A delightful moment comes when you are overjoyed at getting a long-awaited delivery of Nvidia RTX 5090, a graphics card highly sought after for gaming as well as professional work. But the package arrives, and instead of something cutting-edge, there is...pasta and rice. Sadly, this is not the greatest pun; this is a threat becoming real for many unlucky online buyers.
One should say that the trend is widening. Cases have been reported in the US retail chain Micro Center, where sealed RTX 5090 boxes were found filled with worthless backpacks. The investigation pointed fingers towards tampering at a Zotac facility in China for a minimum of 32 units. Yet, another disgruntled customer has reported on Reddit after ordering a high-end Aorus Master RTX 5090 for nearly 3,000 euros.
This user, who goes by Ok-Atmosphere7655, received a damaged package from Amazon. Inside were two plastic bags filled with rice and pasta and an obviously used and old graphics card. To make matters worse, this order was placed with Amazon Netherlands and shipped by Amazon as new and not through a third party. This was perhaps the first red flag in what is an unusually long shipping time of two weeks plus for an EU shipment from Spain.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 has become the latest fix for serious PC enthusiasts. With such price tags ranging from €2000-$3500, nearly always with not so easy availability, it has come about as a whopping fraud target. This beast of a graphics card features 32GB of GDDR7 memory specifically engineered for turbocharged 8k gaming and extreme professional workload processes. Such easy value and high desirability make it a working temptation of frauds.
Experts believe that these manipulations can occur at various points on the supply chain. It can be factory staff, warehouse personnel, delivery staff, or possibly cons at the retail end. Because of the high value, fraudsters feel free to exploit any weakness in the shipping box, which is small and not weighty enough for any government escort to bother with.
The Amazons are not spared too. In Germany, in the past, the company faced similar troubles with extradition for smartphones and laptops, which has turned the volume on security up a bit. However, determined fraudsters always look for ways to foil these systems.
What, then, can one do while purchasing expensive hardware online. Security experts lay down a few precautions that may seem standard by now:
- Everything Must Be Recorded: Document in full the processes of receiving and unwrapping the high-value item via a continuous video recording. Filming should start from the moment the package is accepted at the front door and continue until unwrapped.
- Look for Warning Signs: Be observant with any hint that looks suspicious. These include damaged packaging, delivery taking an unusually long time (especially if domestic or neighborly), or if the item has been shipped from an unexpected country.
In the instance of the Reddit user, Amazon at first requested for photos and then asked for the entire package to be returned for appraisal. However, this process ordinarily takes several weeks, nice enough for a complete refund to be facilitated by Amazon in instances of overt fraud or verified erroneous deliveries. Not less likely, the user has gone back to using the old RTX 4080 Ti.
Let us know in the comments if you have had a nightmare incident purchasing tech online What do you do for backing up.
