• Most people don’t associate airports with crime.  They associate airports with travel.  After all, if you plan correctly, an airport isn’t someplace you go to.  You go through it to get somewhere else.

The very real problem of airport crime is often overlooked by the people who most need to know about it … travelers.

If you don’t familiarize yourself with some of the various scams criminals use to rip off travelers at airports, you can easily become a victim. I’m not talking about violent crime—homicide, robbery, or rape. Most airport crime is limited to crimes against property:  pickpocketing, luggage theft, and automobile break-ins.

But in almost every case, travelers are unwitting accomplices to actual crimes.

How? Most airport criminals count on travelers’ goodwill and their nervousness at being in unfamiliar surroundings.

It might surprise you to learn that these airport crooks almost always work in pairs. With few exceptions, they practice what police call crimes for “distraction.”

Their tactic is to get you to focus on something else.  They will almost always approach a victim and ask a question, or make him or her look in another direction.  Or they will delay the victim so that a crime can occur.

Working in pairs, airport criminals usually target folks traveling alone.  Here are some of the typical distractions aimed at permanently separating you from your luggage:

• The phone question. You’re standing in the airport talking on your cell phone. Your bag is on the floor, alongside your right foot. Suddenly, from the left, a person walks up to you and asks a questions that requires directions. While you are responding, trying to help, the second criminal walks  by and lifts your bag. By the time you are finished helping the accomplice, your bag is gone.
• The money trick.  You’re standing in line, waiting to check in for a flight. Alongside you is the luggage that you intend to check into the baggage hold, and you’re holding your purse or briefcase. Someone approaches you and points to an area of the airport floor, about eight feet away, where three or four dollar bills are visible. “Excuse me,” the person asks, still pointing to that spot, “did you drop this money?” Your first instinct might be to put down your briefcase or purse, walk the two or three steps over to the money, bend down, and pick it up. And the minute you do that, the second criminal whisks away your briefcase or purse. The criminal will walk quickly away, holding it at chest level in front of him or her, so that it is not visible from behind.
• The mustard trick. You’re in line at a ticket counter, a gate, or an airport restaurant or snack shop. Again, you’re holding your briefcase or purse. Someone behind you quietly squirts mustard or mayonnaise on the upper part of your back—usually near your left or right shoulder, where you can see it if someone points it out to you.  And that’s exactly the intent. The first criminal approaches you, tells you that something has been spilled on your shoulder, and offers to help clean it up. Coincidentally, the crook just happens to have a supply of napkins. And your first instinct?  You drop your briefcase or purse, and the rest is history. While your attention is focused on cleaning up the mess created by the first criminal, the second is long gone with your briefcase or purse.
• Auto thefts and break-ins. The crime suppression advice is the same at airports as on city streets. Park in well-lit lots, and don’t wait until you get to the airport to lock any valuable items in your trunk.  Someone could be watching.
• Conveyor belt tactic.  Crimes that require distraction often occur where travelers are least likely to suspect criminals: security checkpoints at airports. You’re in line to go through the X-ray machine. You’ve just placed your most valuable possessions—your carry-on bags—on the conveyer belt, when someone steps in line ahead of you. This criminal is armed—not with a gun, but with every piece of metal he or she can find. Inevitably, the alarm sounds; he or she is stopped and told to empty all pockets. Of course, not all the pockets are emptied. The heavy-metal-jacket man walks through a second time, and again the alarm sounds. By the time the security guard deems the person free of metal, his partner, who went through the metal detector minutes before, has stolen your bags.

 Some additional tips:

• Remain in actual physical contact with your bags. When you’re sitting near a departure gate, try to keep your leg or foot resting on your  bag.
• Always put an ID tag on the outside and the inside of your bag. Luggage thieves will quckly rip off any outside tags, but the inside tags may help you recover something if your luggage is stolen.
• When you fill in your ID tags, never write down your home address. Yes, you’re going out of town, but why advertise it? Use your office address, or simply list a phone number.

Excerpt from Peter’s book, The Travel Detective: How to Get the Best Service and the Best Deals from Airlines, Hotels, Cruise Ships, and Car Rental Agencies.

Pick up The Complete Travel Detective Bible from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or an independent retailer near you …

Have you been a victim of airport crime? What are you doing to stay safe? Leave us a comment and let us know.