- Moving vehicles carrying expensive gadgets including PlayStation 5s are being targeted by gangs of criminals in the UK, The Times reported.
- Thieves are climbing onto car bonnets so they can break into delivery lorries in a stunt known as “the rollover.”
- The rise of e-commerce means companies are turning to casual delivery drivers, who often lack adequate security training.
- This is just the latest in a long line of distribution problems that have dogged the release of the PS5.
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UK gangs who target delivery vehicles carrying expensive holiday gifts are reportedly stealing PlayStation 5s, which regular buyers are finding impossible to source.
Criminals are climbing onto their moving cars so they can break into delivery trucks while they’re traveling in a stunt known as “the rollover,” The Times reported.
PS5s, TVs, cosmetics, cell phones, and cigarettes are among items stolen using the stunt, which has been used at least 27 times this year in the UK, according to data accessed by The Times.
The technique is believed to be on the rise, The Times reported, partly driven by the rise of e-commerce and the fact that casual delivery drivers don’t have adequate security training.
Gangs box in a moving delivery vehicle using at least three cars: one to the front, one to the rear, and one to the side to prevent overtaking.
One thief in the rear car climbs onto their car's hood or roof, usually via the sunroof or a hatch, using a rope to secure themselves. They use tools such as a crowbar to open the rear doors of the lorry. The thief then has access to the packages, which they throw back to their car before jumping back onto the hood themselves.
Moving vehicles are targeted because security there is weaker than elsewhere in the supply chain, a career criminal told The Times.
The thieves likely received inside information about the location of the lorries, Chrys Rampley, a former security manager at the Road Haulage Association, told the publication.
Expensive gadgets are being stolen using other tactics, too, The Times reported.
In November, a lorry carrying $6.7 million (£5 million) of Apple products was forced off a major English road. The thieves tied the driver up and escaped with the cargo.
And in October, more than 200 televisions worth $182,600 (£136,000) were stolen from a lorry, leaving the driver in need of hospital treatment for a fractured eye socket.
PS5s are still hard to come by
Reports of cargo crime logged to the UK's National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service between January and September cost businesses around £66 million ($87 million), at an average of £21,600 ($29,000) a crime.
Theft from moving vehicles is just the latest in a long line of distribution problems that have dogged the release of the PS5.
Many retailers have repeatedly sold out of the consoles, and websites crashed because of the rush of visitors.
In the US, some customers lined up outside GameStop stores for two days for a chance to buy a console on Black Friday - but many still walked away empty-handed.
In the UK, customers have reportedly had their Amazon pre-order consoles marked as "delivered" on the e-commerce giant's app despite the orders never actually arriving.
In some cases, they were even replaced with items including cat food, a coffee machine, and a foot massager, customers said.
But resellers managed to cash in, some using bots to nab dozens of consoles and selling them for up to double their purchase price. Some resellers told Business Insider they got threats while trying to sell the consoles on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.