Fake GPUs have gotten so good, even a repair expert was initially fooled by this scam Nvidia RTX 4090 — so be careful out there

Computing Computing Components GPU Fake GPUs have gotten so good, even a repair expert was initially fooled by this scam Nvidia RTX 4090 — so be careful out there News By Darren Allan published 28 April 2026 Scammers are reaching new highs in the quest to con the unwary When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Northwest Repair on YouTube) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Fakes are now reaching a very high standardAn Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 proved to be indistinguishable from a genuine Nvidia GPU on first inspection by a repair expertThere's a worrying level of sophistication here, and we've also seen this in recent times with fake SSDsA fake Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 is an example of just how authentic scam hardware can seem, and it's a worrying reminder given that this kind of fraud is very much on the rise of late.VideoCardz reports that Northwest Repair (a Kentucky-based repair shop in the US) highlighted the incident with a YouTube video (which you can see below).As Northwest Repair (NR) points out, the color of the board didn't look at all faked, and overall, it appeared to be a factory-made, genuine Nvidia graphics card. Typical clues like missing thermal compound around the corners of the GPU chip — which would indicate the chip had been removed (and then switched out) — were not present.Article continues below You may like Nvidia RTX 5090 buyer is scammed as GPU is replaced by laundry detergent SSD fakes are now more sophisticated — here's how to avoid falling victim Walmart shopper reportedly buys Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU at almost half-price On first inspection, the only discernible clue was the thermal compound being somewhat darker than normal (or more "baked"), which NR picked up on, but noted that this could be due to the RTX 4090 being used for some serious overclocking, perhaps — it's not necessarily a telltale sign of a fake.Even the laser-engraving of the model number on the chip looked authentic, and the same was true for the video memory.In short, this was a carefully crafted fake GPU which, as NR makes clear, is made to a standard that the repair expert hasn't witnessed before. "This is the best scam I've ever seen," he observed, noting, "We've reached a point where the scam has gotten so good that even the trained eye cannot detect it."Only examining the board under a microscope, in fine detail, revealed the small clues (related to soldering mostly) that gave away that this was a fake. window.sliceComponents = window.sliceComponents || {}; externalsScriptLoaded.then(() => { window.reliablePageLoad.then(() => { var componentContainer = document.querySelector("#slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-ckU8xjgepgdRcF4zuYndmi"); if (componentContainer) { var data = {"layout":"inbodyContent","header":"Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox","tagline":"Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.","formFooterText":"By submitting your information you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/futureplc.com\/terms-conditions\/\" target=\"_blank\">Terms & Conditions<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/futureplc.com\/privacy-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and are aged 16 or over.","usDisclaimerFooterText":"By signing up, you agree to…

This excerpt is published under fair use for community discussion. Read the full article at TechRadar.