A scam technique involving previous-generation Nvidia RTX GPUs has started getting attention. Here’s how to ensure a used Nvidia card isn’t counterfeit.
With the price of NVIDIA’s 50-series RTX GPUs pushing way north of MSRP, the demand for used previous-generation RTX GPUs has increased among buyers looking for a good deal. And that demand is exactly what scammers are exploiting. Instead of stealing boxes, scammers have turned to increasingly sophisticated methods to disguise a completely different, lower-tier GPU as a premium NVIDIA RTX GPU.
Over the past few months, multiple reports have surfaced targeting used NVIDIA RTX GPUs in particular. A Chinese YouTuber who also works as a repair technician claimed that out of the four RTX 4090s he received for repairs, three turned out to be complete fakes — each built to look like an RTX 4090, but actually an older card using swapped parts. Other confirmed cases have uncovered fake 4090s hiding an RTX 3080Ti (reported by YouTuber northwestrepair), a 3090 (a teardown posted by a BiliBili user), and even a 4080 (also reported by northwestrepair), all dressed up with authentic-looking 4090 backplates and coolers. This kind of deception is known as a FrankenGPU — a scam tactic that’s been around in some form since the early 2010s, mostly with older mining GPUs that are on their last legs. But now, it’s being deployed with alarming precision against NVIDIA’s most expensive consumer hardware.
If you’re looking for a used RTX GPU like the 4090, know this: it might boot, run games, and even pass your visual inspection – all while being fake. These cards often target desperate buyers looking for a deal — don’t let the low price blind you to the following warning signs.
