A group of Russian warehouse employees, working for a company named Wildberries, recently attempted to make off with as many as 20 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics cards in a somewhat “sleuthy” heist. And the group would have gotten away with it too, were it not for a couple of very painfully obvious blunders.
The group’s plan went well at the initial stage, with the cards having been stashed inside unmarked and unsuspecting boxes that looked bound for the rubbish bin. They even went so far as to take the GPU-filled boxes down to the back of stairs that we’re guessing was at the back of the building. And when they thought the coast was clear, they then began their heist by carrying their ill-gotten gains up to another floor and then proceeding to drop them out the window, where another one of their accomplices was waiting to catch the goods. This all seemed like a well-coordinated plot, were it not for one critical mistake: the entire act, all of it, was caught on the warehouse’s security cameras.
But this tragic comedy doesn’t end here. Rather than lie low and wait until some time has passed, three of the warehouse employees thought they could make a quick profit by trying to sell off the cards at a local pawnshop, which is where it all came crumbling down.
Typically, pawnshops deal with customers looking to make some quick cash by hocking off something old or valuable that normally would’ve been in their possession for a while. So, when the thieves tried to pawn off these fresh, new, unopened boxes of graphics card, alarm bells started ringing for the pawnshop owner, who then proceeded to call the authorities on them.
As to why they tried to steal and sell the RTX 3070s, the answer is a very simple one. Because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many products have now become luxury goods, on account of companies in the West and elsewhere showing solidarity with Ukraine by imposing embargoes on products shipments to the country. Above the table, one RTX 3070 goes for 200000 Rubles, which is approximately RM8315. Had they managed to sell all 20 cards, it would have netted them more than RM160000.
Needless to say, the warehouse employees were arrested and the cards were all returned to Wildberries.
(Source: Videocardz)
