Current Events > Thieves stole nearly 3,000 Nintendo Switch 2 consoles from a truck in Colorado.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/nintendo-switch-theft-truck-colorado/73-27ca5808-6901-4229-b1b4-4862c73b300b

BENNETT, Colo. A high-dollar heist was discovered earlier this month involving the theft of thousands of Nintendo Switch 2 gaming consoles worth about $500 each.

The theft was reported around 8 a.m. June 8 at the Love's Truck Stop at 1191 S. 1st St. in Bennett, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office.

A semi-truck driver reported that during a pre-trip inspection, he discovered that his trailer had been broken into and newly released Nintendo Switch 2 consoles were missing.

"When deputies arrived, they did determine that 2,810 Nintendo Switch 2 Consoles were stolen out of the back of that trailer at some point," said Anders Nelson, public information officer for the sheriff's office.

The driver told deputies he was on route to a GameStop store in Grapevine, Texas, from Nintendo of America in Redmond, Washington. He told deputies he did not know what was in the trailer, only that it was games or toys.

Thieves took multiple pallets full of the Nintendo Switch 2 consoles - no small haul.

"They retail at $499. The cost to Nintendo is just over $410. So either way you look at it, it's well over $1 million worth of merchandise stolen," Nelson said.

Steve Beaty, a computer science professor at MSU Denver, said not to expect those swiped Switches to show up on Craigslist or at pawn shops.

"Because they're stolen, I would expect them to head to the dark web pretty quickly unless they're shipped out of country," Beaty said.

The anonymous spot to buy and sell is feeding a demand, Beaty said. It doesn't take long on the dark web to spot low-cost Switch 2s.

"And it took me about two minutes to find Switches for sale," Beaty said. "It's half price."

If you end up with a stolen switch, Beaty said, these devices each have a serial number that police and Nintendo can track.

When you log in, you have to register that number. That's how you play games, get updates. Nintendo, he said, can then track down your device.

"Nintendo does have the capability of what we call bricking the device and that is to make it nonfunctional," Beaty said.

Getting around that lockdown isn't simple. You'd have to try and jailbreak it, essentially sidestepping those protections through coding, Beaty said, or avoid connecting to the internet altogether.

As deputies work to detect who cleared out these consoles, Beaty said if you too are on the hunt for a switch, stick to the shops you trust.

"They are pricey little devices. So if you're not paying $500-$600 for one, you're probably not getting the original. And of course, you certainly want to go through reputable dealers," Beaty said.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/82548114.jpg
A photo showing the contents of a semi-truck trailer thousand of Nintendo Switches were stolen.

Investigators aren't sure whether the heist occurred in the Town of Bennett or in another city where the truck driver stopped.

If caught, the suspect(s) could face charges of felony theft valued at $1 million or more, as well as criminal mischief.

Hopefully no one is foolish enough to buy these, but... Well, I guess these guys wouldn't have stolen them if people weren't foolish enough to do just that.

i mean i'm sure people will probably buy like 10 half price and then throw them on ebay to make $100+ profit. so even buying it off ebay they could just randomly brick your system in a few months and you'd have no idea why.

didn't know that they cost nintendo $410. everyone was saying they were selling them for a loss. probably includes labor and shipping costs into that $410. so they're making at least $40 off the console. a bunch off mario kart and all their games and accessories cause no way a set of these new joycons cost them close to $95.

Those will be stripped for parts or are already in a export container.

Jimmy the Gent?

Huh. Seems fishy. Who would stop a shipment like that somewhere without cameras? Almost all truck stops have em. Plus other truckers stop there and almost all are required to have cabin cameras.

Is that the plot of the fast and furious reboot?

lilORANG posted...

Is that the plot of the fast and furious reboot?

It's Toretto, Brian, it always was.

Im interested to see if this story quietly disappears

Hmm... why do I think the driver was in on it now?

"Garsh, I didn't know what was back there..."

Trumpo posted...

Those will be stripped for parts or are already in a export container.

Or just slowly sold on like Marketplace over time.

That's nearly 300 tens.
And that's terrible.

bsp77 posted...

Hmm... why do I think the driver was in on it now?

"Garsh, I didn't know what was back there..."

Truck drivers usually don't know the specifics

Nabbit is getting bolder.

bsp77 posted...

Hmm... why do I think the driver was in on it now?

"Garsh, I didn't know what was back there..."

That was my very first thought. How would thieves even know that was what he was hauling? It's sus AF.

