Last year, a truck heist involving GPUs took place in California. Jacob Freeman, the product manager of EVGA, confirmed at that time that a shipment of EVGA GeForce RTX 30-series cards were stolen out of a truck that was heading from San Francisco to Southern California.

GPUs Stolen Last Year Turns Up in Vietnam

According to PCGamer, the cards have a retail value between $329.99 to $1959.99 and it is safe to say that there were very high end cards included in the mix of cards that were stolen.

When they were confirmed stolen, EVGA also warned that the serial numbers were all on record, and those trying to register them for warranty or for potential sale would be caught.

According to VideoCardz, it turns out that some of the cards have now shown up on the other side of the world as they have been spotted in Vietnam.

Also Read: EVGA Says that 'Bad Soldering' Was The Reason for RTX 3090 Deaths During 'New World' Debacle

A Vietnamese retailer also known for packing GPUs into mining rigs has been caught distributing some of the stolen GPUs.

Customers have reported after purchasing the cards that the serial numbers belong to some of those that were flagged by EVGA. Thus, they could not be registered for warranty claims.

One buyer reportedly purchased two Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPUs and had the same problem with each.

Customers said that the cards were given a one month warranty by the store, as well as a good price which is to be expected of illegally imported GPUs.

VideoCardz did not reveal the name of the retailer in order to avoid people from purchasing stolen cards from them.

However, they did say that it is not just a small, local retailer. This means that the one distributing the stolen GPUs is a known chain store, which is a bit troubling.

It is very likely that a lot of unwitting customers, perhaps those who are not familiar with the current prices of cards, have thought that they bagged a deal after coming across the GPUs sold by the said retail store without knowing the potential problems of trying to have it registered.

The chip shortage together with eager crypto miners continue to make getting a new GPU more difficult. It is hard to get excited for anything new when the scarcity is a massive problem. With that being said, the GPU shipments is expected to increase by 10% in 2022.

Increase in GPU Shipment

According to Digitimes Asia, GPU shipments are expected to rise a further 10% over the course of 2022. If you are looking for a GPU, maybe the public will see a downwards price trend as soon as the Omicron slump is over.

The resurgent Omicron-led pandemic is leading to worsening market conditions, which will obviously delay things up. Semi-conductor shortages, isolating workforces, and logistical delays are having the dual effect of reducing supply and increasing demand.

If you are isolating at home, in quarantine, or if you are waiting for your workplace to open again, the chances are you have more time for gaming. Consoles cannot be bought in main street stores and there is a shortage in accessories, but things are said to be looking up this year.

Related Article: Low-End Laptop CPUs See Declining Demand Amid Pandemic | Worst Quarter-Over-Quarter Downturn so Far

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Written by Sophie Webster