Amazon customer receives fake Ryzen 7 9800X3D, turns out to be decade-old AMD CPU

[midian182]

WTF?! It appears that Amazon still sells the occasional CPU that turns out to be a fake. The latest incident involved a Ryzen 7 9800X3D ordered by a reviewer for a test system that was actually an AMD FX-4100 CPU from 2011.

We've been reporting stories about Amazon customers receiving fake processors since 2017. It still occasionally happens, as discovered by Aris from Hardware Busters. He bought a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which has an MSRP of $480 in the US, for a test system.

The box in which the processor arrived was sealed. However, looking through the package's display window set off alarm bells, revealing some very poor-quality printing on the CPU.

Opening up the box confirmed that the item was about as far from a Ryzen 7 9800X3D as you could get. For a start, the heatspreader is completely different. Also, the CPU in question uses a PGA (Pin Grid Array) design, meaning it has pins on the bottom, whereas the Ryzen 7 9800X3D uses the LGA (Land Grid Array) socket design – the pins are located on the motherboard socket rather than the CPU.

Then there's the very blocky, hard-to-read text on the front of the CPU. As you can see in the photo from our review (below), the real Ryzen 7 9800X3D has text stating that it was made in Malaysia. The fake claims that it was diffused in the USA and Taiwan and made in China.

This was, of course, a sticker used to try to obscure the real identity of the CPU. Peeling it off revealed that what Amazon had sent was an AMD FX-4100, part of the FX lineup that was launched back in October 2011 at an MSRP of $115.

Aris writes that the fake was bought from Amazon.de, the German version of Amazon, for 478 euros, or $518. It was sold by Amazon itself rather than a third-party seller, which is often the case with these sorts of fake items.

The fact that the packaging was sealed and the CPU was unused suggests that this was not one of those instances in which someone bought an item and replaced it with a fake before sending it back for a refund.

There has been a series of stories since 2017 about users who bought Ryzen CPUs from Amazon that turned out to be fakes, scams that many suspected were perpetrated using RMA fraud. It's not just AMD processors, either. An Amazon customer who bought a Core i7-13900K in 2023 received an i7-13700K in disguise.

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Amazon customer receives fake Ryzen 7 9800X3D, turns out to be decade-old AMD CPU

 

[wiyosaya]

Like Forrest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates; You never know what you are going to get."

I realize that this can happen to any retailer, however, it seems more likely when such a retailer sells everything under the sun without specialization in any product it sells.

Amazon is not a favorite of mine - especially their "Buyer Beware" search function. Honestly, I don't know how, if they even care, Amazon would remedy their sales of fake products. Its not only CPUs, but many other products, too.

 

[NumberNine]

Always fakes for popular components. I've actually been waiting for this article.

 

[The Talking Tech]

In a world where we have a criminal president running the country, any other criminal act seems so pedestrian.

 

[Branch]

In a world where we have a criminal president running the country, any other criminal act seems so pedestrian.

Oh! I'm sorry Canada.

 

[RudyBob]

In a world where we have a criminal president running the country, any other criminal act seems so pedestrian.

Where have you been. Harris lost

 

[Achaios]

Let me give you some context.

"Aris" is located in Cyprus and ordered from Amazon Germany.

For Americans, that's like being located in HI and ordering from Salt Lake City, UTAAAAAHHH.

Now if I were a Hauptobergruppenmeister at Amazon.de and -supposedly- some less-than-german guy ordered a cpu from, uh, nowhereinstan? That would be an excellent opportunity to push the non-cpus my mob friends gave me.

Just a thought.

 

[evilgremlin]

Article statement is wrong, it absolutely is a case of buying, swapping and returning.
Sealing package in shripnkwrap is very cheap and easy, literally everyone can do it at home, even new machine cost just ~300$. Scammers in US make a business out of resealed amazon returns, no product is safe.

