How do you know if a Mac was stolen?

I know this isn't the right place for this question but none of the other sections were suitable either.
I'm considering buying a used MacBook Pro from Craigslist. Because some of the prices are so cheap though, I became suspicious. I figure... If someone is going to sell their MacBook Pro for a couple hundred, there must be a reason, right? My guess is that some of them must be stolen because by having a cheap price, they're bound to get rid of it quickly.
Anyways, I just want to know if there's anyway of testing/checking to see if a Mac was stolen or not before purchasing it. Also, if there's a way of doing a quick diagnostics on it to make sure it's in good running condition.
Thanks.

I purchased a MBP around Christmas and while on my search I came across a few (3+) MBPs that were offered for sale at incredible deals. The general description was they were purchased as gifts to the seller and he didn't need them because he already had a computer. Somebody else went to check out one of these computers was able to discover that the seller purchased these computers with a solen credit card.
My guess is that once the CC company reports the theft to Apple, the serial number associated with the machine will show up on their data base and if you needed to repair your unit, it would/could bring up the stolen flag.

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