Study says more than 10,000 laptops go missing at US airports each week
By Donald Melanson 
posted Jul 6th 2008 11:05AM
posted Jul 6th 2008 11:05AM
As we've seen, laptops have a tendency of getting stolen from even the most unsuspecting places, but a new study has now found one not entirely surprising place where your laptop is particularly unsafe: the airport. According to the Ponemon Institute, more than 10,000 laptops are reported lost at the 36 largest airports in the US each week and, of those, 65 percent are not reclaimed. They also reported a further 2,000 laptops lost at medium-sized airports, with 69 percent of those not reclaimed. According to the institute, folks also aren't very confident that they'll ever see their laptop again once it goes missing, with 77 percent of the people surveyed saying they had "no hope" of ever recovering a laptop lost at the airport, and 16 percent saying they wouldn't even do anything to attempt to recover it. Of course, there's no shortage of suggestions out there for preventing your laptop from getting lost or stolen, and Network World's Richard Stiennon has a couple of good ones at the link below.
[Via Network World]
[Via Network World]
Why can't they just check out security tapes? plus, these days you can't even go to the terminals without a ticket. I wonder where they get stolen?
#1 there are companies that offer "LOJACKS" for laptops that will trace a laptop as soon as it logs into an internet network and use GPS to help police catch the theif red handed.
Unfortunately you've gotta pay for the service and it ain't cheap.
THE SOLUTION: NEVER CHECK YOUR LAPTOP or any other expensive device. CARRY IT ON...DUH.
#2 This is why I have no faith in airport security. They shouldn't just be able to stop contraband from getting ON the plane, they should also have full control of what is getting off.
#3 Do they have incoming/outgoing security checks for AIRPORT WORKERS? If they don't then they SHOULD.
I know EL AL does.
I totally trust the heavyset woman who takes the bags, you know, the one with the sprayed on pants... so tight you can see the metal tongs on the zipper holding on for dear life...
How can you have no faith in this crack squad of savvy, motivated personnel?
Check your laptop in a obvious 'laptop bag' and it just circles around that terminal screaming 'take me'!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7AWw7t5zj0
The question is: Where can we buy these unclaimed laptops for cheap!?
In the UK they go to auction houses you can pick up entire suitcases for about £50
In the US it goes to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. It's like a discount clothing department store where you can also buy laptops and furry suits, if that makes sense.
I'm guessing most are going to the family and friends of airport workers. My friends dad works at a garage and he always finds sweet electronics while cleaning out customers' cars. He then grabs them and gives them to my friend.
Your friend's dad is a fuck'n thief.
@BatteryAcid
Well that explains why my Zune that I reported left in a Hertz rental car never made its way to lost and found. Tell your "friend's dad" he is a world class douche bag the next time you see him.
@BatteryAcid:
If you know that your friend's dad is stealing stuff out of cars, then why the fuck aren't you turning him in to the police? That someone forgets to take something out of a car does not mean that they've "donated" the item to your friend's low-life dad to give as a "present."
Seriously, why the fuck haven't you turned that low-life scumball in?
pokemon instutute? is that what professor oak does nowadays
Huh?
(You must have seen a typo or you misread the article.)
Ponemon Institute. Not to be confused with the well known and respected Pokemon Institute.
no man, there is a word that looks like pokemon in the article. play on words.
how does that happen? you're never further away then 10 feet from your PC when it's going through x-ray...
only time I lose sight of it, is when it goes through.
btw had laugh the other day .. I emptied my pockets and had put my bags through the x-ray. then I wanted to go through the metal detector and found a labello stick in my left pocket still. I reached for it and held it clearly in my hand whilst holding my hands up going through the machine.
The guard chuckled and said "Believe it or not, but that has to go through x-ray" haha. Made my day .. grabbing a little 5" mini tray just for a stick. It even got stuck in the machine till a large bag came behind it.
hey....
not only laptops go missing...
i am from germany and they stole two ipod out off my bag in NY !!!!!!!!!!!!
there have to be a really big organisation behind it !
Sure you didn't leave them in the seat back pocket? I guess you can replace them with one big iPod now. Please, give us a 32gb iPhone already!
There is, and it's called the TSA!
