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Before you downvote or comment on the resolution (the laptop mixup was an accident and it was returned shortly after), take a look at the last comment thread: h
by swanson 10y ago
Before you downvote or comment on the resolution (the laptop mixup was an accident and it was returned shortly after), take a look at the last comment thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11759741 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11759741 which was before it was returned. Interesting to observe the flood of comments about how it was a scam -- when it appears to have been much more innocent.
- waqf 10y agoIt does sound like a scam, though. Creating a commotion to distract as many agents as possible and hold up the line is exactly how you would do this; and it's still unexplained why the woman accepted a MacBook that wasn't hers (did she have a MacBook too? If so why wasn't it found still at TSA?) The only evidence otherwise is that the laptop was returned — which could also be because the posting attracted so much publicity that the scammers thought they would be caught if the investigation continued. Or at least their modus operandi would become a "known scam", which makes it harder for them to operate.
- swanson 10y agoFrom the article, > She was with her friend. Her friend had the same computer (which we saw on the video). Her friend ran off to hold the plane at the gate. She thought her friend left her computer. Sat in a diff section of plane so couldn't communicate with her friend (so didn't know she had a duplicate computer), and flew to New York. Discovered the extra computer when they landed. 4 days later, got back to LA, and finally had time to open the computer and investigate, and saw my contact info on the login screen. Sounds like an honest mistake to me.