this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2025
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Devastated PC builder orders DDR5 RAM from Amazon, receives DDR2 and some weights — counterfeit 32GB kit a worrying sign of rising return and sales fraud (www.tomshardware.com)
submitted 1 week ago by themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 31 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I stopped ordering tech on Amazon when I got a fraud twice in a month on back-to-back orders a few years back.

First was a laptop that wouldn't start. I looked at the bottom and the scewes were mostly stripped, and once I got them out most of the components had been removed from the boards.

Second was a Spyder color calibrator. What I got instead was a iPhone 4 screen protector with a sticker slapped on with the UPC for what I'd ordered. When I tried returning it, they gave me flack for slap-tagging a return, but I was able to escalate in that case.

[–] indyradio@kafeneio.social 17 points 6 days ago (5 children)

@chiliedogg @themachinestops
Amazon will consistently facilitate fraud. I had sworn I would not order from them, but it seemed there was an exceptional deal on a certain type of tortilla.
There were supposed to be 12 bags of tortillas, but there were only 10.
I read there guidelines, and there is absolutely no recourse for something like this. I opened the box, now it's mine.

I had decided quite firmly I wouldn't deal with them, and it was a serious mistake when I did.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Amazon Let Its Drivers’ Urine Be Sold as an Energy Drink

Drivers urinating in bottles has been reported in the past, but what wasn’t known is that some claim they also get penalized for having those urine-filled bottles in their truck when they return to the warehouse.

...

To avoid penalties, they end up discarding the bottles by the side of the road. Butler searches the roadsides near Amazon warehouses from Coventry to New York to Los Angeles and more often than not strikes liquid gold.

From there, it’s laughably straightforward for Butler to get Release listed for sale on Amazon, with very few checks and balances in place to ensure the product he’s selling is safe and legal. “Releasing the drink was surprisingly easy,” Butler told WIRED. “I thought that the food and drinks licensing would stop me from listing it, so I started it out in this Refillable Pump Dispenser category. Then the algorithm moved it into drinks.”

[–] isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 days ago

Isn't that a plot in Moral Orel?

[–] indyradio@kafeneio.social 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

@UnderpantsWeevil
they need to be shut down

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago (5 children)

Nationalized and folded into the USPS. Idk about shutting down the biggest commercial retailer in the world.

[–] indyradio@kafeneio.social 3 points 6 days ago

@UnderpantsWeevil Nationalize is a good idea.

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[–] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

So what exactly did you do to piss off the Amazon Returns department? Because from my experience, they are the most lenient company when it comes to returns/refunds. I've had stuff arrive broken, or scuffed up, or it was the wrong item, or I just plain didn't like a product and every time I've been able to submit a return without having to interact with a single person.

I feel like you either have to be lying about your experience, didn't even try to return it, or did something that got your account flagged.

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[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Yeah, if it's not made by Amazon and sold by them, I typically won't buy it. All the other stuff is just marked up stuff from AliExpress and temu.

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[–] skisnow@lemmy.ca 30 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It's sickening how little Amazon seem to give a fuck about this. They could easily tighten up their vetting of sellers, but heaven fucking forbid they only report a $50,000,000,000 profit this year instead of $50,003,000,000.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago (4 children)

They've invested extensively in automating their supply chain to the point that humans aren't looking inside these boxes anymore. And as customer support is increasingly replaced with AI, the ability to flag and report businesses for fraud has erodes even as the businesses themselves have grown more sophisticated in duping Amazon anti-fraud systems.

The quest to remove every actual thinking human from the inside of your business results in humans outside of your business exploiting the blind spots to the hilt.

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[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 21 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I buy and maintain about $20K of computer equipment a year for my lab. We learned around 2020 Amazon is a nest of scammers, from the suppliers to the delivery people.

There has been a significant resurgence of local computer supply retail because millions have been ripped off and only now buy in person.

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, I got burned on some hard drives in like 2018 and won't use them again. They took no action when I reported the issue with the seller. Thankfully I have a microcenter close enough that I can source most of what I need there.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

My local retail supplier has seen revenues double in the last 4 years. But, they are under constant threat of scam by buyers.

It's not just sellers, buyers return swapped items all the time.

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 2 points 5 days ago

So check the items before accepting the return? Sellers are responsible for what they sell.

