If you need another sign that the antimicrobial resistance crisis is getting worse, yes, another sign – There you have it: USB sticks are increasingly becoming a target for thieves.
Restored VideoCardz This seems to be a growing trend, and the most recent development is that Costco in the US has started removing RAM modules from its pre-built PCs from the shelves (and storing the memory in the back of the store). in one Reported caseThis came after an incident where a person was arrested after the memory of a display computer was erased.
Other Posted on Reddit There is photographic evidence of a PC on the shelf with empty RAM slots on the motherboard, suggesting that the retailer also removed GPUs from its computers, which happened a long time ago (by all indications in 2020).
However, the high value of DDR5 RAM seems to make it a target for thieves.
This isn’t the only recent example of RAM theft, as last week we reported on an incident at an office in South Korea where the theft was done specifically to steal DDR5 system RAM from PCs (nothing else was stolen).
Additionally, there is (indirect) theft through online retailers where scammers buy expensive RAM and replace these drives with old (cheap) memory in the boxes, then return them (and keep the expensive DDR5 memory). If the dealer doesn’t properly inspect the return (and this happens), a subsequent buyer will end up buying the old RAM and get stung.
Analysis: RAM full
I guess this was inevitable since RAM prices have skyrocketed and high-end DDR5 memory cards are now worth a small fortune. Of course, the same has happened with GPUs in the past and, as noted, these high-value items have long been subject to similar precautions at physical retailers.
However, RAM is much easier to steal (or certainly hide) than a graphics card, especially a beefy, high-end one with three slots. Still, breaking into a PC in a store and stealing any components seems like a very daunting task, and in the case of Costco, the RAM thief was caught.
Apparently some people could get away with pretending to be someone who looks official (holding a clipboard, iPad, or something similar) and performing some kind of inventory inspection that can’t be questioned in any way if they’re confident enough.
Either way, the average consumer doesn’t have to worry about what happens in stores, but we do have to worry about online orders where a counterfeit item may have been replaced with a counterfeit item through a returns scam.
Nowadays, it’s a good idea to record yourself opening a high-tech product to see what’s inside the box on video in case you need more proof in case of a bad purchase.
