Are Shoe Thieves At TSA Screening More Common Than You Realize?

In a 2024 Tiktok video, a woman named Amber Ward stands nervously in an airport terminal. "You won't believe it," she says to the camera, her voice quavering with shock. "Someone stole my shoe!"

The moment is surreal. While standing in line at the TSA checkpoint, haven't we all wondered how easy it would be to just walk off with someone's belongings? With so many bins full of loose items coupled with slow-moving traffic through the X-rays and full-body scanners, couldn't a clever thief simply pluck up a watch, phone, or wallet while the owner is distracted? Ward's video seems to corroborate this fear. Worse, the item was a shoe, meaning Ward had to trudge around the airport with only one foot covered (unless there was a clothing store in the terminal).

This incident sparks so many questions: How often does this happen? Are there really shoe bandits out there, skulking around airport security queues and preying on unguarded footwear? What do they plan to do with a single sneaker? If this is a genuine threat, stolen items should concern all travelers. You can take steps to get through airport security faster, but it's hard to outwit a dedicated crook –– especially if TSA holds you up with extra security screenings. Then again, there's also a simpler explanation for Ward's missing shoe which may not be so nefarious after all.

In short, TSA does not have available data for how many items are "stolen" at checkpoints. Airports are a peculiar environment. On the one hand, petty criminals might think tired or overwhelmed travelers are easy pickings. There's a reason for all those announcements to "not leave your baggage unattended." On the other hand, CCTV cameras are everywhere, capturing every interaction. The TSA isn't actual law enforcement, but they have the right to detain any suspicious person, and police are usually quick to respond. Lots of innocuous things may get you flagged at the airport as well. 

In contrast, TSA does have data for lost-and-found items: between 90,000 and 100,000 individual possessions are left behind at checkpoints in U.S. airports every month. This is also understandable, given what a congested, high-stress experience these checkpoints can be. Maybe Ward's shoe wasn't stolen, but it's hard to imagine that she just misplaced it and hopped away without thinking. However, tens of thousands of other travelers are expected to abandon one thing or another.

Finally, there's always the chance that belongings get jammed in the X-ray. "Lmao this happened to me in [Charlotte] too," wrote one commenter below Ward's TikTok video. "TSA told me I must have come with only one on. Turns out it was stuck in the machine." Another wrote: "This happened to me in LAX but it had fallen off in the scanner." Ward was insistent that her shoe was willfully taken, and of course, no one can refute her. But if you do lose an item at a TSA security checkpoint, here's what to do.