In context: The RTX 4090 is one of the most coveted graphics cards on the market, but its exorbitantly high price forces many gamers to seek more affordable second-hand units. Scammers have been taking advantage of this by selling fake cards that lack vital hardware components such as memory and a GPU.
The used graphics card market has long been plagued by scammers and unscrupulous sellers who take advantage of unsuspecting buyers. Numerous reports have surfaced about buyers receiving dead on arrival (DoA) graphics cards that were knowingly sold online. Another such case has recently come to light, where a person who purchased a used MSI RTX 4090 from a seller on Facebook Marketplace reportedly received a non-functional unit with the GPU and memory stripped out.
The buyer took the card to a local PC repair shop after realizing it was defective and would not output any video, despite being listed as "working." The repair shop determined that the GPU was fried and offered to purchase the card for $200. Unaware that his card was just a hollow plastic shell with no critical components except for the PCB, the victim rejected the offer.
The buyer then sent the card to Northwest Repair in hopes of getting it fixed, but the technicians there discovered that it had been hollowed out from the inside. The video also appears to show a clear image of the alleged scammer, who is seen selling his goods on what seems to be a suburban sidewalk. It's unclear if the victim has filed a police complaint, but we certainly hope that fraudsters who swindle people out of their hard-earned money will face justice sooner rather than later.
The RTX 4090 is Nvidia's current flagship graphics card, highly sought after by serious gamers despite its steep price tag. Earlier this year, similar scams were reported in China, where fraudsters were selling used RTX 4090s without GPU and VRAM chips. Now, it seems these scams have reached US shores as well.