To wonder if I look dodgy?

[TheCatOfAthenry]

Flying London to Ireland. Every time I go through airport security I seem to get frisked. Also happened in France, Czech Republic and Spain.

For a few years, I really thought it was just luck, but am beginning to wonder if I just look like a shady character.

Share my woes, please. Or tell me how to de-dodge myself.

Perhaps it's your large bra? They think it's stuffed with contraband?

I don't tend to get it at airports, but every single time I drive into a ferry I get pulled over and made to unpack my entire car! Apparently it's because of the risk of extra people being hidden (according to the gun toting soldier in France at Easter) but I'm baffled as to where they think I'm hiding an extra person in my little Ford Fusion when there's clearly two bikes and a suitcase in it and no room for so much as a stowaway hamster!

I travel quite a bit and can't remember the last time I went through a scanner & it didn't require me to be patted down. It's just as well I'm not a criminal though as they do a rubbish job of it. I'm tempted to hide something on me & see if they find it 😂

My bag got swabbed on the way back from this year's holiday! I found it funny but I'm actually surprised it doesn't happen more often as I have very sunken, dark-circly eyes and I'm constantly uncomfortable when out in public!

I even got frisked boarding the Dublin ferry at Holyhead as a foot passenger! There might be some profiling involved but I'm guessing (OK hoping) a lot of it is random - they check every nth person and the more you travel the more it'll be you.

@JustBeingJobless maybe you look like a pirate?

Do you think I should tone down the eyepatch and wooden leg? 😂😂

My 11 year old bleeps when he goes through the scanner 9 times out of 10...he doesn't usually wear a watch.

He's know the scanner routine quite well now!

I get flustered at security at airports anyway and have a teeny piece of metal in my thigh (from a angiogram) and always set the alarm off. I had a card to explain this but I lost it. Lots of kids travelling with is also a red flag.

Other than the tech picking something up, I wonder what it is that makes some people look shifty to security? I mean,

I travel a lot and I always get stopped, even when I don't set off any alarms. I'm an older, white female and I don't think I look 'odd'. However, I do travel alone and I go to some far flung places; I also carry cameras and laptop/s (for travel writing and travel photography) and I think it makes customs suspicious. The worst was when I was passing through Oslo and they not only checked everything, swabbed all my equipmennt for drugs and searched bags, they also decided to strip search me too. Took 3 hours....fortunately I wasn't in a rush and was very nice to them. They were very professional and there was nothing to find. I just accept it these days.

On the other hand, I once had to bring something (legitimately) into the country for which I needed special papers and inspection, these were presented at every border control until I got to the UK. I went into the "something to declare" bay and they looked surprised to see me and didn't know what to do with the papers I presented to them!
Customs confuses me sometimes!

...what are they picking up On? Facial expressions? Nervous body language? Or actual physical types? Is it coincidence my mixed race Arab looking father gets stopped every time, my Irish mother never?

I always get searched at football matches. Every single time. My male, season ticket holder friends have never been searched.

I once got my bags searched coming back from the caribbean via France. I think it was because all the other passengers were business flyers and I was the very odd one out.

I wear a medicin pump on my body so I always get frisked and swabbed for explosives . I always cooperate and stay nice, that's the quickest method till now. You'd think that I would get flagged as "non harmful time waster" in the system by now but nope.

I also wear a large bra and they do always check that thoroughly. Maybe large bosoms are a frequently used hiding place?

I get stopped at all security at all airports.
Always have.
It was getting to the point that I was considering not flying anymore.
Someone at Dps work suggested it was my surname??! He reckoned if I went to the states I wouldn't be stopped.
He was either correct or it was coincidence

I get followed round shops except in PoundLand and John Lewis.

We went to the World Championships this year, and it was taking a while to get in, due to bag searches. The supervisor then told everyone "random searches only", so they started doing this. Then he saw me (Indian) and another Indian guy (not with me) and the supervisor could not contain himself- "Her! Her! Search her! And him too- you- stop searching him-" (security guy was in the middle of searching some non Indian guy) "-and search HIM". He couldn't have been more obvious if he tried- he was clearly targetting brown skin people.

I don't fly but travel by boat at least once a year. No matter which car I'm in we get the full bloody search

TheCatOfAthenry just a theory but the more this happens maybe the more you expect it and give off a vibe (looking left to right, nervous smile??) that you are expecting to be frisked or whatever.

Next time repeat he mantra "I will not be stopped" In front of the mirror before you travel. NOT at airport. Let us know how you get on.

@Italiangreyhound I get what you mean, but I'm never too anxious about it. To be honest, I tend not to notice until it's happening yet again.

I'll give it a try, though!

I regularly get searched and frisked, and have been taken off for extra bag searches several times. I just expect it now. My underwired bras set most scanners off too. When I've asked the reasons have been:
Spain - not much luggage
Stanstead - that's a small bag for a fortnight
Mexico - where are all your other bags?
Germany - you don't have much luggage
Stanstead - a marzipan topped Christmas cake
Germany - you are extremely calm and organised for someone alone with a toddler (yes - seriously! toddler was by now far from calm and was screaming as we'd been taken to a separate room. They let me go without a further search. )
Canada - is that your only bag?

Spotting a theme here? I obviously need to pack more unnecessary crap just to be left alone.

I always get checked, always. I am mixed race and English first name and unusual surname but I always get followed by security guards in shops around the world so I think I must just have a suspicious looking face!

I've had the extra checks before getting on the plane more than once - last time I think it was intelligence led as all those getting the extra searches were dark haired women aged between 30 and 50 from what I could see.

Stanstead - a marzipan topped Christmas cake

? ???

Stanstead - a marzipan topped Christmas cake

Semtex and marzipan look exactly the the same on a scanner.