How to prevent thefts by TSA employees when you fly

Several recent media reports highlighted a number of alleged and admitted thefts by TSA employees, and these stories serve as a reminder to passengers that while most TSA employees are honest and fully dedicated to protecting the public, a rare few will steal from passengers.

TSA employee sells stolen items on craigslist
A January 20, 2012 Miami Herald story described the arrest of a TSA employee who allegedly stole items from checked luggage, smuggled them out using a hidden pocket added to his TSA uniform jacket, and sold several items, including at least one iPad, on craigslist. This scheme reportedly had been going on for about three years. This TSA employee's wife was also charged.

How to prevent this from happening
Do not pack expensive and easy to sell valuable items such as laptops, money, or jewelry in your checked bag. On US flights, checked baggage must either be left unlocked, or use approved locks that can be opened by the TSA, so that the TSA can inspect checked luggage. This same advice would apply to a couple who had $500 stolen from their checked bag in December 2011 at the Punta Gorda, FL airport, though it is not clear if a TSA employee was involved in that theft.

Laptops stolen from screening area by TSA employee
A New York Post story reported a January 10, 2012 incident where a college student who forgot his laptop in a screening area at New York's LaGuardia Airport and had the laptop allegedly stolen by a TSA screener. The now-fired TSA employee was reportedly seen seen on a surveillance video taking the laptop and later admitted to the theft when confronted by a TSA supervisor.

Last October, another former TSA employee was convicted of stealing a laptop left at the screening area at the Memphis airport. Like the LaGuardia theft, this one was aslo caught on surveillance video.

How many TSA employees are theives?
A May 2011 New York Press stated that about 500 TSA employees had been fired or suspended because of thefts from passenger luggage. A February 2008 blog post on the TSA web site stated that the TSA had fired or sought prosecution for 200 TSA employees accused of theft. Some of those theft victims were other TSA employees. This means that on average, about 50 thieves had been discovered within the TSA each year.

How to prevent this from happening
If you travel with a laptop, make sure that you retrieve it after you pass through the TSA screening area. There are several things that you can do, including having some kind of reminder that you packed a laptop. For example, you can open up your backpack or laptop bag so that it is clear that something should be put back into it.

If you travel in a group, have the first person to make it through screening make sure that everyone's valuables are accounted for. Also, TSA lets you keep iPads, Kindles, and smaller notebook computers like the 11-inch MacBookAir in your carry-on bag when you go through screening.

Laptops are not the only things stolen
Last July, the the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that a former TSA employee at the Ft. Lauderdale airport admitted to taking a passenger's $450 pen. According to a statement by the former employee, the theft didn't happen at the screening area, but after the pen was set aside by the TSA, presumably as an item that was headed to the TSA's lost and found department.

Change the TSA can believe in
Sometimes the money left by passengers as they go through TSA screening isn't stolen, because the TSA can legally keep it. According to a December 2011 Los Angeles Times article, loose change left behind by passengers can be kept by the TSA and used to help fund the agency's operations. In the 2010 fiscal year, this spare change added up to more than $375,000.

What can you do to prevent theft?
While passengers can't do anything to prevent a rogue TSA employee from stealing from you, there is quite a bit that you can do to prevent thefts from happening in the first place. For more details, download out the AirSafe.com Baggage and Security Guide, which includes a number of articles on how you can pack your carry on or checked bag so that you reduce or eliminate the chance that you will be a victim of theft the next time you fly (available as a PDF file, or as an ebook for our iPad or Kindle). You can find similar advice at the baggage resources page at AirSafe.com

Multiple Alleged Thefts by TSA Employees

Earlier this month, three New York area TSA employees were arrested in two separate incidents after being accused of stealing up to about $70,000 from airline passengers.

According to a statement by the US Attorney's Office in New Jersey, Michael Arato, a supervisor at Newark Liberty Airport, admitted in federal court that he accepted bribes and kickbacks from a coworker who stole money during security screenings at his checkpoint.

Prosecutors allege that Arato permitted a worker under his supervision to steal $10,000 to $30,000 in cash from travelers' bags over a 13 month month period, and that the subordinate shared some of the stolen money with Arato. Between September 13 and October 5, 2010, video surveillance captured Arato allegedly accepting approximately $3,100 in bribes. In addition to admitting that he took bribes related to his coworker’s theft, Arato also admitted that he regularly stole from passengers traveling through his checkpoint.

