ZOTAC RTX 5090 return scam leaves seller with PCB missing GPU and GDDR7
An eBay reseller says a ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 was returned in a stripped state, with both the GPU package and the GDDR7 memory chips removed from the board. The seller, identified as Baily Ecom, said the card had been working before shipment and was sold for around $4,000. The problem was only discovered after the cooler was removed and the PCB was inspected.
According to the seller, the return looked normal from the outside. The damage became clear only after disassembly, where the board was found missing the main processor and all memory modules.
This does not look like accidental ‘damage’. Pulling a high-end GPU package and several GDDR7 chips off a board takes proper equipment, time, and some soldering skill. Once those parts are gone, the PCB, cooler, and shroud account for only a small share of the card’s value, so the seller is left with most of the loss.
Components needed for AI cards
These kinds of modifications are unfortunately not rare anymore in some markets. In China, some companies have been taking chips and memory from gaming cards and transplanting them onto new boards, often with blower-style coolers. Those cards are usually built for other use cases, and the board quality can vary a lot. Some of them also end up needing repair work later. We recently covered one such case.
It is possible the missing parts were sent to one of those operations. That would suggest some buyers are now targeting cards from overseas, likely because supply remains tight or prices stay too high in their local market. At this point, that part is still only a likely explanation, but it would fit a pattern already seen with stripped RTX 5090 boards.
In other words, it is no longer an issue for buyers who should be cautious with eBay purchases, sellers should be just as concerned.
Source: Baily_ecom via Wccftech
