Why is my iTunes asking for me to confirm password for an ID that's not mine?

Hi guys,
First timer here! A pretty weird but potentiallly serious issue here...
Firstly, this is not for me but to help a colleague. He left his MacBook Pro in a taxi a few weeks ago and it's since been lost, we tried using 'Find my Mac' through iCloud but it hasn't worked, I presume because the machine hasn't gone online on that user account, as it was password protected?
He's since bought himself a NEW MacBook Pro and started using it afresh, not restoring from any backup or anything (as unfortunately his TimeMachine backup was corrupted!).
Now, when using iTunes, he's being asked to 'confirm his details' of his Apple ID, however, it's showing a completely random email address - not his and not anyone he knows. Noone has owned either MacBook that he's used before him so that's not the issue, and he's only ever used his own personal Apple ID.
My question is:
1 - how is this possible? How can iTunes ask for confirmation of details to an iTunes ID / account that has NOTHING to do with that Mac?
2 - is it possible that this strange Apple ID that the machine is asking to be confirmed is of someone that may have the old MacBook Pro?
Thanks - appreciate the help!
Alex

I only know a little about this subject.
What OS version was the lost Mac running?  "Find My Mac" is only a feature with Lion, and of course had to be activated.
I don't know about newer MacOS but on older versions it was a relatively simple manner to bypass the system level password feature if you had actual physical possession of a computer.  There were several different levels on which you could enable passwords, including the stronger firmware or EFI password which I believe required re-setting at an Apple repair center.
Don't forget that once you have physical possession of a computer you can do all kinds of things such as swapping out drives and using his drive in another computer, simply wiping the old one.  I don't know how AppleID works but presumably it has some way of detecting specific hardware identity in order to use authorization for things such as movies.  I don't know how this would get tied up in what you have observed.
Your friend should probably re-set passwords on any accounts that use them and monitor his/her credit card.

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