According to the Queens, NY District Attorney's office, two TSA employees at JFK airport, Davon Webb and Couman Perad, were arrested after being accused of stealing about $40,000 from apassenger's checked bag. The investigation began on January 30th of this year after another TSA agent contacted police after suspecting that the two agents had taken money. Coumar allegedly noticed cash after X-raying a passenger's bag. Webb allegedly marked it with tape, and later Coumar allegedly removed $40,000 from the bag. The bag had actually contained about $170,000. Police later found $16,000 in Webb's home and $23,980 in Coumar's home (he allegedly spent $20 on food).

Other TSA Thefts
This is not the first time that TSA employees have been accused of stealing from passengers. According to Bloomberg, TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis stated that between 2008 and 2010, 12 TSA officers lost their jobs due to thefts at security points or from checked baggage.

How to Protect Your Cash at the Airport
When you carry cash with you on an airline trip, you should take some very basic steps to keep from becoming a victim of theft.

• Avoid traveling with large amounts of cash.
  
  
• If you have to take cash, keep it in a carry on bag
  
  
• Keep your baggage and belongings in sight when passing through a security checkpoint
  
  
• If your carry on baggage must be searched, insist on keeping your bag in sight
  
  
• If asked about the contents of your baggage by a TSA agent or other responsible authority, tell the truth
  
  
• If you suspect that you have been a victim of theft, contact an airport police officer or other law enforcement representative immediately (note that TSA agents are not law enforcement agents)
  
  
• If you suspect that a TSA screener or other screening area employee has stolen your property, contact a supervisor

Also, keep in mind while it is legal to travel domestically with large amounts of cash, when you are entering the US (with the US as your destination or in transit to another country), you have to declare currency, endorsed personal checks , travelers checks, gold coins, securities or stocks in bearer form that are valued at $10,000 or more. Failure to do so can result in seizure by US Customs agents. When leaving the US with large amounts of currency, gold, or other valuables, you should review the customs requirements of your destination country.

For more baggage tips, visit AirSafe.com's Baggage Basics page.

Phoenix area couple accused of stealing more than 1,000 airline bags - How to protect your baggage

On Monday November 1st, police arrested a Phoenix-area couple who were accused of stealing up to 1,000 bags and other items from the baggage claim areas of Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport. The arrests came three weeks after police first observed suspicious behavior near one of the airport's luggage carousels, when one of those who was arrested this week was seen parking his car, taking a piece of luggage from one of the baggage claim carousels, and getting back into his car. Police began conducting surveillance on him after he was arrested on a theft charge and released. A police review of airport surveillance tapes revealed that he may have entered the terminal at least 64 times in the previous few months, but had not taken a flight from that airport in at least a year.

Getting the stolen items back to their rightful owner may be difficult because the suspects stripped off all identifying tags. The suspects may have also sold some of the items at garage sales and swap meets. Police said people who believe they may be victims should call 602-495-7808.

This event was noteworthy only because of the scale of the thefts. The risks that passengers face from baggage theft are not unique to Phoenix. Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport is like many airports in the US and around the world in that once your bags arrive at the baggage carousel, there are no airline or airport employees who check to see if baggage is going to the rightful owner.

Reducing Your Risks
While every passenger is at risk of having a checked bag lost or stolen, There are a number of things that every passenger should do to keep their checked bags from being stolen or to minimize the impact of a lost bag. AirSafe.com's Top Ten Baggage Tips page has a number of suggestions, including:

• Travel with only carry-on luggage
  
• Put your contact information inside and outside every checked bag
  
• Immediately report the loss of checked luggage
  
• Don't pack valuable items in checked luggage

The kinds of things you should not put in checked bags include medicine, computers, electronic files, legal documents; credit cards, checks, or other financial documents; cash, jewelry, and items of great sentimental value.

Police reported that when they were searching the home of the arrested couple, one of those arrested was attempting to destroy a number of items, including passports, credit cards, and identification cards.

If you plan on avoiding checked baggage problems by taking carry-ons, AirSafe.com has additional advice about carry-on baggage, such as checking with the airline ahead of time to find out what their policy and limitations are for bags in the cabin. Even with carry-ons, you should make plans to check that bag. On some smaller aircraft and on very crowded flights, there may not be room for your bag and you may have to check the bag at the last minute. You should prepare for this by keeping valuable items in a smaller bag or container that you can take out of the carry-on and keep with you on the plane.

Compensation for Lost Bags
Should any of your luggage be lost, delayed, stolen, or damaged, you will very likely be eligible for some kind of compensation from the airline or even the airport, but you must act immediately after you find that your bags are missing. AirSafe.com also provides advice for how to go about the compensation process.

Related Resources
Hazardous Materials and Prohibited Items