I was burgled recently and computers stolen. One of these computers has been on-line today using one of my Skype usernames. Can it be traced? How can I contact Skype other than by e-mail? I've told the police.

Any help gratefully received.

The first thing I would advise you to do is change your password via your account page then they will not be able to use Skype and any credit you might have for Skypeout.

Unless they are using you PC to make Skypeout call there is no way they can be traced.

I noticed you have make a double post. If you had problems posting please could you let us know here what problems you had because we are currently having problem with new member on the forum makeing double posts through no fault of there own but an intermitiant fault with the forum.

I have a couple of accounts so no need to mess about with the "stolen" account as yet. Are you absolutely certain that this conversation cannot be traced under any circumstances i.e. by the police?

Any further help much appreciated.

I am not 100% certain but 99% sure it can't be because it was a call form PC 2 PC and not to a phone or mobile.

Oh! and thanks for your info regarding your double post. I have made a comment on it if you would be kind enough to look please.

I also had my computer (apple ibook G4) stolen on 20th December and friends of mine who are also on Skype saw my Skype account online once on 23rd December and then again on 27th December. Is it possible to find out if the account is being used and the IP address of the computer? My main concern is the laptop, not my Skype account.

Thanks.

There is really little that can be done after the fact.

I cannot stress more that 1 in 10 laptops are stolen, I have actually created some suggestions on how to get one back when this happens. More information here:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/laptop/Prote..._Odds_Of_Return

If you own a website, you could create a page which logs all the details from the visitor, like IP address, proxy address etc. Then get the thief to visit the page by sending a chat message to your stolen Skype account. Write the message so it looks irresistable, something like "I've put my credit card details on this hidden page at http://www.thiswebsitename.eg/hiddenpage.php - I'll delete it afterwards, so let me know when you've got the details."

The only downside is to this is that you even know basically what area your laptop is in ("By IP Address") but there are no IP police. Try and get a police officer or an ISP to help you get a street address to an IP address.

So, the best rule of thumb is to have your laptop locked down well enough that it can't be modified easily, and have phone numbers at boot up, with some of the suggested text I have here:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/laptop/Prote..._Odds_Of_Return

simple... you can trace an IP to the street name yourself It's not like the old days...

http://www.ip-adress.com/

not true, City yes. not address, I can't get my address at your link ;-)

i found this realy helpful but will need to research it more will come back to this some time soon

I have a similar situation, however my concern is not even the laptop, my concen is to find out who are the burglars and try to get back the stolen things they got from my home (much more valuable than that laptop). I have contacted the police and they say if they get IP address they probably can help. So my main issue is to get the ip address, from where the account logged in last time.

Because my laptop is using a different language then the country I live, I think they will format/reinstall it and will not log in with our account anymore. Therefore a link to my own webpage is probably not going to work as they will not see it.

Now the only chance is to ask skype if they can provide the ip address, and let the police to their job. However I still don't know how can I ask for Skype's help in order to get that IP address. I need some help.

Sadly, this is a very complicated process, based on the laws in most countries. There are many legal issues and as you know is very complicated to get the police on your side, which is needed because any motions of discovery ("Logs from ISP's or requests for information from services like Skype") usually need to be started from criminal inquires. Again this is why it is so important to secure laptops from Day 1, and also splash warnings and a telephone number up front at logon.

This is why I posted the link in my prior post, you would be surprised how well it works to get your laptop back using these methods, most people will NOT pay to have a hard-drive replaced if the laptop is so secure it is the only method to get it working for them. Most Pawn Shops won't take a laptop that boots up and warns them with a telehone number to call that it is not for sale.

Good luck on getting any law enforcement agencies to help run down IP addresses and file motion for discovery paper work for logs from any source to track where the laptop is now.

The Link again to increase the odds of your laptop being returned is here:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/laptop/Prote..._Odds_Of_Return

Can anyone help to answer the two questions below:

Technically, can skype trace the ip address of each account? at least for the last login?

Policywise, under which condition will Skype agree to provide such information? and how do I make it happen?

It is not easy to catch those burglars and skype seems to be the only hope for me now.

My suggestion is make a support request, supply as much detail as possible using this link:

http://support.skype.com/?_a=tickets&_m=view

Thanks! I have done that already but no reply yet. I will keep waiting.

After 3 days I still do not receive any feedback from Skype, and I still do not find any other way to contact them except email. I feel quite helpless.

Good tips overlord.

Yeah, little hope of help from the cops or ISP's.

I traced a PayPal spoof site and spoke to the web host tech on the phone, and he just acted stupid and said "We can't close someone down without 24 hours notice."

I called the local police where the site was hosted, but they had no idea what phishing was and just said they'd look into it.

And we're talking about a site that could be used to steal 10's of thousands of dollars from people's PayPal accounts.

Compare that to the police reaction you get if someone robs a convenience store of $25--pretty ridiculous.

Skype isn't going to help you, they ain't the cops... The cops prolly won't help you either.

That's a half decent idea, but it will never lead to the arrest of the thief. Here ia great book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo's_Egg_(book)