So, here I am, waiting at Dulles last week for my wife to return from Europe and the security guy in me, starts to notice things – stupid things. As I looked around the perimeter, from about 50-foot outward from the international arrival gate, I notice the obligatory limo drivers hanging around, name placard in hand – waiting. Do these folks even know what the individual they are waiting for looks like – does their client know what they look like? 

Three things struck me immediately. 1. Their clients didn’t know them, and thus the drivers were displaying a placard, smart-tablet, or just a cheap hand-written note (How important would that hand-written note make you feel? How safe?) with a name expeditiously printed on it. 2. These individuals did not know their clients, otherwise there would have been no need for the blatant advertising of the client’s names. 3. Not knowing the other party put the client at risk.

As I waited for my wife, I recalled in the not too distant past, how a young woman inadvertently got into a vehicle she believed was the ride-share she ordered – she never made it home. These gentlemen’s organizations, in my opinion, put their clients in the same situation. By advertising who they were picking up, by neither party knowing each other, relying solely on a placard as a means of identification, these clients trusted their lives to a stranger, and these companies allowed it to happen. 

I noted over the 90-minutes (my wife’s flight was late) I waited, watching as roughly 30-clients met their drivers and departed the airport – and most likely they all made it to their destination safely. What I also observed was in the majority of the instances I witnessed, only one client asked for the driver’s identification, only one. Only one.

This worried me. Unlike most ride-hailing services, there were no questions, no checking of identification, just a hello and an “I’m Ms. Or Mr. So-in-so”, with the driver simply acknowledging and offering to take their luggage as they headed out to the vehicle. 

Because of the previous ride-hailing incident, the ride-share services enacted confirmation emails complete with photos of both the vehicles and the drivers – allowing the clients to confirm identities before they entered the vehicle. Why isn’t this a requirement in the limousine business, or is it and I just hit a 90-minute stretch where it wasn’t utilized?

The bottom line is, the client is drawn to the advertisement (placard, notepad, banner, etc. with their name on it) – not to the individual holding it. That placard is their confirmation, and they are betting their lives that the person holding that placard is who he, or she say they are.

I am pretty good at what I do – not the best, but pretty good. After 40-years, if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t survive. I am an old intelligence guy, meaning I like to read people, I employ acronyms like NLP and ABM, I am pretty good at coming off as a non-threatening individual, comfortable gentleman, maybe even trustworthy – sort of like Ted Bundy. So I wondered, if it could really be that easy to insert myself in the space between their bored driver on the periphery and the international arrival perimeter, gain the attention and confidence of Ann, or Allan, get them to my vehicle and whisk them away. I am pretty confident the exercise would be a success, as people are trusting – and I have the placard. 

A few years back, I was employed as a consultant for testing the security of multiple hotels in Atlanta where crimes had been committed and in every instance, except one, I was successful in getting myself into the victim’s room, sometimes with the help of the front desk, and sometimes with the support of the housekeeping staff. Why were we successful? Because I did not look threatening; I looked like I belonged – and I acted the part of a patron who belonged. It is noteworthy that the only hotel I wasn’t successful in gaining access to was not an upscale place but a mid-range hotel in the “less-desirable” section of Atlanta. I wasn’t successful because the woman behind the desk had street smarts and could smell a scam, where as the staff in the high-end hotels were more worried about avoiding an irate customer, so they always acquiesced, rather than question a patron’s motive.

So, back to the airport. I purchase a nice dark grey, or black suit, rent a black luxury sedan or SUV and drive to the nearest International airport, don my dark sunglasses, and wander around the periphery of the international arrival gate looking for the bored driver with a placard indicating their client’s name, sometimes you are lucky and get the name and the company – BINGO!!. I am only interested in women, so I focus on them, and once I spot one, I pull out my own smart tablet (keep the professional standing) and in big letters print that individual’s name (If they have their organization’s name on the placard, I quickly check the Internet, locate a logo and add it to my screen). Five minutes later, I station myself between the arriving client and their driver (I know where both players are), with my own professional sign. Since the client doesn’t know what I look like, they come to the placard – not the person holding it. Since the driver doesn’t know what the client looks like, they don’t notice me greeting their client 30-feet in front of them; I’m just another paid chauffeur picking up my fare. Once I just greet them, shake their hand and knowing where the real driver is, I usher them away from the area to a different exit. This easily accomplished with a fabricated story like it is hot outside, let’s stay cool as long as possible, yaddy, yaddy, yaddy. Five minutes later, Denise Ann, Liz and Octavia are out the door and in my car when they start asking questions, but it’s too late. Thirty-minutes later the driver, confused that their client never showed up, calls their company and are told – yes, they did. Time to start worrying.

If your only point of confirmation is a placard, you are putting your client and your reputation at risk.

You may be asking yourself if it would actually be as easy to perpetrate such an incident as I describe it to be – trust me, with society today, most people are more interested in who they are chatting with on their smart phone, or txt msg’ing, or checking in with the family, than who is in front, or behind them – it IS human nature to trust first, doubt second – and the client trust the placard. 

Please tell me I’m wrong and it is not this simple, please tell me there were photos passed between the client and driver confirming each other’s identities, or a short phrase to confirm each other’s identity upon first meeting.

Please tell me why these professional driving services identify their clients to the rest of the world, instead of simply using a number, or a pet name – or anything else innocuous that doesn’t directly relate back to the client.

There are multiple methods to conduct business without making your client’s name public – think of their safety when operating in public spaces.

Did Allan, Ann, Sanjay & Jose Ever Make It Home??