For two decades, a woman managed to steal free air travel.
Your scam is as bold as it is simple.
Planning a vacation usually includes looking for the cheapest flights.
For the American Marylin H., however, that didn't matter.
With a bold ploy, she managed to get on one plane after the other for 20 years - without ever paying a cent or even having a passport.
On March 16, the 69-year-old was arrested at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
Traveling as a stowaway for 20 years
Just recently, the US broadcaster CBS 2 made the case of Marylin H. public.
In an interview with investigative reporter Brad Edwards, the 69-year-old told how her career as a stowaway began in 2002 - and so shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when
security measures in the USA were tightened enormously were
: "When I succeeded for the first time, I flew to Copenhagen," reported the woman.
"The second time I flew to Paris." It would be twelve years before H. finally caught the attention of the law enforcement officers.
After a trip from San Jose to Los Angeles, she was warned by a judge not to be guilty again.
However, the warning has no effect: In January 2018, her last flight so far took place as a fare dodger.
It was able to avoid both the “security process” and the “document / ticket check”, as they say.
On her subsequent flight to London with British Airways
, she saved $ 3,428 in travel expenses
.
For some time now, the free flyer has had to
wear
an
electronic ankle
bracelet, which is why she was most recently located at the airport in Chicago.
According to the CBS 2 report, the woman has a mental illness and is homeless.
Also interesting
: tourists in foreign countries are ripped off so brazenly.
Without checking through boarding: woman clings to the heels of strangers
But how did the 69-year-old actually manage to sneak into planes for almost 20 years without a passport or ticket?
Your scam is very simple: “I've never been able to board an airplane on my own.
I was always let through, ”she explained in the interview.
The trick:
she always attached herself to a stranger so that it looked as if she was traveling with someone
.
"The fact that it is so come through again and again, making a seemingly speechless," said aviation security expert Jeff Price, according
bild.de
it.
“The genius of the approach lies in its simplicity.
It is often the uncomplicated methods that work best. ”With this scam, the woman is said to have managed to sneak on domestic and international flights at least 30 times.
The woman is now known to security officers at the Chicago airport.
After the last incident, she was arrested again - due to the corona pandemic, she had previously been released from prison early and placed under domestic surveillance.
(fk)
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