Beware Bags Being Stolen at Sydney International
Why is Sydney International the only international airport I have been to recently that does not check peoples bag receipts against the bags being passed through customs?
A recent incident saw someone try to steal one of my wifes bags. Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong where a family with elderly passenger was being escorted through Immigration/Customs by Cathay Sydney staff. I saw my wifes bag being lifted by the family from the luggage conveyor. What are the odds I thought? Some women has a bag exactly the same as my wifes? 10 minutes later when my wife's bag was a no show the penny dropped. I chased through to Customs (try getting past the Agricultural guys in a hurry.........not easy) and managed to get the Cathay staff to check if the family had tags for all the bags on their trolley. What's the problem said the Cathay dude? Check the tags I suggested. No need he said, she said all the bags were theirs. Indulge me and check please. I can prove it is my wifes bag by showing the baggage tag. So sorry, honest mistake etc etc. Yeah sure.
I ask around it seems a scam being run through Asian and European airports is someone rounds up an elderly man or women, sticks them in a wheelchair and trots them off for a holiday overseas, using airlines ground staff to assist clearing elderly passenger through. Bag gets stolen as Security, Agriculture, Customs don't check bag receipts as they think the airlines ground staff has already done this. Ground staff get distracted as part of the scam when the bags are being put on the trolley (I remember the elderly guy had coughing fit in my situation). Scammer ends up paying for holiday from what is found in the bag. Target is usually first class, business class and frequent flyer bags as these are first off conveyor, usually are valuable bags with valuable contents and bag owner usually well heeled enough to spend a bit of time duty free shopping pre-immigration. This gives the scammer enough time to get the bag and get through Immigration/Customs because of the (unwitting) assistance of the airline ground staff before the bag owner shows up to wait for a no show bag.
In our case it could have been financially disasterous if the bag had been stolen. My wife later told me she had put the title deeds for our overseas properties in her suitcase, as it seemed safer then carrying them around with her in Hong Kong prior to boarding our flight.