It seems as if the TSA agent may have been in on it. He pulled the laptop off the belt and then handed it to a random woman who 'happened' to be with somebody causing a distraction. She did not protest the gift of the laptop. I find it hard to believe the agent 'happened' to hand it to just the right person.

I surprised there hasn't been more suggestion of this. There's are known classic scams for stealing laptops from security lines - the one I saw demonstrated used two people and a common type of laptop case. The entire context here is suspicious - I would be willing to bet at least pennies that the laptop will never turn up.

Seems a little unlikely that criminals are organising to buy plane tickets or obtain security clearances to steal things on security camera in a place crowded with security personnel when they could steal MacBooks just as easily by, say, wandering into a shared workspace.

If they happen to be flying somewhere, and there's a laptop free for the taking, why not?

Vastly increased chance of being caught?

Especially since if they "happen to be flying somewhere", they're not exactly desperately short of cash.

You can fly 'somewhere' for $29 - airports aren't just for the rich...

That seems like the exact opposite of what the GP is suggesting.

Why buy a ticket when you can print a fake one?

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/11/forge_your_ow...

Good luck trying to exploit that 10 year old security hole and not finding yourself under interrogation by someone a bit more menacing than the TSA.

Or, alternatively, if stealing laptops is your thing, you could steal them from the sort of location where people hold the door open for you.