How did this woman board an international flight without a ticket or a passport?

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/01/23/how-did-this-woman-board-an-in.html

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She did it using the invisibility cloak that is issued to all middle-age (or older) women, of course!

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She’s white. That must help.

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The Granny Cloak works for elderly men too, I use it daily, but it’s called the Grampy Cloak.

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Hope she got the airmiles in any case.

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How to get preferential treatment using one weird trick!

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You can get away with a whole lot if you’re a nice-looking older white lady who just acts like she’s supposed to be doing what she’s doing.

I used to work security at Kmart; ladies like this were the ones who did most of the shoplifting. Nobody thinks to stop and frisk a kindly lady walking out the door.

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Angela Lansbury?? No doubt on her way to investigate a murder.

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I suppose its similar to wearing a visibility vest and carrying a few tools or a tablet in a rugged case.

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confidence and appearing to belong is key to most social engineering. I’ve gotten into many backstage areas at events in the past by simply acting like i was supposed to be there and more important than the checkpoint person.

that is why strict credential checking policies are a must at checkpoints.

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Trinity : Neo, no one has ever done anything like this.

Neo : That’s why it’s going to work.

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When I was a young journalist I was taught that the best invisibility device was a clipboard filled with papers and forms. Combine that with a confident bearing and it could get you into surprising places.

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I accidentally did that a few times :slight_smile:
I had to do measurements on a construction site of a large bridge with a colleague, and nobody didn’t even ask us what we were doing. We had visibility vests, hard hats, toolboxes and a rugged laptop, so exactly as you describe :slight_smile:
The best part was sitting inside the bridge (it was steel box girder type) and doing measurement readouts while it was under load test.

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My dear mother, may she rest in peace, used to follow the minimum of laws and social niceties necessary to live a reasonable life. This frequently resulted in us kids being scandalized. Her answer? “Old ladies are invisible.” Sad, but very, very true.

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You sure it’s not called the Grumpy Cloak, I feel like I’ve seen more elderly men wear those.

Although I will say the Grampy Cloak should be something I see on one of those “As Seen on TV!” commercials.

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No, that’s strictly for the ahole of the species. BTW: It derives its power from your negative attitude, thusly it renders it useless to me.

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Wow, she must have really wanted to get to London. Must have been the food.

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catch_me_if_you_can

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Nowadays, a clipboard makes you stand out.

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“Prosecutors said Ms. Hartman stayed overnight at the airport…”

If she ate there, the concession restaurants would be the real criminals.

:wink: