Good ol’ switcheroo
Source: Reddit
A PC builder says an ASUS Prime GeForce RTX 5080 OC 16GB ordered from Amazon arrived with a single 8-pin PCIe power connector. After sharing photos on Reddit, people immediately confirmed that the card does not match any RTX 5080 design and looks like a lower-tier GPU placed in a higher-end box with replaced labels.
Since all ASUS GPUs these days are relatively large, and the fact that we are looking at PRIME RTX 50 model, which by design is always 2.5-slot thick and with three fans (SFF-Ready design), it wans’t that obvious to the author of this thread.
Source: Reddit
The main red flag is the power connector. ASUS PRIME RTX 5080 cards use a 16-pin 12V-2×6 input, and the box typically includes an adapter that converts the 16-pin plug to three 8-pin PCIe leads. After checking the data in our database, we can confirm the card shown is an RTX 5060 Ti PRIME model with swapped labels.
5080 PRIME (left) & RTX 5060Ti PRIME (right)
It is also clear the stickers were tampered with and are no longer properly attached, and I think this is where the scam fell apart. If the stickers are original and were simply moved during the swap, Amazon may be able to trace the return back to the account that sent the package back and determine what happened.
The broader issue is that buyers often order expensive hardware expecting a factory-sealed, new product, not a return that was put back into inventory. Returned items should be clearly labeled and sold as such, typically at a lower price.
Also, let’s use this story to remind our readers to always record unboxing high-value purchases. Set up a simple phone recording or use a home camera facing the area where packages are opened, and keep the footage until the item is verified.
Source: Reddit