 

[Joey Rakas]

Article statement is wrong, it absolutely is a case of buying, swapping and returning.
Sealing package in shripnkwrap is very cheap and easy, literally everyone can do it at home, even new machine cost just ~300$. Scammers in US make a business out of resealed amazon returns, no product is safe.

100%accurate.
I've personally received 2 direct from amazon CPU's that were "new" yet someone had clearly returned them. Someone used a socket protector and taped it to the CPU window on the box for an old 4790K quite a few years ago, then I also had an AMD A8 series CPU that was simply missing from the "unopened" box". It's clearly been going on for a long time, and just get's silenced and swept under the rig, because.....well it's Amazon. Thankfully Amazon's customer service did remedy the situation in both of my scenarios, so I was only out time. Frustrating none the less. Meanwhile there is certainly a group of users intentionally doing these things, and not getting caught. The evidence is all there, just hopefully Amazon will take legal action against such criminals at some point.

 

[evilgremlin]

100%accurate.
I've personally received 2 direct from amazon CPU's that were "new" yet someone had clearly returned them. Someone used a socket protector and taped it to the CPU window on the box for an old 4790K quite a few years ago, then I also had an AMD A8 series CPU that was simply missing from the "unopened" box". It's clearly been going on for a long time, and just get's silenced and swept under the rig, because.....well it's Amazon. Thankfully Amazon's customer service did remedy the situation in both of my scenarios, so I was only out time. Frustrating none the less. Meanwhile there is certainly a group of users intentionally doing these things, and not getting caught. The evidence is all there, just hopefully Amazon will take legal action against such criminals at some point.

They won't, at least without painful external kick. For now it's cheaper for amazon to eat the cost than actually verify return items and then litigate. And then, such small theft/scam isn't even a felony in most of US, so they'll have to spend millions on civil investigations and lawsuits, only for scammers to be left unpunished.

 

[The Talking Tech]

Where have you been. Harris lost

It's obvious Harris lost, otherwise the Stock Markets would be at its highest prosperity as it was with Biden.

 

[RudyBob]

It's obvious Harris lost, otherwise the Stock Markets would be at its highest prosperity as it was with Biden.

You need more information that you cannot get from your current source. So much more is involved but you are with the majority with your thoughts

 

[The Talking Tech]

You need more information that you cannot get from your current source. So much more is involved but you are with the majority with your thoughts

Buring your head in the sand won't help the StockMarket and the rest of the economy recoup everything it has lost since Trump took office..."Worst Economic Trading Disaster Since 2002"...at least that's what the Associated Press are saying right now.

I mean what did you expect from someone like him that has gone through bankruptcy multiple times.

 

[scavengerspc]

You need more information that you cannot get from your current source. So much more is involved but you are with the majority with your thoughts

People that say things like that go on to explain.
What else is involved? Factually and on Earth I mean.

 

[D3z4R1]

Sealing package in shripnkwrap is very cheap and easy, literally everyone can do it at home,

Yup. 100% accurate.

I used to work at a computer store primarily selling software. The franchisee (store location owner) would let us open one game package so the staff can share its CD key, and burn a copy of the disc to install on our respective home computers ; so long as none of us registered the key. We would then reseal the package for resale.

So, yeah, shrink-wrappjng an open box is trivial.

 

[RudyBob]

People that say things like that go on to explain.
What else is involved? Factually and on Earth I mean.

If you decide to accept the assignment Mr Pibbs you can find it all out

 

[candle86]

Buring your head in the sand won't help the StockMarket and the rest of the economy recoup everything it has lost since Trump took office..."Worst Economic Trading Disaster Since 2002"...at least that's what the Associated Press are saying right now.

I mean what did you expect from someone like him that has gone through bankruptcy multiple times.

I just can't believe you get your nose from the associated Express they are ranked one of the most highly biased left-wing news organizations on planet Earth they make CNN in Huffington Post look like moderates

 

[scavengerspc]

If you decide to accept the assignment Mr Pibbs you can find it all out

I already looked. In always do when I accept the "assignment" before I post.
Your claim is bullshit, so I decided to ask you directly. So, go for it.
How much more is involved, and where can I find it?
History dictates that @The Talking Tech was right.
You MUST have had some meaning behind the drivel. Splain yourself.

