An organised profiteering group has been at it again by scooping up stock of PS5 consoles even before they went on sale.
Companies like these have been denying genuine customers an opportunity to acquire the new-gen console, causing prices to surge on websites like eBay.

However in this instance, things happened a little differently. The group reportedly snatched all the PS5 stock from UK retailer Argos before sales officially went live.
Apparently the profiteering group (who I refuse to mention) was able to scoop the PS5 stock by obtaining checkout URLs on Argos, allowing them to make the purchases ahead of schedule.

Reports claim that some Argos managers were able to cancel PS5 orders once they were made aware of the problem, but some were still able to claim their orders. One profiteer bragged that they have “A PS5 for every room in the house, even the bog” [via Eurogamer].
In a statement to the publication, Argos said the following:
“It’s clear our customers are excited for the new PlayStation. We released a small amount of additional stock and have seen huge numbers of customers trying to place their orders with us and we have now sold out.“

While the above statement is very generic and not reassuring, Eurogamer understands that the exploit used by profiteering groups to buy PS5 stock at Argos has been addressed and future attempts to use this method will be unsuccessful. Apparently.
In my humble opinion, Argos and other online retailers can offer all the reassurances they want, but even if their protection methods change, it’s likely that profiteering groups will only adjust. I can’t see this problem ending anytime soon.

It seems that both Sony and Microsoft aren’t producing new-gen consoles quickly enough and, when stock does become available, profiteering groups and bots snatch them before genuine customers even have a chance.
Perhaps the best way to tackle this problem is to stop buying consoles from resellers with a huge mark-up. If we stop buying them at grotesque profits, these groups will lose their incentive to scam gamers.
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