[–] kamen@lemmy.world 15 points 6 days ago (1 children)

So they don't have the resources to check returned goods or what? Or they simply don't care enough?

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.org 2 points 5 days ago

Yup this isn't a fraud problem. Just an Amazon problem

[–] Rhoeri@lemmy.world 24 points 6 days ago (4 children)

“… from Amazon”

Well there’s your problem.

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[–] Ydna@lemmy.world 18 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Buying electronics from Amazon is really rolling the dice. I've received so many inadvertent open box returns... it's just a matter of time before you get burned.

[–] winkerjadams@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Newegg is also shit and so is bestbuy. I don't have a microcenter near me. What else is there? I guess buying direct. Is there anything I'm missing?

[–] RamRabbit@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

B&H is a great source for electronics, computer parts, and photography.

[–] suicidaleggroll@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Depends on what you're buying. Wiredzone and Provantage are solid for enterprise/workstation gear, and for anything storage or camera related B&H is my go-to.

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[–] AlecSadler@lemmy.blahaj.zone 21 points 6 days ago

I ordered 2x32GB DDR5 on Amazon two years ago and received 1x32 and 1x8 in the same package.

Luckily they replaced it for me completely, still wild. Can only imagine it's going to get worse.

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Don't buy expensive shit off Amazon. They don't do anything to prevent fraud.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 days ago

We caught a driver on camera take a picture of a $2000 PC on a doorstep, then move it back into his truck. Took a month to resolve with Amazon. If you have to deal with these clowns, use the local pickup option from a locker.

[–] KiloGex@lemmy.world 15 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Don't order from Amazon. Easy fix.

[–] Shayeta@feddit.org 17 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Hold sellers accountable. Actual fix.

[–] k0e3@lemmy.ca 12 points 6 days ago

I personally believe the platform provider needs to be accountable because they take a cut for the convenience and safety of the transaction.

[–] mill_city@lemmy.zip 10 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I think, if the seller used Amazon shipping, it's not actually the seller's fault. Doesn't Amazon pool all items from the same SKU together from all sellers and ship whatever they can get to the buyer the fastest/cheapest?

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 15 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Yes. If you sell on amazon, and have amazon fulfill the shipping.. you ship your stuff to amazon, and its just put in teh big pool with all the other items of the same kind.

Even returns get put back into the pool.

its the absolute most pants on head stupid fucking way possible to manage inventory to the point that shit like this seems almost intentionally designed for rather than a consequence of.

Which is why anytime you order anything from amazon, you should record the entire box to show its untampered with, then film the entireity of the opening and confirming everything inside is actually inside.

THere was a famous case of a guy who bought a 10 thousand dollar camera and got a box of rocks, and amazon sent him a replacement and got a box of bricks, before finally getting the camera on the 3rd try.. I think recording his second opening saved him from having amazon call him a scammer.

[–] KiloGex@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

My boss used to sell on Amazon, until one time they royally screwed him over using this method. He had a product where he was given exclusive online rights to sell. Somehow it disappeared in the Amazon warehouse, but at least they provided a refund. Less than a week later, the same product showed up back on Amazon under a first time seller.

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[–] hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works 8 points 6 days ago (3 children)

My headlight connector got a little melty, just enough to get loose and stop working, just wore out I suppose.

I bought one on Amazon, along with new bulbs, installed it, and within an hour the new connector had catastrophically melted and shorted out enough to blow the fuse.

I should've known, the wire felt cheap, copper clad aluminum. But I thought it would be fine, it's just a headlight 🤷‍♂️

Now I've got a replacement from the local auto parts. So far so good.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

This is a problem with all auto parts, even from NAPA supplying to garages. Mechanics are going broke replacing defective "new" parts.

[–] hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 days ago

Makes sense. I work at a different type of repair shop, we just had a brand new $400 battery go up in smoke on first power up. Ridiculous.

[–] BanMe@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

Oh god yeah, so many LED grow lamps and LED drivers that melted or burned out well below their rated amperage. Leaves one to wonder if an entire house is worth saving $10.

[–] JordanZ@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago

I bought ram from Amazon some time ago and somebody had done a sticker swap and returned. The ram sticks in the package matched the box according to all the stickers but the kit registered in software was a lower end set with different part/serial numbers than the stickers/box. The funny part was when I bought it the price difference was only like $5 but about a year or so earlier it was closer to an $80 difference.

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