A suspect hardware wallet is the best physical evidence of the implant that exists. Everything below is about keeping it provable. Cost: nothing. Time: twenty minutes.
Initialization displays the recovery phrase — that is the exact moment the implant reads it. A suspect device you never powered on still contains the implant hardware as physical evidence. If you already powered it on but did not write down or use the phrase, still stop now.
Teardown destroys the evidentiary value unless done by a qualified lab with a chain of custody. "Examined/teardown" is a valid status — but only if a professional did it. Photograph, don't pry.
Photograph serial labels, but never type a full serial into any form — for intake, first and last two characters suffice.
Card statement, Shopee/Lazada/Amazon order page (screenshot it — seller pages disappear), auction listing, or airport receipt. This is what ties your device to a channel for refunds, consumer complaints, and any group action.
Device + packaging in a clean bag or box, somewhere dry and safe. Write a dated note of when you bought it, where, and when you stopped using it — memory fades, a dated note is evidence. Tell one person you trust where it is.
Do not factory-reset or "fix" it. Power it off, preserve as above. Any phrase it generated is burned regardless — move funds to a seed created on a clean-provenance device. Never type the old phrase into anything.
Implant cases are won on preserved devices. A documented, unopened suspect unit is physical proof of the supply-chain compromise; a wiped or discarded unit is an anecdote. If a claimant committee or counsel takes this to court or a regulator, preserved devices are Exhibit A.
When you've done the above: submit a sealed report — the preservation_status field records exactly which state your device is in.