A recent scam trend has surfaced, adding to the long list of fraudulent schemes. With the rising costs of GPUs and VRAM, scammers are now resorting to stealing the crucial components.
Upon opening the box of a ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 sold for a hefty $4000, an eBay reseller was in for a shock. What seemed like a normal transaction quickly turned into a nightmare when the GPU shroud was removed, revealing a scam by the customer. It’s worth noting that $4000 already exceeds the standard price for the RTX 5090 Founder’s Edition. However, given the current market volatility, consumers are willing to pay anywhere from $4000 to $5000 for the flagship NVIDIA Blackwell GPU.
When a seller or reseller manages to sell a card at double the price, the repercussions are twofold. According to the eBay reseller, the customer returned the RTX 5090, which was functioning perfectly when initially sold. However, upon its return, the GPU ceased to work. Upon closer inspection by detaching the cooler from the PCB, it was discovered that the GPU chip and VRAM modules had been forcibly removed from the PCB.
Removing the GPU chip through desoldering requires a certain level of expertise, rendering the entire PCB worthless once extracted. Additionally, the costly 32 GB of GDDR7 VRAM chips that were also stripped off from the PCB add to the financial blow. The PCB and cooler only contribute to about 10–20% of the GPU’s total bill of materials, explaining why scammers often target the GPU and VRAM chips for removal. Instances of Chinese labs removing these components from original cards and transferring them to custom PCBs for AI server use have been reported.
This incident mirrors previous cases, with the reseller emphasizing that “the damage has been done.” Return scams pose a significant threat to businesses, often resulting in substantial financial losses, especially on online platforms. Instances of GPU and VRAM-deprived RTX 5090s making their way through the supply chain undetected have been on the rise. These occurrences are attributed to the scarcity of VRAM chips, and until market conditions stabilize, such fraudulent activities are likely to persist.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.