There are people who work in teams to victimize travelers. One common scam is for two crooks to position themselves in front of a lone passenger carrying a laptop computer or other valuable carry-on baggage and stall until the mark puts the laptop on the conveyor belt.<\/p>\n
The first will quickly go through the metal detector, while the second person will stall and deliberately set of the detector to slow the process by taking their time to remove things from pockets, take off jewelry, etc. While this second person is holding up the line, the first person picks up the laptop as soon as it comes out of the x-ray machine on the conveyor belt, and heads off with it disappearing in the crowd.<\/p>\n
When the owner of the laptop gets through the metal detector, the laptop is gone. There is no way to prove the person who was delaying the line had anything to do with the theft. Often, just like with pickpockets, the computer or other valuables may have been handed off to a third person right after the first through the metal detector headed off with it. The third person will take the item out of the area before anything can be done to stop the thieves. This can happen so quickly and smoothly that even if you notice your laptop isn’t over on the conveyor belt before you go through, it may be too late.<\/p>\n
Besides being ripped of by these scam artists, you should be aware of airport screening employees. I don’t want to slam the TSA, and in fact theft by TSA employees is not common. But it has happened, and TSA employees have been arrested for stealing items from travelers during scanning. There are also other employees at the airport that have been caught steeling from passengers.<\/p>\n