TSA gave my MacBook Pro to another passenger at LAX, and now it's gone
echeng.com
echeng.com
I was travelling for work so I was carrying two laptops, two tablets and some custom network hardware that all needed to be scanned. Luckily I wasn't too frazzled to notice that one laptop was missing from the bins, but it could have easily gone the way it did for the author here.
I ended up having to walk around the checkpoint asking random agents if they had taken my laptop because no one thought it would be worth flagging me down or notifying me in some way that they had taken my property. In the end I spotted some random TSA goon messing around with it at a table all the way across the checkpoint.
Or he's just severely incompetent when it comes to the honor and dignity that TSA agents should have when temporarily confiscating other people's items.
I once had my hands swabbed at Raleigh Durham for a "random test" done by the TSA. The testing unit beeped very loudly and said my hands tested positive for explosive residue.
I sat there "waiting for instructions" for 10 minutes until another colleague informed the person in charge, "oh yeah; that's been broken for weeks"
So I called up MIA lost and found, identified the laptop by the neoprene case I keep it in, and was able to auhtorize having my father pick it up. He shipped it home to me.
These stories mostly don't end poorly. The good outcomes just don't make the news because they are the expected outcome (as they should be).
Tangent: I'm not a fan of the TSA, but I separate the organization from the individuals. Most TSA officers I've dealt with have been professional and pleasant. And since I always opt out, I've dealt with a lot of TSA officers.
This is such a great idea. On Windows 10 this inspired me to set my account profile image to a picture with my phone number and email address.
The (very kind) TSA lady walked me back through security, to the rental counter, to get the keys to the car park, to retrieve the kindle, back to the rental counter and then back through security!
Just wanted to put in a little positive for the TSA.
edit: syntax
We fucked up all your shit, can't wait for you to fly with us again!
The only evidence otherwise is that the laptop was returned — which could also be because the posting attracted so much publicity that the scammers thought they would be caught if the investigation continued. Or at least their modus operandi would become a "known scam", which makes it harder for them to operate.
> She was with her friend. Her friend had the same computer (which we saw on the video). Her friend ran off to hold the plane at the gate. She thought her friend left her computer. Sat in a diff section of plane so couldn't communicate with her friend (so didn't know she had a duplicate computer), and flew to New York. Discovered the extra computer when they landed. 4 days later, got back to LA, and finally had time to open the computer and investigate, and saw my contact info on the login screen.
Sounds like an honest mistake to me.
A TSA agent took 20 minutes to begin searching my bag while my flight was about to leave. They finally finished it, I grabbed the bag and ran.... forgetting the bin with my wallet, keys, boarding pass, etc. I ran to the air shuttle, got to the terminal, only to realize I lost my stuff. Ran back to shuttle, ran to security, tried to be as "un-panicked" as possible and get a guard's attention rather than busting through security the wrong way. Finally got someone to talk to me and found out they had actually gone to my terminal to return my items to me. So I ran back to the shuttle, back to terminal, retrieved my items and got on the plane. I was told not to be so careless with my stuff.
What I have learned is that if you actually unpack your entire bag into the bins in small clear ziplocks, they don't have to wait for a guy to open and search your bag. They just look at your shit in passing and you can go.
Also, peanut butter is considered a cream and therefore cannot be taken on a plane in more than 3.4oz.... unless it's on a sandwich.
Fucking TSA.
I generally don't fly with a laptop anymore. I bring an (encrypted) drive and borrow a machine. Only had one occasion when they asked for the drive to be taken out of my bag.
Considering current "security" at the border, I guess I need to buy an old feature phone as well for crossing the border. Although for fun, I'm very tempted to fill an old iPhone with choice commentary on what I think of the TSA.
TSA just picks up the items and motions towards the queue with them, just because they point a laptop at you doesnt mean you claim it and walk off with it...
The computer was gone for just under two weeks. Still really sucks, of course.
I had a laptop LCD destroyed by TSA when one of their lackeys idiotically pushed so many bins through the x-ray machine that it caused mine, and several others at the tail-end of the machine's conveyor, to fall right off.
I was standing a few feet away, watching, unable to point out their mistake in time. Barely got an apology, and everyone was too incompetent or unwilling to help me with any info about how to document or get evidence that they damaged it, and how to file a claim. Ended up having to 'suck it up' and accept the loss, otherwise I would have missed my flight.
Fuck the TSA, fuck bullshit security theater, and fuck people that don't understand that you can make your best effort to protect yourself and your things, but sometimes that's not enough.