Amazon customer duped over Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti purchase: shipped item replaced with suspicious white powder; PC hardware fan deceived, discovers salt instead of GPU core days after receiving defective RTX 5090.
In a surprising turn of events, a Taiwanese PC enthusiast who ordered an Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti graphics card from Amazon received a package containing a bag of common table salt instead of the actual GPU. The unboxing was captured live on camera, revealing a bag of salt instead of the expected graphics card.
The incident is an example of a common Amazon scam, where products are replaced with cheaper alternatives or incorrect items. This particular scam seems to arise from fraudulent or careless package handling, possibly involving counterfeiters or dishonest middlemen targeting expensive PC hardware orders from popular e-commerce platforms like Amazon. The salt acts as a deceptive filler to mask the absence of the actual graphics card.
The enthusiast, who is also a Taiwanese TechTuber, expressed confusion about how Amazon's warehouse could have sent a bag of salt instead of the graphics card. The unboxing video starts with the enthusiast in a positive tone, but the discovery of salt instead of the graphics card changes the mood.
The prices of RTX 50 graphics cards in Taiwan are surprisingly high compared to prices abroad. A quick glance at Amazon.com shows RTX 5070 Ti choices are available from USD$779. In contrast, the best-priced RTX 5070 Ti models at PCHome24 in Taiwan are TWD$32,990 (USD$1,100). Uniko's Hardware notes this price discrepancy.
Interestingly, there is no Amazon Taiwan, so some Taiwanese PC enthusiasts order components from Amazon's worldwide network. This practice, however, makes transactions more vulnerable to fraud or mishandling when sourced from abroad. The incident follows a recent similar experience by the same enthusiast, who also received a faulty Asus ROG Astral LC GeForce RTX 5090 32GB from Amazon Germany.
Yesterday, U.S. Best Buy customers could purchase an RTX 5080 OC for USD$999, further highlighting the price disparity between Taiwan and other regions. It is advised that PC hardware enthusiasts in Taiwan exercise caution when purchasing expensive components online, especially from international sellers.
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