Fake Ryzen 7 9800X3D shipped to reviewer via Amazon, turned out to be an AMD FX 4100 instead

The latest in the line of PC hardware scams has been a fake AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D shipped to a reviewer via Amazon.de, but it wasn’t even close to a 9800X3D. One of the authors and reviewers at Hardware Busters shared his experience with his recent purchase of the AMD CPU that turned out to be a much older AMD FX CPU with a sticker on it. There have been cases of fake CPUs before, but this seems to be a new kind of scam, one for which Amazon may not be entirely at fault.

The author cmaris from Hardware Busters shared on the website that he put in an order for a Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor for his CPU test-system on February 25, which arrived on March 4. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when he opened the box on March 9 as the packaging was for the 9800X3D. However, what became immediately apparent was the physical differences between the 9800X3D and what he received. Having owned another 9800X3D, he was able to spot the different heatspreader, pins, and the bottom of the processor, noticing that it looked nothing like that of the 9800X3D.

Upon further investigation, he found that there was sticker on top of the processor, which when taken off, revealed that it was actually a 2011 AMD FX 4100 CPU. The sticker on top of the heatspreader has text that said Ryzen 7 9800X3D with the other official markings, making it convincingly look like the original 9800X3D. There have been cases of IHS swaps resulting in a dud CPU but this seems to be a new kind of scam.

He added that the processor was not purchased through a third-party seller on Amazon but by Amazon itself. The box was sealed but it could have been returned by a customer, having put the sticker on an older CPU to get their money back for the 9800X3D. If not, Amazon might have to reach out to AMD to find out what happened here. Cmaris has started the refund process.