- Fakes are now reaching a very high standard
- An Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 proved to be indistinguishable from a genuine Nvidia GPU on first inspection by a repair expert
- There's a worrying level of sophistication here, and we've also seen this in recent times with fake SSDs
A fake Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 is an example of just how authentic scam hardware can seem, and it's a worrying reminder given that this kind of fraud is very much on the rise of late.
VideoCardz reports that Northwest Repair (a Kentucky-based repair shop in the US) highlighted the incident with a YouTube video (which you can see below).
As Northwest Repair (NR) points out, the color of the board didn't look at all faked, and overall, it appeared to be a factory-made, genuine Nvidia graphics card. Typical clues like missing thermal compound around the corners of the GPU chip — which would indicate the chip had been removed (and then switched out) — were not present.
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On first inspection, the only discernible clue was the thermal compound being somewhat darker than normal (or more "baked"), which NR picked up on, but noted that this could be due to the RTX 4090 being used for some serious overclocking, perhaps — it's not necessarily a telltale sign of a fake.
Even the laser-engraving of the model number on the chip looked authentic, and the same was true for the video memory.
In short, this was a carefully crafted fake GPU which, as NR makes clear, is made to a standard that the repair expert hasn't witnessed before. "This is the best scam I've ever seen," he observed, noting, "We've reached a point where the scam has gotten so good that even the trained eye cannot detect it."
Only examining the board under a microscope, in fine detail, revealed the small clues (related to soldering mostly) that gave away that this was a fake.
Nvidia 4090 PERFECT SCAM just hit the marker - YouTube
Analysis: a reminder that we need to be ever more vigilant
The advice NR gives is clear: don't buy an expensive flagship GPU second-hand, as these days, there's too much of a risk that someone could be trying to con you out of a lot of money. The only exception is if you're buying the graphics card from a friend you can trust.
Fakes also cast doubt on the practice of buying 'open box' returns, because the buyer who returned that hardware could have switched it out for a fake — one that stands up to inspection (but not to testing, though the retailer won't necessarily check that).
The sad reality of inflated prices for all PC components is that we're seeing a rise in hardware scams targeting this market. That includes graphics card scams, and incidents where a third-party marketplace seller doesn't even bother to include a fake GPU, but just a weighty 'dummy' item instead (a packet of laundry detergent, for example, or more commonly a rock or lump of metal).
What you should be careful of most right now, though, is scams relating to RAM and SSDs, where prices have spiked to ridiculous levels, tempting fraudsters to try their hand more with these components. As well as this highly sophisticated fake of an RTX 4090, we've seen some very convincing counterfeit SSDs of late — here's what you need to know in terms of watching out for them.
The level of scamming that's been seen this year has even prompted action from RAM manufacturers — Corsair has introduced new packaging in an attempt to make life more difficult for criminals who are trying to rip off consumers.
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