As if GameStop hasn’t had enough challenges in staying afloat it has apparently become the primary target for a group of armed thieves who are primarily after Sony PlayStation 5 consoles. More than a dozen stores in the San Fernando Valley were hit last week and now GameStop is offering a $5,000 reward for any tips that lead to arrests. The local Los Angeles Fox affiliate spoke with the Head of GameStop loss prevention, Alan Fagergren, on the matter. “They’re armed, and they’re forceful, and they’re physical and violent. So that’s scary, especially for our employees,” said Fagergren.
The thieves are believed to be a part of a group that is using similar tactics where they pose as customers, wear hoodies and masks, threaten the employee (some GameStop stores only have one employee on hand following recent cutbacks), and eventually run out of the store with the consoles. “Sometimes they stay in the store and pose as customers even for a minute so the longer they’re in the store obviously the scarier it gets,” added Fagergren.
Despite the PS5 becoming more widely available now the console is still in high demand and at $500 per unit, it still has a substantial value, “It’s worth some money. Like I said they’re not cheap. Anyone who plays it loves it. We’re a target at the moment, yeah,” Fagergren said who adds “We’re done,” and “We want it to stop and feel safe in our stores.”
Nearly 30 stores were robbed across the nation in under 30 days
Polygon reports this is not the first batch of stores being targeted either as thieves on the other side of the U.S. are also taking advantage of the understaffed stores. From California to Tennessee and also Pennsylvania, there have been robberies from nearly 30 stores across the nation since the start of February. Kotaku reported that GameStop allegedly fired a 13-year veteran manager after 10 PS5 consoles were stolen from a store in Easton, PA.
GameStop employees are getting increasingly frightened, and frustrated and are taking to social media to express their concerns and criticize the company’s policies where a number of stores only have one person per shift. Even though GameStop is offering the reward many feel that even though increased staffing may not stop all the robberies it could potentially reduce them. While the PS5 seems to be the primary choice for thieves they are also snagging Xbox Series X consoles when it suits them.
Discussion (13 replies)
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I guess $5,000 is cheaper than actually hiring and paying your staff enough not to let these slip out the door
Untrained / **uncertified** employees should never be activated or leased as law enforcement.
Besides, that merchandise is protected and a tax right off.
I hope they don't plan on trading them back in to the store to cash in as they are good for only $25 a pop (best they can do).
I was more implying that it was the employees throwing it out the back door
Yeah this has an inside job feel to it
The reason they are offering a reward is for insurance requirements. It's to prove they are taking action so the insurance company will pay out.
So ... one has to ask. Was there really a theft or was it theft on paper only?
Just imagine the future unaware (?) owners of these units connecting these things eventually online for the first time.
That's a good point or is the inventory tracking so poor they can't identify which systems it was?
I mean, I guess people hold up liquor & convenience stores for less money and a lot more risk. It is unlikely a Gamestop would have an armed employee, and like the article said most of them are down to 1 employee per store at any time. So for a $500 console, it's probably a pretty safe bet for a thief. At a liquor store or convenience store they risk getting their heads blown off for whatever is in the register.
I hated working nights by myself when I worked retail. I never got a gun shoved in my face, but there were plenty of times when 2 or 3 scary people would come in the store (obviously a team) and steal stuff and there was not much I could do about it. That was also before everyplace had surveillance though. Of the 4 stores I worked at, only one had a camera that worked and was recorded. Another had a camera that was disconnected but "rigged" for the red light to be on. The others had nada unless we went out of our way to have a camcorder running.
I called the cops several times but it was always after the fact, and they were like "what do you want us to do about it?" . Not like I could actively call 911 WHILE they were in the store harassing me, and most times had no video proof.
Unless GS had the SNs and reported them to Sony as stolen, nothing going to happen. I suppose it's possible they had SNs as part of their shipment.
I haven't bought a PS5, but for most major electronics I've got in the past few years, the S/N is available on the packaging and is scanned when you pay for it.
Dunno if that means they track it pre-purchase or if that's just for some other data collection metric, but it's theorectically possible they could be reported as stolen and flagged on activation.
This being GameStop - I kinda doubt they will though.