So I’m building a new PC and a lot of the components are coming from Amazon.
I ordered this Intel i5-9600K from Amazon (Sold by and fulfilled by Amazon – not a marketplace seller).
What arrived said “i5-9600K” on the box but it actually turned out to be a 13 year old Intel Xeon in a box from an 8th Gen i5.
I had actually just returned an i5-9600KF which I’d bought incorrectly (didn’t spot the -F at the end of the part code) so I’d recently had my hands on a genuine 9th Gen i5 – The box of the one I received had an old feel to it, perhaps the printing wasn’t as vibrant or the folds as sharp but something just felt odd.
The alarm bells then immediately rang when I noticed it said ‘8th Gen’ on the box (i5-9600K is 9th gen – the clue’s in the name!). On the side was a barcode with an intel product code for an i5-8400 > which the box shown on amazon’s listing looks just like the one I received.
So it appears the fraudster has used an old box and printed new labels for it to say ‘i5-9600k’ – They didn’t do a good job though as they forgot to update the CPU speed shown on the part code label. When I saw ‘2.8GHz’ any doubt I had that something was wrong vanished (it should be 3.6GHz).
As is the way with CPU boxing you can also see the unit through a window:
Yep – that’s a Xeon L5420!!!!
Which I fond an identical picture of on this ebay listing where you can buy it for £6.90!!!
Obviously I called Amazon to explain what I’d found and to arrange a return/refund – they assured me it would be investigated when the item was returned to their fulfilment centre.
In the meantime I’ve ordered a replacement but as I really need it quickly I have no choice but to try re-ordering the exact same item from Amazon again as it’s available for delivery next day (a Sunday in this case).
Fingers crossed I get a genuine unit this time!