I bought a new bottle of shampoo on a trip recently and tossed it into my carry-on rather than put in our checked bag. Then I tossed my computer charger on top of the shampoo bottle.
TSA saw the wires and block of opaque shampoo in the carry-on and pulled it for a hand inspection. I saw the image on the monitor and it did look fishy.
The TSA guy was real nice and apologetic for having to take the shampoo — he offered to let me go back to the counter and put it into the checked bag, but that would have been a major hassle for $5, so I let him toss it in the trash.
Moral: They’ll get your >4 ounce shampoo every time.
Years ago I got caught for some kind of liquid, I don’t remember now what it was. The TSA guy put it in a baggie and let it go through. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing ... as if the baggie “deactivated” my liquid from being dangerous.
i would have squeezed out all but abt 4 oz. into the trash.