Hollow or phantom graphics cards may not be colloquial terms you hear every day. They basically refer to graphics cards that lack the silicon and memory chips. Criminals remove these components and sell non-functional graphics cards to their prey. Logically, you have no way of knowing these components are not present until you disassemble the graphics card, something that the average consumer does not do. Swindlers have run similar scams with fake memory modules without integrated circuits , or SSDs with microSD cards inside.
The first report, as recounted by respected hardware enthusiast Roman “der8auer” Hartung, uncovers a poor victim who bought a second-hand Palit GeForce RTX 5090 GameRock OC for around $2,090 (1,800 euros). The seller’s asking price was suspicious since a brand-new one starts at around $5,805 (4,999 euros) in Germany. Even for a used one, the dramatic price difference indicates a potential scam.
Many of these scams happen through online transactions. So the buyer went so far as to meet the seller in person, hoping a face-to-face interaction would ensure the graphics card was legit. It did not make a difference, though, because the buyer did not have a system to test the graphics card on the spot. In the end, it was a matter of taking the seller's word for it, and that turned out horribly.
Watch On A second report has emerged from a member of the Hardwareluxx forums , who reportedly fell victim to the same deceptive seller. Tragically, this individual ended up paying close to $2,613 (2,250 euros) for the phantom graphics card.
Scammers in China sell $222 RTX 4090 with fake GPU die made out of plastic instead of real silicon
Techno-bandits secretly swap RTX 5080 GPUs with RTX 3080s in Chinese esports hotel
Nvidia's top-end RTX 5090 gaming GPU now costs at least $5,000
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/german-scammer-dupes-two-different-buyers-into-spending-thousands-on-hollow-rtx-5090-gpus-stripped-out-cards-netted-fraudster-usd5-000-despite-being-worthless#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.