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A company that sells lost airplane luggage

thehustle.co

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Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#91

Post by OJFord »

cpncrunch wrote: post #42
McDyver wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did. Are you saying 25m bags have absolutely no information on them? Absolutely zero?

I read the article as well, as there is no info on this at all. After some searching I did find the information in a different article about Canadian airlines: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/what-happens-to-unclaimed-lug... Air Canada and Westjet both open the bags to look for identifying information so they can contact the owner. Then they donate the bags to charity or dispose of them if they can't locate the owner.…

Tile? I think they were even around before Apple's one.

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#93

Post by jameshart »

OJFord wrote: post #90
sandworm101 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was at a convention once listening to an FBI agent talk about contacting companies that had been hacked. They would not reply to emails or even open letters labeled "FBI". The likelihood of a scam was just too high. So they asked the room what it would take for us to believe that an unsolicited communication came from the real FBI. In short, the room wanted Mulder and Scully at the front door, in suits, with badges…

But if I have actually lost my baggage, and I receive an email about lost baggage..? Scam is not going to be front of mind? (..so also excellent time to scam me.. please don't. But also maybe more fruitful just to steal the baggage if you have access to that information.)

Not a lot of money in stolen baggage. But using stolen baggage as an in to socially engineer someone into sending you Target gift cards? That seems like the kind of scam that might happen.

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#94

Post by jameshart »

handoflixue wrote: post #36
McDyver wrote: post #31

When it was founded 50 Yeats ago _maybe_ it made sense because technology was not that advanced. Now I'd say it's a company selling stolen goods. Airlines know who is the owner of that luggage. They have the sticker with flight, booking number, they have the contact details of the owner, and most owners put a tag with their contact info on the luggage. They were hired to provide the sole service of transporting the l…

> Now I'd say it's a company selling stolen goods. "Imagine this: An airline loses your checked bag. After an extensive search, customer support comes up empty-handed. They compensate you and life goes on." It seems bizarre to call this stolen goods when the airline has tried to resolve this for 90 days AND compensated you for your loss

The airline can compensate you, and they can sell your bag, but they can't put two and two together and give you your bag back?

Airlines know EXACTLY who was on every plane. It isn't unknowable how a particular bag wound up somewhere.

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#95

Post by technick »

sandworm101 wrote: post #77
jabroni_salad wrote: post #56

As someone who has been in a similar space, I guarantee you over half of those luggages do have identified owners who simply aren't contactable because they will not answer the phone, check a voicemail, read their email, or open any letter addressed to them. It takes two to tango and nobody knows how to dance.

I was at a convention once listening to an FBI agent talk about contacting companies that had been hacked. They would not reply to emails or even open letters labeled "FBI". The likelihood of a scam was just too high. So they asked the room what it would take for us to believe that an unsolicited communication came from the real FBI. In short, the room wanted Mulder and Scully at the front door, in suits, with badges…

I was forced to deal with an FBI agent last year. I authenticated him by calling the local FBI office and asking the person who answered to authenticate the agent. I got the number of the FBI office off way back machine.

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#96

Post by iudqnolq »

sandworm101 wrote: post #77
jabroni_salad wrote: post #56

As someone who has been in a similar space, I guarantee you over half of those luggages do have identified owners who simply aren't contactable because they will not answer the phone, check a voicemail, read their email, or open any letter addressed to them. It takes two to tango and nobody knows how to dance.

I was at a convention once listening to an FBI agent talk about contacting companies that had been hacked. They would not reply to emails or even open letters labeled "FBI". The likelihood of a scam was just too high. So they asked the room what it would take for us to believe that an unsolicited communication came from the real FBI. In short, the room wanted Mulder and Scully at the front door, in suits, with badges…

The German spy who came off a U-Boat and wanted to hand their team in wasn't believed on the phone and had to show up in person at FBI headquarters.

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#97

Post by throwup238 »

iudqnolq wrote: post #96
sandworm101 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was at a convention once listening to an FBI agent talk about contacting companies that had been hacked. They would not reply to emails or even open letters labeled "FBI". The likelihood of a scam was just too high. So they asked the room what it would take for us to believe that an unsolicited communication came from the real FBI. In short, the room wanted Mulder and Scully at the front door, in suits, with badges…

The German spy who came off a U-Boat and wanted to hand their team in wasn't believed on the phone and had to show up in person at FBI headquarters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_John_Dasch presumably?

Tragic story

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#98

Post by njharman »

technick wrote: post #95
sandworm101 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was at a convention once listening to an FBI agent talk about contacting companies that had been hacked. They would not reply to emails or even open letters labeled "FBI". The likelihood of a scam was just too high. So they asked the room what it would take for us to believe that an unsolicited communication came from the real FBI. In short, the room wanted Mulder and Scully at the front door, in suits, with badges…

I was forced to deal with an FBI agent last year. I authenticated him by calling the local FBI office and asking the person who answered to authenticate the agent. I got the number of the FBI office off way back machine.

> off way back machine.

+1 for practical paranoia!

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#99

Post by gottorf »

technick wrote: post #92

I've been told by people who work at Delta, if they lose your bag, tell them the bag contained the cremated remains of a family member. They will go the extra mile to find that bag instead of compensating you for it.

Enough people do this and they won't go the extra mile anymore, I suppose.

Re: A company that sells lost airplane luggage

#100

Post by OJFord »

jameshart wrote: post #93
OJFord wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if I have actually lost my baggage, and I receive an email about lost baggage..? Scam is not going to be front of mind? (..so also excellent time to scam me.. please don't. But also maybe more fruitful just to steal the baggage if you have access to that information.)

Not a lot of money in stolen baggage. But using stolen baggage as an in to socially engineer someone into sending you Target gift cards? That seems like the kind of scam that might happen.

You get the average bag value from every bag though (on average!), you socially engineer someone into sending you more than that in Target gift cards some tiny fraction of the time. And in this scenario you have to know about their lost baggage anyway.

I think if you somehow have access to the lost baggage at a given airport, theft is going to me profitable than scamming. Aaanyway!

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