In 2025, an airport checked bag tag swap scam caught some innocent travelers off guard in destination countries. Most of them travelled from Canada. CTV News’ W5, an investigative journalism unit, uncovered the scam – which is an eye-opener for every international traveler, regardless of departure and arrival airports. CTV News’ W5 team investigated 17 cases of the scam, wherein gullible travelers faced interrogations, detentions, arrests, and imprisonment for the drug-filled bags that actually did not belong to them.
The luggage tag switching scam happened at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada. In one of the cases, Nicole – a paramedic who was traveling from Toronto to New Zealand with her family – was removed from the flight and detained during a short layover in Vancouver. Her name, PNR, and other details matched with the tag found on the checked bags which were intercepted for carrying 20kgs of drugs. A similar incident happened to two Germany-bound travelers from Toronto this year. The tags attached to the bags with 33kgs of cannabis referred to them.
What is airport bag tag switching?
The recently reported checked baggage tag swapping is a scam wherein an airport worker or baggage handler deliberately swaps tags between bags. Once your checked bag gets a tag and passes on the conveyor belt, someone removes the tag and switches it to a different bag (carrying illegal stuff) before the bags are loaded onto the aircraft. It makes your actual bag ownerless and identifies the other bag as yours to the customs.
If the illegal bag goes undetected through customs, someone who may have plotted it retrieves the bag at the destination airport. If it raises alarms, the customs officer holds back the innocent traveler whose name matches with the tag on the bag.
You may wonder how the luggage tag switching happens at an international airport secured with a strong surveillance system. Surprisingly, Toronto Pearson Airport has nearly 3000 cameras. Investigators said that altering the checked bag identification and swapping the tags are simple for airport insiders and baggage handlers who are familiar with surveillance blind spots in baggage-handling areas (restricted to passengers in general).
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How to save yourself from checked baggage tag swap scam
Keep all the contents (clothes, accessories, other items) at one place before packing in and take pictures. If possible, shoot a video while packing those contents into a checked bag (s). Keep the pictures and/or video safe on your or the traveler’s mobile phone.
Tie a bright ribbon to make your checked bags easily identifiable. Even if your bag tag is swapped for some other bag before departure or after arrival, you can easily identify your checked bags.
Photograph all sides of your checked bags, including the handle and the wheels, before handing over to the airline’s check-in counter at the departure airport. The photographs must show the actual bag color.
Once the bags are weighed, take a picture or video of the weight reading. So, you can confirm your actual checked baggage and its weight later if required.
After a tag is issued and attached to your checked bag, take a clear picture of the tag number and check if the tag is securely fastened before the bag is placed on the conveyor belt.
You can use a smart baggage tracker to avoid becoming a victim of the airport luggage tag switching scam. With an Apple AirTag placed inside your checked bag, you can track its location until arrival even though your actual bag tag is removed and switched to some other bag carrying prohibited items.
Can an Apple AirTag save your bags from tag swapping?
Not really! Baggage tags are externally used, while the AirTag tracker is placed inside a bag. Some aviation tech experts even negate the use of Apple AirTag as a safe tracker, as it is highly detectable. The person responsible for luggage tag swapping can use an iPhone or Android phone to detect the presence of AirTag in your checked bag and remove it.
“The bag tag swap scam disclosure has raised worldwide concerns about loopholes in airport security mechanisms, insider corruption networks, and exploitation of passenger identity in international smuggling operations. Since checked bag safety and passenger identity security are shared responsibilities, airports, airlines, and passengers are equally responsible,” said Dheeraj Duvvuru, CEO of IndianEagle.com, a leading air-ticketing partner of major airlines operating flights from USA to India and beyond.
