Probably Stolen: How to Identify Augmented Customers

Running a shop in Probably Stolen means serving all kinds of people, and not all of them are what they seem. Augmented customers, called Augs, walk in looking like any other shopper. They are AI-controlled threats, and what they want from you is raw materials to build more cybernetic implants and medical supplies to install them in new hosts. Let enough of them slip through and the game can end with your own character being forcibly augmented.

You can’t rely on a quick glance to catch them, because they’re built to blend in. This guide shows you how to read the signs, how to confirm a suspect without guessing, and what to do once you’re sure. It also covers the perk and the hidden meter that decide how dangerous your run gets, so you can plan for them before they cause trouble.

It helps to know the motive. Augs aren’t ordinary thieves who grab what they can and leave. They come for the specific goods that let them make more implants, and every one that gets away helps the problem grow. That’s why one missed Aug matters more than one missed shoplifter. The cost builds up behind the scenes, and it pushes you toward the Augmented ending.

Keep that in mind when a customer lingers near your medical stock or asks a lot of questions about raw materials. It isn’t proof on its own, but it should make you pay closer attention to the rest of what they show you.

Your main tool for spotting them is the Augmented Identification Guide. Hold each suspicious shopper up against its descriptions, then study the person standing at your counter. The signs sort into three groups, and each group is worth a look of its own.

Start with the portraits. Look closely at the head and the body for a visible Aug chip, which is a physical implant. This is the clearest sign you’ll get, so if you can see one, take it seriously.

Then check the eyes. Pupils that look wrong or seem to glow don’t belong on an ordinary person. The face deserves a look as well. Some Augs hold a fixed, stiff or unnatural expression that doesn’t change, and next to a normal customer they can seem oddly lifeless.

Watch how the customer carries themselves. A few Augs twitch, sometimes barely and sometimes a lot. Others stand rigid and never budge, which can feel even creepier. Ordinary shoppers can’t help moving, so a customer who never shuffles, glances around or shifts weight is odd in itself.

Subtitles and dialogue deserve a careful read. Listen for wording that feels stiff, formal or mechanical, as if the customer is reciting lines. Real shoppers wander off topic and use casual words. If someone sounds like they’re reading from a manual, make a note.

Clothing is the last clue. Every faction has its own uniforms and styles, and an outfit that doesn’t match the group a customer claims to belong to should get a mention in your head. A person claiming one allegiance but dressed like another might be hiding something.

None of these signs proves anything alone. A nervous customer might twitch, and a formal speaker might simply be polite. If you act on a single odd detail, you’ll make mistakes, and mistakes cost you in this game.

Wait for a pattern. Wrong clothes, stiff dialogue and odd movement all showing up on the same customer tell you far more than any single quirk. Keep watching as the conversation goes on, and let each new sign add weight to your suspicion.

Eventually you’ll want proof, and that’s what Dr. Jackson’s Aug Scanner is for. Looking only gets you a suspicion. Scanning gives you a plain yes or no, which means you can act with confidence.

Scan whenever a customer has collected a few warning signs. It’s easy to skip on a busy day, but a scan costs far less than a wrong call. A shopper who’s confirmed clean can be served normally, and a shopper who’s confirmed augmented can be dealt with straight away.

Once the scanner confirms it, the target is clear. Use your shotgun to eliminate the Aug. It’s the recommended way to remove the threat, and it works reliably when other options don’t.

Timing matters, because the shotgun isn’t available from the start. In a normal run, the shotgun becomes usable on Security warning days. Aug presence starts at 15 when the threat is introduced, but the weapon can remain locked until a later warning, so learn when you can equip it and be ready. If you can plan your shop around that moment, you’ll face fewer surprises.

Calling Station Security looks like a safe, sensible choice, and that’s the problem. Augs have hacked Security’s communications and can flee before officers arrive. You think you’ve solved it, but the Aug gets away and the threat keeps growing.

Skip the call. Dealing with the Aug yourself with the shotgun is the safer approach, because it ends the problem instead of passing it on.

This perk is a deliberate gamble. Activating it adds a 25 percent kill reward bonus every time you eliminate an Aug. That sounds great if you’re confident with the scanner and the shotgun.

The cost is serious. Once it’s on, the augmentation threat stays for the entire run, so Augs never really go away. A player who prefers steady, low-risk progress will probably decide the bonus isn’t worth a permanent danger. A player who likes a challenge and has a solid routine may find it pays off.

Beyond individual customers, there’s a bigger system working in the background. A hidden Aug presence meter tracks how the problem is developing. You can’t see it directly, but your choices change it. If the Augmented ending is enabled for your run, filling that meter triggers it.

Every Aug you let live pushes those numbers the wrong way, and so does a badly handled encounter. How much depends on your difficulty, so mistakes hurt more on harder settings. Spot suspects early, confirm them, and remove the confirmed ones, and the meter stays in check.

A wrong outfit only stands out if you know what the right one looks like. Whenever a new faction shows up, take a moment to fix its colors and cuts in your memory. After a few days you’ll know what a genuine member wears, and a mismatch will stand out on its own.

Speech works the same way. Every faction has a certain tone, so a customer who claims to belong to one but talks in stiff, formal lines will sound off once you’ve heard the real thing a few times. Don’t worry if you can’t tell the difference at first. It comes with repetition.

Slow days are good for practice. With few customers in the shop, you can read every line, study each portrait and make a guess before you scan. Then compare your guess with the result.

A customer who seems odd but scans clean is a useful lesson too, because it shows how a single clue can mislead you. Do this a few times and your instincts get sharper, and you’ll move faster when the shop is packed.

On a crowded day, run the same short check on every customer. Look at the portrait first, for a chip or strange pupils. Then pay attention to how they speak, since stiff or rehearsed wording is a flag. Finally, watch how they move and compare their clothes with their faction.

Two or more signs mean it’s time to scan. If the scan confirms an Aug, use the shotgun, assuming you have it. If nothing turns up, serve the customer as usual. Doing the checks in the same order every time makes you quicker, and it keeps you from skipping steps when you’re tired.

Pick your setting based on how smooth your scanner routine feels. Someone who scans quickly and shoots cleanly can take on a harder setting. Someone still learning the signs is better off on a gentler one until the routine feels natural. On Thin Margins and Red Ink, reaching 100 Aug presence ends the run. With Aug Menace, that can happen on any difficulty. If you do move up, scan sooner and more often.