They have to pay for the extra airport security some how...
I've seen people leave their kids behind... so I'm sure a few of these laptops were left behind rather than stolen. "Reported lost" is the key phrase here.
How to avoid laptop loss: keep it with you.
The End.
So true.
Best comment, ever.
Great advice, but at some point it does have to go by itself in it's own separate gray bin. The advice in the article of sandwiching it between both of your goods is very good advice.
I guess I've been fortunate in that I actually remove all metal objects from my person and put them in my bag so that I get through the metal detector before my bags even finish being screened. Unless there are thieving midgets in those x-ray machines, I get to to my bag and my laptop before anyone else. Security screening isn't that hard if you're prepared.
at my ticket/help desk in JFK airport in hartford connecticut
JFK airport in HARTFORD?
You're an idiot.
Los Angeles International is in San Fransisco, I bet you didnt know that
Every time that I have to take my laptop out of my bag for security, my heart rate goes up by like twenty beats a second.
You may want to see a doctor if your heart is beating 20 times in a second.
@scikotc84
you may want to learn some basic logic
his heart rate goes up by 20 BPM
so that is a difference of 20
so unless he had a heart rate of 0 before, i think he is fine :)
Well he said 20 beats per second. Basic logic says there are 60 seconds in one minute. My elementary math tells me that's 1200 BPM. Now I'm not a cardiologist but I'm pretty sure that's about 1100 too many. :)
@Jason
Only thing is he said per second not minute.
It helps if you read before trying to correct
Couldn't laptops have some kind of alarm that could be triggered by different means? Like exceeding a certain proximity to the owner, or length of time without a password login. Or even the ability to page the machine with a cellphone. You can use the phone to activate an audible alarm so you can find it, or even have it send GPS coordinates to your celphone?
Using any of that makes you a terrorist intent on blowing up millions of innocents, just like the two-year olds with water bottles. Murderers
Or just get iAlertU on your macbook. Then, log into the airport Wifi. There's your crook.
@paul:
If calling whiny, noisy 2-year-olds terrorists will keep them from running up and down the aisles and screaming for 5 hours straight, I say keep up the good work.
Here one of the way of how its done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9SXHYCP-q0
Watching the whole The Real Hustlers videos is highly recommended.
K.
You sure aren't doing a good job at masking your identity.
They are stolen either by security or baggage handlers. Simple.
What kind of laptop is the person in the picture holding? It looks like a sony vaio TZ but it isnt because the battery is too flat and big.
The laptop is a Sony Vaio SR-17.
People tend not to care as much about their business laptop as they do their personal laptop. So I'd assume a great deal of those laptops lost were company laptops.
But 10,000 a Week!? That number threw me off.
Some people (myself included) use business laptops for personal reasons. It would be a little unreasonable to carry a second laptopt for personal transactions and e-mails when you are on the road because of your job. I would feel different if I were rotating among a group of shared laptops, but after you use an assigned laptop for so long it becomes a bit more of a personal item.
The "unsuspecting places" link doesn't quite live up to its promise... :-(
Once some one brought a Dell laptop to me telling me that they could not remember their password and asked me to reinstall windows and give it back to them. They told me I didn't need to back anything up.
I decided I would be nice and back up their files anyway. I took out the hard drive and when I went to the accounds folder something looked odd. None of these folders had a name that resembled the person that gave me the laptop. After doing more digging through the files I found out the laptop was the property of another company and assigned to a sales individual. He had a copy of the company directory on his desktop so I called him and shipped it back to him; he only lived 60 miles from my house. The person that gave me the laptop had a job as a flight attendent on an airline that I won't name.
As it turned out the owner of the laptop had placed it in his seat pocket during the flight and forgot to get it back out. The flight attendent took it, removed the stickers and business cards from it, ordered a new power supply, and then was trying to get me to complete the final step in making it his. After returning the laptop the flight attended tried to convince me that I owed him for the loss of this laptop that was never his property. I invited him to have a discussion with myself, the airline, and the company that owned the laptop at which point he respecfully withdrew his claim.
I hate to say this (not really)... but your a fucking asshole. I wouldn't have bothered in having a 'discussion' with you. I would've just whooped your ass and taken out the cost of the laptop out on your skull.