 

[ChipBoundary]

100%accurate.
I've personally received 2 direct from amazon CPU's that were "new" yet someone had clearly returned them. Someone used a socket protector and taped it to the CPU window on the box for an old 4790K quite a few years ago, then I also had an AMD A8 series CPU that was simply missing from the "unopened" box". It's clearly been going on for a long time, and just get's silenced and swept under the rig, because.....well it's Amazon. Thankfully Amazon's customer service did remedy the situation in both of my scenarios, so I was only out time. Frustrating none the less. Meanwhile there is certainly a group of users intentionally doing these things, and not getting caught. The evidence is all there, just hopefully Amazon will take legal action against such criminals at some point.

You're waiting for something that will never happen. Amazon doesn't check returns, ever. No company does, because they lose money on the product when they do that. If it still appears sealed they restock it. If it's opened it goes on a pallet to be auctioned off. All major retailers do this. It literally makes them lose money to pursue it.

It's the same reason the US military no longer pursues AWOL soldiers, they lose money doing it. They simply give them an other than honorable discharge and move on.

 

[ChipBoundary]

Article statement is wrong, it absolutely is a case of buying, swapping and returning.
Sealing package in shripnkwrap is very cheap and easy, literally everyone can do it at home, even new machine cost just ~300$. Scammers in US make a business out of resealed amazon returns, no product is safe.

You don't need a machine. You can buy self-sealing packaging and shrink it with a hair dryer. You can also use a hair straightener to seal the non-sealing kind. I used to do that kind of work at a retail store when a package's plastic sealing would get damaged in transit to the store or from customer damage on the shelves.

 

[yannus]

Lol, I see so many comments from Americans about Biden/Trump. How long will it take till you understand that both sides don't work for you (the people)? When you have Musk/Gates/Whateverbillionaire in front of you, your boss is not the people. Their plan is to sabotage the country, period.

 

[scavengerspc]

Lol, I see so many comments from Americans about Biden/Trump. How long will it take till you understand that both sides don't work for you

We already know that. It's a pointless battle of who is worse.
The left throws out the actions of the other side, and the right makes up most of theirs and
hope they stick.

Just some examples, the "stolen" 2020 election, and look at our economy the last 2 years.
It has been world leading, not to mention by far the fastest economy in building recovery after COVID. The CONServatives have been trying to sell that our economy tanked and was the worst in the world. They do what they do. They lied.

BONUS!:
Do a search for eating dogs in Ohio.

 

[MiqWalsh]

We already know that. It's a pointless battle of who is worse.
The left throws out the actions of the other side, and the right makes up most of theirs and
hope they stick.

Just some examples, the "stolen" 2020 election, and look at our economy the last 2 years.
It has been world leading, not to mention by far the fastest economy in building recovery after COVID. The CONServatives have been trying to sell that our economy tanked and was the worst in the world. They do what they do. They lied.

BONUS!:
Do a search for eating dogs in Ohio.

I can't help noticing most of the membership appear highly politically-motivated. Most topics seem to devolve in that direction.

I replied to one forum thread, several days ago. I dared to criticise Master Trump. Immediately I'm slammed, hard, by most respondents. I'm further slammed by one member as having no right to comment on US political goings-on because I don't live in the States.

Well, I hate to say it, but throughout the 20th century & beyond, any proclamation/act carried out by any US president indirectly affects everybody else currently alive on this dirtball. So yes; I feel that gives me every bit as much "right" to comment as native American citizens...

Politicians are the same the world over. Nobody in their right mind puts themselves in the position of being constantly answerable to and criticised by anybody they come in contact with. Ultimately, they ARE out for what they can get. Our lot in the UK are no different. Sometimes it makes me ashamed to admit I live in the same country as these self-serving *****s.

MiqW.

 

[mailpup]

Back on topic please. Thank you.