[fpgaminer]

That's not my memory of the situation, and a quick Google confirms: only a few of the thefts were fake, and Mark Rober didn't know they were fake. The intention was for all the thefts to be legit, it's just that he paid some friends to help him get the package stolen (by putting it in front of their houses), and those friends apparently cheated him.

Unfortunately after those one or two fake sections were caught everyone assumed everything was fake, and the internet took up that gossip like wild fire, tainting the whole video. Bit of a shame, and apparently that lie persists.