(And I seriously don't care for those of you who low rank me)
Hello iH8Engadget.
I would expect most to have that thought pattern and response from learning I had returned the stolen laptop to its owners along with criticism from anyone aware of the situation. Precautions were taken to avoid harassment and harm. I had already spoken to employees of the airline and found taking the laptop was sufficient means for loosing his job. The company that owned the laptop being all to happy to get their data back was also prepared to file a legal complaint had I disclosed his name to them. He was made aware of this when I invited him to have the discussion which made the mutually beneficial for the both of us for him to do nothing more.
no matter what others say, returning the laptop was the right thing to do.
@Joel,
you're totally the man. it's nice to hear a refreshing story like that.
@iH8Engadget,
you probably already know this, but i'm pretty sure you have no sense of justice, nobility, or dignity. did you even read his post, or are you just a laptop-stealing low-life yourself? the dude gave Joel a hot laptop to reformat, and Joel returned it to its rightful owner... essentially, said criminal is back to square one, warranting no beating of any sort. if anything, said criminal should shrug his shoulders and move on with life.
btw- oxymoronic name...why even read/post on this site (or even live for that matter)? i know you are too dumb to care, and since you're so dumb, i have provided this link for necessary, educational purposes: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/oxymoron.
go to hell.
The next time I fly I'll keep an eye out for one of them "lost" laptops, never know when you'll find an upgrade
I don't understand when these things are going missing. DIA has a giant sign when exiting the screening area that says "Did you forget your laptop, cell phone, bag, etc?" And I would never check my laptop. But apparently that's just me.
Now where did I put my notebook? ... .......ah DAMNIT!!!!
Airport lost and found, here I come.
I know a lot of laptops get lost, but please... More than 500,000 a year at airports. NOT likely. I think somebody has a math problem...
And 330,000 not reclaimed!
Apple fanboys are just like cockroaches, annoying as hell, everywhere and even a nuclear bomb wouldn't kill them. : (
What does Apple Fanboys have to do with stolen laptops? Please explain.
The post was for Ocean (im not 'clak') .
Damn you commenting system!
Apple fanboys are just like cockroaches, annoying as hell, everywhere and even a nuclear bomb wouldn't kill them. : (
Your posting history seems to suggest a desire for rejection and admonishment. Do you partake in small penis humiliation as well?
The engadget commenting system strikes again! The above was aimed at Ocean....
Good thing you can put on Lo-Jack on your laptop these days, so you can find the person who stole your laptop easier or if you lost it, you could look to see that you're still holding it but you forget that you're holding it!
lost? Stolen or lost and claimed to be stolen and a new upgraded laptop claim is put in. I think these are not real claims...how could people not look for a expensive device with all that information ....come on now
In the UK you can pick up entire suitcases at luggage auction houses for about £50 not a bad deal its not worth the effort of returning them due to insurance.
I'd suspect that 10.00 number is bogus. Sounds way too high, and too rounded off to be true. It's probably just some number a writer made up to sensationalize his/her otherwise mundane article. I'd suspect the actual weekly number to be in the hundreds. 10,000 in a year perhaps, rounding considerably.
The UK video tip on watching your laptop during security check mentioned that 30,000 laptops are reported stolen in a year in the UK.
Airlines are evil.
I'll take the frickin' train, thanks.
good luck with that
if you are going more than say 500 miles trains are useless
hint-Boeing 7 series and Airbus intercontinentals all go about 4.5 to 5 times faster than any train in the USso if you have hours upon hours to waste then go ahead-take a train-but it seems like a increasingly bd idea as Planes get faster and more efficient
then again
Homeland security and the TSA people are bitches so if you cant deal with people who have no humor or compasion, trains are good
Another apple fanboy.. Maybe no one wants to steal the apple notebooks.
Don't worry, I'm sure they do.
Mine was for ocean too...
That article mentions some of the _technical_ ways to deal with a lost/stolen laptop ... but, that completely misses the real cause of these missing laptops: people doing stupid things.
1) don't check the laptop in your luggage
2) LIKE ANY OTHER CARRY-ON don't leave it alone. Don't turn away for a minute. As soon as you're done using it, put it back in its bag, and always keep the bag on you or touching you .... such as always have your arm through the shoulder strap, even if the bag is sitting on the chair spot next to the one you're sitting at.
