Calling all amateur detectives and online sleuths, I have genuinely lost my beloved Google Watch. Who has it now? Where is it? Is it at the bottom of the Brisbane River?
So what happened? Like all good detective stories, let’s try to tell it in the correct chronological order.
Before the Event
It is a recession, I was running out of money and my tax return was a complete mess. I could access it via MyGov. But I spotted some weird RoboDebt that should not have been there.
So I was on a budget and I wanted to purchase a couple of items on sale. It was the lead-up to Barbie showing in the cinemas, so I was keen to get a photo in the adult-sized photo booth box.
I was concerned that I had taken my Google Watch off, in the photo booth. And the young kids before or after me had taken it. The selfie photo was terrible.
Anyhow, I went home with too many shopping bags. I was tired from lots of walking (I’m averaging 10,000 to 12,000 steps per day). My mobile phone did not have much juice on it, so I was super bored. I was ready for a nanny nap on the train ride home.
The Criminal Incident
Around mid-day just before lunchtime. While travelling on a Ferny Grove Train on Friday 30 June 2023. I sat in the last carriage with a lady texting and a bike. In the next carriage, two teenage boys on bikes were lingering near the door. All three people got on at the same time. I wondered if they were a family or together.
I got off at Grovely and was going to walk home to somewhere near Keperra. But I forgot my black leather sling bag. The boys stole it and might have had it for 5 to 15 minutes.
I promptly got off the train and told the staff member who immediately locked the gates. She put down her Ryobi Garden tool, and immediately hit her security button. She started talking to someone else via a walkie-talkie.
My bag was retrieved and locked away. I picked it up at the end of the line. I took an extra trip out to Ferny Grove train station, the same day. I got to see the horrendously large car park.
I felt relieved but when I got home, I had a better look at the contents. Everything seemed to be there, except I could not find my Google Pixel Watch LTE.
Filing an online Police Report
Soon after the incident, I filed an online Police report with Crimestoppers.
Police watch report case number 350127.
The local state police refused the case. So, I had to retype all my notes. And work out how to file a Cyber Security Report. Search engines were not my friend.
Filing an online Cyber Security Report
After a frustrating time trying to fill in the correct online form. I seemed to have found the right one. I completed an online Cyber Security Report with the federal government.
I received the following email confirmation message:
Your ReportCyber Receipt
Thank you for reporting. The reference number for this report is: CIRS-20230710-163.
If the cops had the correct resources and funding, it would be super easy to access the security cameras to identify who stole my expensive tech watch.
I genuinely can’t find it at home. The watch was issued for an online review. I would like it back.
Turning the House Upside Down
When I got home, I rechecked my bags for things I could not find. I wondered how much damage a couple of tech-savvy teenagers could do in a quarter of an hour. They potentially could have stolen personal information, my two business cards, and bank details.
A couple of days after the incident, I had to admit what happened to my husband. He started looking for the watch himself. He’s a tad scary when he’s angry and cross. Together we make a mean boxing team!
We both looked under all the beds. We looked in the technology cupboard. I opened all the Google technology boxes. We looked everywhere in this post-war two-bedroom house! Even under the dog’s bed!
Reporting the Incident to My Bank
Unfortunately, my bank is foreign, so I had to take a special trip on public transport to notify them of the theft. The polite bank teller logged the details against my bank accounts. I immediately placed a transfer limit on all three accounts. I’m lucky that my bank takes financial security seriously. Don’t ask me who I bank with, I won’t tell you.
Do you know why I keep using cash? Because when I check my bank statement, I do not want to see every time I drank coffee or at takeaway Maccas. I only want to if I am in the red, or if I have been hacked.
Checking Local Lost Property
I decided to have one last-ditch attempt at finding my Google Watch, before writing this article.
Yesterday, I rang TransLink Queensland who told me to ring the trains. I was confused by the Lost Property phone number on their website. I eventually got the right person.
Then I tried to ring the Myer Centre Lost Property. Little did I know it has been renamed to UpTown Shopping Centre. (Super weird!) There is nothing uptown about the Queen Street Mall. It’s pure shopping hell.
Later in the day, I did talk to a lovely lady at the information kiosk. She looked up the dates on her computer and confirmed that there was nothing in her database.
Pleading to the Thieves
If you find a Google Watch with a green plastic watchband that does not belong to your teenage son or daughter, can you please return it to an Australian police station?
I realise at this point, there is a very slim chance that the thieves read the Women Love Tech website. And a slimmer chance that their parents do! But some news stories spread like wildfire.
Remember: Everything you do online can be tracked. Everything. Even illegal and criminal activities.
No questions asked. No reward is offered. Just do the right thing. It’s in the best interests, of everyone.
A life of crime does not pay.
