Failed $38,000 GPU Heist in Russia Leads to Arrests

[Raevenlord]

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.



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[Rhein7]

$1900 for 3070 Ti is crazy lol.
Here in my country the prices are getting lower quite fast. The cheapest 3070 Ti that I could find is MSi Gaming X TRIO for roughly $870. Add a bit more and you could get Zotac RTX 3080 Trinity OC LHR for $1020.

 

[dgianstefani]

lmao, morons, all they had to do was sell on gumtree equivalent.

 

[Courier 6]

now paying a visit to the gulag of rurapente...

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

a fun to read story for sure. These are prolly the only thieves that got caught, so far.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

What morons. You're not gonna get market value from a pawn shop, and why would you flip more then 1 at a time? With just 1 you could convince them you were selling your new tech to feed your babushka.

If you have multiple, sell them on russian tech forums or the like.

What silly people.

 

[Readlight]

Looks like Russia occupants with agresion robs west and west does the same.
Ukraine protects us all now. Lika a Jupiter protects Earth.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Funny, returned to the rightful owners
So Russia going to allow the items to be removed from Russia now, I somehow doubt that will be allowed

 

[cryohellinc]

Hi,
Funny, returned to the rightful owners
So Russia going to allow the items to be removed from Russia now, I somehow doubt that will be allowed

So in your bright mind, the rightful owner is the initial manufacturer, not the reseller (Wildberries) that purchased them?
Let me take away all of your hardware, chair, house - it doesn't belong to you, clearly.

 

[Chomiq]

That's why when you steal, you steal the entire truckload.

 

[ThrashZone]

So in your bright mind, the rightful owner is the initial manufacturer, not the reseller (Wildberries) that purchased them?
Let me take away all of your hardware, chair, house - it doesn't belong to you, clearly.

Hi,
In your assuming mind you think I know who wildberries is I'm in the USA not Russia

AMD, Intel and NVIDIA announced they'd be pulling all of their products from the country.

As far as I know 3070's belong to nvidia still and are being exported out of Russia as the it states

 

[mechtech]

Does this mean more stock and cheaper prices for the rest of us??

 

[ThrashZone]

Does this mean more stock and cheaper prices for the rest of us??

Hi,
In Canada ?
You know it won't.

 

[TheUn4seen]

Ruskies are getting more and more desperate, I see. Good.
As for those guys in particular: Damn, are those some stupid thieves, even considering that thieves are not high quality people to begin with. Trying to flip high value items in a pawn shop is probably the worst thing you can do.

 

[R-T-B]

As far as I know 3070's belong to nvidia still and are being exported out of Russia as the it states

No, that means they won't be selling further in the country. These are likely preexisting stock.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
In the USA pawn shops aren't exactly honest usually just licensed thieves
But that's the reason the pawn dealer snitched on the thieves they didn't take the first offer

 

[R-T-B]

Hi,
In the USA pawn shops aren't exactly honest usually just licensed thieves
But that's the reason the pawn dealer snitched on the thieves they didn't take the first offer

That's not just USA. That's basically what a pawn shop is: A market designed to rip you off at the owners profit.

 

[Aretak]

What morons. You're not gonna get market value from a pawn shop, and why would you flip more then 1 at a time? With just 1 you could convince them you were selling your new tech to feed your babushka.

If you have multiple, sell them on russian tech forums or the like.

What silly people.

I've seen it suggested elsewhere that they wanted to get out of Russia, hence the heist and trying to get paid for the cards quickly. It wasn't some deeply planned operation to get rich, just to fund an escape.

 

[zo0lykas]

with all do respect why is this post in here? :/

 

[R-T-B]

with all do respect why is this post in here? :/

Because tech and prices I guess.

 

[kiriakost]

Does any one has a clue of how many millions are the Russians?
Because an incident of two ~ three people this is nothing major.

 

[ice_v]

I've seen it suggested elsewhere that they wanted to get out of Russia, hence the heist and trying to get paid for the cards quickly. It wasn't some deeply planned operation to get rich, just to fund an escape.

Why get out of Russia? they seem so happy there chanting for their dear leader Vladimir Putin:

 

[R-T-B]

Does any one has a clue of how many millions are the Russians?
Because an incident of two ~ three people this is nothing major.

By that logic every crime ever is not newsworthy because the majority do not commit crimes?

 

[lexluthermiester]

I feel bad for the Russian people. The real solution is that Putin needs to go..

 

[Mistral]

Meh. Right now, pretty much everything in Russia leads to arrest...