Truckers often don't know exactly what they're hauling.

If you end up with a stolen switch, Beaty said, these devices each have a serial number that police and Nintendo can track.

Imagine five years down the line you buy a switch 2 and then it gets bricked because it was stolen and you have no idea why.

ItsNotA2Mer posted...

How would thieves even know that was what he was hauling? It's sus AF.

Can't really see a scenario where somebody on the inside was not in on it.

This is really sus for the truck driver. It would be nearly impossible not to feel movement and hear something while someone is inside your trailer unloading tons of freight, while you're in the cab. And for that much freight to be taken out of the trailer while parked at a truck stop, it's hard to believe no other drivers noticed the looting of this trailer. And the driver doesn't know what city it happened in? That's at the least an admission that he wasn't doing proper pretrip and post trip inspections and didn't notice that his truck could suddenly accelerate much faster (since his trailer got lighter).

Very sus for driver.

I suppose it's possible the driver had a radio or TV going or something, but it is a little weird. If the driver didn't know what he had, how would the thieves know?

If it wasn't the driver I have a hard time believing there wasn't an insider involved somewhere up the chain.

The thieves could have been following the truck since it came out of Nintendo of America.

A chase car opening trailers when they stopped until they found the goods, and a tractor trailer of their own to park right next to it, load up and go.

What was this guy doing where someone had enough time to remove all those pallets from his truck and load them onto another truck. You're not fitting 2800 Switches in passenger vehicle.

He could have easily dropped them somewhere and found a truck stop with no cameras to stage the crime scene.

Lol Nintendo

tripleh213 posted...

Lol Nintendo

Why "lol Nintendo"?

Maybe the truck driver asked if he could be scathed, so it looks like he didnt give it up without a struggle.

Sopranos

I dont really understand how Nintendo can detect that the device was stolen I know they explained it but

Kanaya413 posted...

I dont really understand how Nintendo can detect that the device was stolen I know they explained it but

Because every Switch has a unique identification code just like how every physical game you buy does as well.

That said, I don't see Nintendo banning or bricking these consoles as it would only end up harming the people who buy them who would in turn end up buying games rather than harming the people who stole them.

If they dont, it would incentivize people to rip off their shipments more often. I mean, why not if they get away scot free? Somebody needs to be accountable for a million dollar oppsie that the insurance company (and you, the insurance customer) are going to eat.

CreekCo posted...

If they dont, it would incentivize people to rip off their shipments more often. I mean, why not if they get away scot free? Somebody needs to be accountable for a million dollar oppsie that the insurance company (and you, the insurance customer) are going to eat.

The thieves won't care so long as they get their money; they're not the ones being affected by Nintendo bricking the consoles, since they would have already sold their inventory to unsuspecting buyers.

This might be the heist of our generation.

Traded to Gamestop for $50 credit

Aren't trailers loaded before they hitch? Possible it was stolen before the truck picked it up? Not sure how often they inspect

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

Aren't trailers loaded before they hitch? Possible it was stolen before the truck picked it up? Not sure how often they inspect

There's no way Nintendo would drop this trailer in a lot somewhere for the driver to pick up. It wouldn't have left their warehouse without the driver signing the BOL and a warehouse employee checking and sealing the trailer.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/14b390f8.jpg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/ef6ddf5c.jpg

well if someone is selling you a Switch 2 and claims that it fell of a truck, now you know...

Solar_Crimson posted...

Why "lol Nintendo"?

That's all that user ever posts.

HashtagSEP posted...

That's all that user ever posts.

Thats very wrong and you know it.

Enclave posted...

Because every Switch has a unique identification code just like how every physical game you buy does as well.

That said, I don't see Nintendo banning or bricking these consoles as it would only end up harming the people who buy them who would in turn end up buying games rather than harming the people who stole them.

Yeah this. Maybe they could try to contact the buyers and find out where they bought it and track down the thieves that way. But punishing the buyers accomplishes nothing.

tripleh213 posted...

Thats very wrong and you know it.

Sorry.

That's all that user ever posts in topics about Nintendo.

why do they think they cost $500

"They are pricey little devices. So if you're not paying $500-$600 for one, you're probably not getting the original.

if you're paying 5 to 6 hundred dollars for one you are getting scalped ffs

Good for them.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

why do they think they cost $500

If they were the Mario Kart bundles, those are $500.

HashtagSEP posted...

Sorry.

That's all that user ever posts in topics about Nintendo.

Now you got it