to $2500 in cash in it. I have no idea why he didn't have Traveler's Checks, or how he could leave it behind so casually. I'd have watched it like a hawk! Anyway, he was in tears when he got it back intact. I can only imagine how relieved I would have been, so it made my day to hear that.

But it never occurred to me not to turn it in, or to think of using anything inside it! I didn't know who the backpack belonged to, but I knew it wasn't mine.
posted by misha at 8:49 AM on February 6 [5 favorites]