3) When you're going through the security stop, keep a keen eye on your laptop bag. Care more about that than about your shoes (most places will let you pick up your stuff, and walk in your socks over to the nearest row of seating to put your shoes back on).
In otherwords: don't be stupid. You don't need a lowjack for this. or some sort of proximity sensor. You need to vigilant and exercise common sense.
"1) don't check the laptop in your luggage"
Remember when checking your bags wasn't an invitation to the airport staff to rob you blind?
It is really sad when you need to worry about the airport's SECURITY personnel stealing your laptop more than anyone else. Of course, considering all the shady ghetto people they hire for the TSA at the airports, I guess it's not that surprising that they get sticky fingers when rifling though your suitcase for the sake of "safety".
am i the only one who would be actively hunting my laptop down? the amount going missing isnt shocking but i am mighty surprised at the amount that are found and no one bothers to claim!
Do You Always Talk Like This And Capitalize Every Word? It Just Makes You Look More Like A Douchebag. Oh Wait, You're An Apple Fanboy, You Can't Look Any More Like A Douche Than You Already Do.
its the ramp guys that steal the laptops and stuff. that's why they cant catch them and that's because there is no cameras outside in the airfield. i used to work as a baggage screener and thats what i heard.
Thats over a billion dollars worth of laptops a year? Sounds to me like there is some insurance fraud going on.
Cant go wrong with a bit of insurance fraud. Just dont do it with cell phones
and furthermore people are stupid enough to put it on the outside pocket or on top inside their suitcases.
Wow, looks like Ocean has a special shield where we can't directly reply to his Apple fanboy comments. : D
I find it hard to believe that 27 laptops go missing at an airport everyday.
i wouldn't be surprised if a large amount of this number were due to people that wanted an upgraded work laptop. "I don't know boss it just disappeared at the airport"
Boss to moron employe
"Well here's my old Thinkpad 560X, the battery is shot, but it will get you through till the next budget cycle."
^^^^ and the award for lamest comment goes to... ^^^^
Clak's Back!!!!!! WE'RE
ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wow. Engadget's gone much worse. This was supposed to go to that ocean dude.
Reminds me of an article I read about an organized crimes investigation. Turns out there were gang members working as baggage handlers at the airport.
I've also spoken with someone that was employed as a baggage handler, and according to him a lot of them are punk kids and high school dropouts. Yeah, it's just anecdotal evidence, but it sure does explain a lot.
This is why I try to cram as much stuff into my carry-on as possible. Of course, it doesn't help that the security checkpoint people just toss your laptop around like a hot potato.
im not that punk kid if anyone was wondering
ive never stolen anything
You Don't Have To Capitalize Every Word.
This Isn't 1508.
Where do you people keep coming from?!?
That was also for Ocean..
Right when I thought this had been fixed, the comment gnomes strike again!
Never...never check a laptop or anything else for that matter. Also, never walk through the metal detector until you have seen your bags go into the x-ray machine.
In Columbus OH the state auctions off all the cigarette lighters, knives and nail clippers they confiscated every 2 months. Usually there are lots of laptops also sold at the auction. I assumed it was state discards.
there was an article on digg the other day about checking firearms to be safer for your things, because you can use a non-TSA approved lock or something. if you check your laptop, toss a pistol in there and no shady TSA workers can grab it.
note: if i'm wrong about something from that article, i wholeheartedly apologize
It is really sad when you need to worry about the airport's SECURITY personnel stealing your laptop more than anyone else. Of course, considering all the shady ghetto people they hire for the TSA at the airports, I guess it's not that surprising that they get sticky fingers when rifling though your suitcase for the sake of "safety".
Wait, wait, wait. Are these numbers correct? 10,000 laptops a WEEK! At 36 AIRPORTS? That's like 250 laptops per airport per week. That's 35 stolen or lost laptops at each airport? No security is finding these people walking out of the airports with this many laptops? And if they are just lost, well people just shrug and say, "oh well, another lost laptop"? I travel a lot for business and I have never encountered someone who just had a lap top stolen.
This artical emakes no sense.