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Subject:Re: For Writers Who Travel with Laptops From:David Somers <dmps -at- EURONET -dot- NL> Date:Thu, 11 Apr 1996 18:36:33 +-200
>>
We've recently learned of a hustle that's being employed at airports
all across the country to steal laptop computers. It involves two
persons who look for a victim carrying a laptop and approaching a
metal detector.They position themselves in front of the unsuspecting
passenger. They stall until the mark puts the laptop computer on the
conveyor belt. Then the first subject moves through the metal
detector easily. The second subject sets off the detector and begins
a slow process of emptying pockets, removing jewelry, etc. While this
is happening, the first subject takes the laptop as soon as it appears
on the conveyor belt and moves away quickly. When the passenger
finally gets through the metal detector, the laptop is gone. The
subject that picks it up heads into the gate area and disappears among
the crowd. Sometimes a third subject will take a hand off from the
first subject and the computer is out of the restricted area before
the mark even knows that it is gone.
If only airports were designed like Amsterdam's Schipol airport... the
security check takes place at the departure gate, so if somebody does
'borrow' your property from the other side of the x-ray machine whilst
you're being searched, they can only take it onto the plane.
