Friday, March 18th 2022
Failed $38,000 GPU Heist in Russia Leads to Arrests
Following the international sanctions levied at the Russian state as a result of its invasion of Ukraine, AMD, Intel and NVIDIA announced they'd be pulling all of their products from the country. That decision has led to quickly dwindling stocks of high-performance computing products, including graphics cards - and as we've learned form the recent graphics card supply issues, prices go up as availability decreases. This, in turn, led some workers of Russian company "Wildberries" to attempt to exfiltrate 20 RTX 3070 Ti graphics cards from the warehouse they were being stored in. Due to skyrocketing prices in Russia, each of these cards was reportedly evaluated at around 200K roubles (~$1931). That unit price made the entire haul worth an estimated $38,620.
While stealing the graphics cards went without a hitch, actually flipping them for profit proved out to be fatal for the criminals. As they attempted to sell their loot at a pawnshop, the shop owner contacted the authorities - no doubt finding it suspicious for so many new (and rare) tech bits to be on the groups' hands. It's reported that the criminals were ultimately arrested, and the graphics cards confiscated and returned to their rightful owners. As access to significant western technology becomes more and more limited in sanctioned Russia, it's likely we'll be seeing further reports such as this.
Source:
Mash
While stealing the graphics cards went without a hitch, actually flipping them for profit proved out to be fatal for the criminals. As they attempted to sell their loot at a pawnshop, the shop owner contacted the authorities - no doubt finding it suspicious for so many new (and rare) tech bits to be on the groups' hands. It's reported that the criminals were ultimately arrested, and the graphics cards confiscated and returned to their rightful owners. As access to significant western technology becomes more and more limited in sanctioned Russia, it's likely we'll be seeing further reports such as this.
40 Comments on Failed $38,000 GPU Heist in Russia Leads to Arrests
Generally speaking, any country with state owned media raises questions about freedom of press in the west. The US has considered Russia/Putin a threat for over a decade. The accusations of fraudulent elections are well documented in the west, as well as the dissidence this past month.
But hey we’re stupid in our own ways so I understand your condescension!
No folks, it's just us small people, always having to pay the price for our so-called 'leaders' and their Bull****
Still an awesome country by the way... worth learning about, beyond this stuff. It's very much relevant to events in Ukraine and other countries that the Russian govt likes to mess with.
But it's like yeah... you're stuck in Russia with resources you do have being blocked-off, and around you are countries that will be hard to really live in sustainably for various reasons. If you have the money, there are places you can move and not worry about a work visa. Otherwise, you're going to have to find a haven community for Russian expats... many of them around Europe. I think there are some really big ones in Germany. Somebody over there will have to tell me. But then, you're still going to have a lot up in the air. It's all a leap of faith... a little bit like jumping to a lake from the upper window of a burning building.
Plus shipping, naturally, I’m not running a charity here after all,….. :)
Note, the USPS and UPS and FedEx all have suspended service to Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It's precisely why the cards are worth so much. You'd basically have to drive it there yourself or pay someone to do so:
www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/ups-fedex-halting-shipments-russia-ukraine-2022-02-27/