42 bewildered Amazon customers duped by $999 RTX 5090 scam, sent fanny packs instead
DRAM shortage fuels fake GPU scams as China-based fraudsters exploit the supply crisis
The leading theory in the comments points toward a deceptive swap on the customer's end. Not this customer, but someone else who ordered both an Asus Prime RTX 5060 Ti and 5080, filed for a return on the 5080 but sent the 5060 Ti in the box instead. They guess Amazon didn't bother checking the package contents — even if it did, the mere presence of a GPU would've likely been enough to accept it — and resold the 5080. Our very own Matt Safford scored an i5 CPU for $10 thanks to another such scam last year.
The unlucky buyer on Reddit then became the new recipient of this GPU. The story tracks and, beyond speculating that someone else in the shipping chain was responsible, lines up with previous "comingling" incidents. Another RTX 5080 was swapped for a literal brick , and before that, people have received pasta instead of silicon , too. Usually, scammers don't go to the length to swap stickers between two legitimate SKUs, so at least this one put some effort in.
At this point, filing for a return/refund on this GPU should get the Redditor their money back, or maybe they can work out an exchange with Amazon's customer service. In times like these, where AI has snatched production lines and GPU prices are on the rise, securing a good deal and watching it slip away can feel extra upsetting, so we hope the victim (and the scammer) gets their due.
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/unlucky-customer-buys-rtx-5080-receives-relabelled-rtx-5060-ti-in-the-box-instead-gpu-was-sold-and-shipped-by-amazon-hinting-at-return-switcheroo#main
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