Anafi stolen ..

[intramanga]

My Anafi was stolen 2 days ago out of my car together with my laptop ..
Is there any possibility to track it with the serial number when it is used in the future ?
Thanks in advance ..
Eddy

 

[Thanev]

What country?
If registered in your country,then perhaps contacting the registration bureau and advising them of the theft?
Perhaps notify Parrot should it be requiring service?

 

[Ana789]

My guess:
Yes, it would be possible.
But: No one will do it!

It is like with smartphones: the tech, to block stolen phones from using their imei numbered receivers is build into the tech. Since the 90's. These days, they could even brick it totally, if they wanted! Also for wifi use!
Just no one is interested, to make stole phones unusable:
The provider earn money with every phone in use, no matter it it is stolen or not.
The manufacturers selling new phones for stolen ones and having another on in the "active" statistics.

For example, DJI is not supporting any request, to track down a stolen drone.
Even if the flight records of this drone, from after the event, would get synced to the cloud

So good luck with that.
Btw.: Notebooks are almost the same!
Minimum as long the thief is using the build in wifi or ethernet, it could be tracked down easily. Worldwide, one google search with it, done!
But unless it is part of a serious crime or investigation, .....!

 

[d95gas]

When I was poking through the Android Application with Android Studio, which showed a lot of things we dont see, one of the elements they had in there was "Blacklist" - Within that that were about half a dozen Anafi serial numbers.

It may be that these are stolen devices and Parrot have blocked them on their system, OR it could be part of in-house testing.... I dont really know.

In your shoes, I would get a crime reference from the police and then pass this and the information about your Anafi, to Parrot.... It cannot do any harm.

Good luck.

 

[intramanga]

When I was poking through the Android Application with Android Studio, which showed a lot of things we dont see, one of the elements they had in there was "Blacklist" - Within that that were about half a dozen Anafi serial numbers.

It may be that these are stolen devices and Parrot have blocked them on their system, OR it could be part of in-house testing.... I dont really know.

In your shoes, I would get a crime reference from the police and then pass this and the information about your Anafi, to Parrot.... It cannot do any harm.

Good luck.

Ok , that is what I did and today Parrot answered me with the following , so I hope they will share the location when it is used in the future and I can add it to the police report which I did also :
I have send them the invoice , serial number and police report ...
"

We are sorry to hear about what happened to your drone and we will do our best to assist you with your case. Please provide us with the below so that we can provide you with the drone last shared location: A valid proof of purchase showing your name, the product name, date of purchase and place of purchase A copy of he police report in case the issue is reported. It is always our aim at Parrot to provide you, our customer, with top quality service to the best of our ability. Kind Regards,

 

[intramanga]

My guess:
Yes, it would be possible.
But: No one will do it!

It is like with smartphones: the tech, to block stolen phones from using their imei numbered receivers is build into the tech. Since the 90's. These days, they could even brick it totally, if they wanted! Also for wifi use!
Just no one is interested, to make stole phones unusable:
The provider earn money with every phone in use, no matter it it is stolen or not.
The manufacturers selling new phones for stolen ones and having another on in the "active" statistics.

For example, DJI is not supporting any request, to track down a stolen drone.
Even if the flight records of this drone, from after the event, would get synced to the cloud

So good luck with that.
Btw.: Notebooks are almost the same!
Minimum as long the thief is using the build in wifi or ethernet, it could be tracked down easily. Worldwide, one google search with it, done!
But unless it is part of a serious crime or investigation, .....!

Well Parrot says they will do it .. see what happens from now on .. see there answer below ..

 

[Ana789]

Ok, but that is unusual.
Even more, because you informed Parrot that the drone was stolen, so that you, even being the owner, cannot be the user, right now.
Which, at least in europe, would rise a couple of "eyebrows", if they would violate the rights of the user of this drone, without a court order, to do so.
Don't get me wrong, but in most countries even the phone tracking apps, parents put on the phones of there kids, without consent, is a violation of privacy of the USER of that phone.

But anyway, I hope they play ball and the theft is stupid enough, to let the bird fly in his backyard
Good luck

 

[jbuy41]

My 1st Anafi Thermal from Amazon last week would not connect. I got "We encountered a problem with your drone. Contactcustomer service." The phone was given and I called. Got the run a round that they cannot help, a special support team for Thermals would contact me by Email. No phone assistance. They asked for my receipt and pic of serial number. After a day I was told it was stolen. So they do lock them. My replacement arrived yesterday. Same error message. My 3rd one is being shipped.

 

[Ana789]

Ok, but did you buy it privat or from a dealer?
If from a dealer:
I assume that 's then a batch, STOLEN FROM PARROT, not from users!
Or just a Computer mistake
("My replacement arrived yesterday. Same error message ")
inside Parrot!

 

[jbuy41]

I purchased it from Amazon.

 

[Ana789]

So this is a "Stolen from Parrot", not a "stolen from a Pilot" thing.
Of course they block the birds, they lost track off.
DJI is doing the same.
But what they have sold?

I am keen to learn the outcome of intramanga's case

 

[rizwanf97]

I purchased it from Amazon.

Hi does Amazon know the serial numbers of the parrot drone? I bought it off them and I’ve had mine stolen and don’t know how I can find it

 

[d95gas]

Might be worth asking them but cannot see that they would given the amount of kit they sell.

Did you register with Parrot? Have you done flights? There may be a serial in the logs that can be extracted.

 

[d95gas]

If you have one of the flight logs (.json) file, you can load it into "ShowAnafiLog" and then select the META DATA tab and it will show your serial number in there.

 

[Gipsz Jakab]

This blocking, blacklist makes no sense.
The thief does not need an internet connection or registration to use it.
I never registered with Parrot, I never use the internet while using it, yet I can fly with it ...

 

[Jagerbomb52]

This blocking, blacklist makes no sense.
The thief does not need an internet connection or registration to use it.
I never registered with Parrot, I never use the internet while using it, yet I can fly with it ...

I believe it was put into place for large thefts. Say someone steals a shipment of drones and tries to sell them as retail drones. The black list will stop those sales to normal clients but yes it will not stop someone from flying it if they know they do not need to register it.

 

[d95gas]

I dont believe that Parrot have an option whereby if a user rings up with a serial number and tells them its stolen, they can do anything with it.

I would guess that worldwide this happens on a weekly if not daily basis, they would need to constantly update the blacklist and push out new firmware...... which we know they are not going to do.

So personally, I think its a fruitless task. The only value of the serial number in this situation, is to report it stolen to the Police who would issue a crime reference number, and then you might be able to claim on your home insurance IF it covers "Portable devices away from home".

I know my insurance covers my drones, but I pay a premium for that, and if I were to claim, I would need the ref number from the Police.

That's how I believe it would work for us in the UK, I cannot say for other countries.

 

[Ana789]

Even if it would be easy, like with mobil-/smartphones, no one would do it!
Every phone has an imei number, most of them have 2 now. It would be easy as hell, to block them inside the mobil phone systems, since they need to register with the imei, to the cell towers.
But no mobilphone provider has a problem, if a stolen phone is used in the system. It creates money for them.
Not even the manufacturers are worried, cause a stolen phone means most likely a new sale.
And many stolen phones are in hands of people, who wouldn't buy it from a dealer for the original price.

DJI, in the drone business, is a good example: If someone updates a bird, flies it, is registered with DJI, they know about!
Just they also don't care about!

I don't think, that Parrot is any different:

"We track our shippments, till they are payed to us. After ...."