Northwest Repair is back with another repair video, this time featuring an Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 that came in after a customer bought it used from eBay, but it turned out to be one of the most sophisticated fakes we've ever seen. The GPU chip and the VRAM were all fake; it had been shaved down to remove the markings and then laser-etched with fake information.
The seller claimed it was part of an Amazon pallet deal, but it turns out that the card was emblematic of a much larger scam. It wasn't being recognized in any test bench, and opening up the GPU revealed a rather clean-looking PCB that didn't show any obvious points of failure. That is, until you look closer to figure out its true nature.
Nvidia 4090 PERFECT SCAM just hit the marker - YouTube
This RTX 4090 was a sophisticated fake, the "perfect scam," as described in the video, because it's a completely empty GPU. The core and all of the VRAM chips are counterfeit; they've been shaved down to remove their original markings. The bad actors have then gone ahead and laser-engraved the chips with new markings that correspond to the actual thing, fooling even the experienced eye.
Article continues below
The core and the memory had correct part numbers and logos that would never look fake. There was no leftover flux on the board or any signs of baking that'd suggest it had been tampered with before. Even the compound around the core that's supposed to keep it in place and seal it electrically was all there. It's only when you start to dig deeper into the little details that the truth emerges.
The aforementioned compound appeared a bit darker than usual, like it was epoxy that had yellowed after drying, but the repairman shrugged it off for an overclocker's odyssey. The first real giveaway came when the card was put under a microscope, where one of the solder pads had been wicked, so it looked visibly different from the neighboring ones.
Further inspection revealed that the card had been perhaps washed ultrasonically because it had faint streak marks all over the PCB. When checking out the memory chips this closely, it was clear as day that they'd been shaved. The top layer had been physically rubbed off so that the scammers could put new GDDR6X markings on it, and they repeated the same process with the core that was likely replaced as well (given the epoxy).
Hence, there's no saying what the core or VRAM actually is under that fabricated (no pun intended) signage. The core says "AD102-300-A1" as it would on a real RTX 4090, but it's not a real RTX 4090; hell, whatever it is, it doesn't even work. There were no other telltale clues that would make this fake stand out, which is extremely troubling. It shows just how good these fraudsters have gotten at emulating different GPUs.
The rest of the video serves as a cautionary tale, with the host constantly reminding people to remain vigilant during these times. The shortages birthed by the ongoing AI boom have made people desperate on both sides — the customers yearn for a good deal while the scammers know the market is vulnerable, and they can't leave a golden opportunity like that vacant.
"This is the best scam I've ever seen," says Northwest Repair when comparing a real RTX 3080 core to the fake one larping as an RTX 4090. Ada Lovelace GPUs have a slightly different layout for the MLCCs laid around the perimeter of the core. When you look at them side-by-side, it's pretty easy to distinguish between the two, but you'd need to know this beforehand to catch it. Also, it's not exactly practical to expect that a customer would open up their card to specifically check for this either.
In the pinned comment, the YouTuber said that they don't think something like this could be pulled off by an individual or even a professional workshop. Instead, this is a factory-level job that likely stems from those illicit underground vendors that convert gaming GPUs to AI workhorses with VRAM upgrades. Another viewer jokingly remarked that perhaps this "factory" sent in the fake so they could identify what to improve for free.
Too often, scams like these are just let go of. Northwest Repair recommends filing a police report so the perpetrators can be brought to justice through an official investigation. We've covered similar cases before, but we've never seen the scammers go to such lengths to hide a counterfeit. Usually, opening up the card immediately gives it away, but clearly, the grift is getting increasingly creative.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.