4 ms·

Friend of mine got a box of plastic chips with no electronics, from China.

mrweasel 3y ago
Why even go to the trouble of actually shipping a product at that point? I'm really surprised by the length people will go to, in order to scam others. Someone took the time to do a fake plastic chip, or reprint a silk screen on an chip with a matching pin-out. My favorites are fake USB drives and "fake" GPUs. The amount of time that has to go into finding old GPUs, faking a driver and relabeling seems like it would exceed the value of the scam, but apparently not.
- peter_retief 3y ago
  What I actually thought, they do get to buy some time though.
- Joker_vD 3y ago
  If you fail to ship anything, that's an open and close case of fraud. If you ship anything, especially if it's at least superficially similar, you can argue it was a good-faith mistake, just a case of failed due diligence.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    Yes, I think that's it. Also, there's this interesting exchange I had with an eBay seller a couple of years ago. I purchased a bunch of NiMH batteries. Because I test every component I buy even for my hobby projects, I immediately noticed that they were 1/10th the capacity that they should have been, and were marked as. I contacted the seller to return them and get a refund. They told me "honest mistake" and then began a negotiation. "How large of a refund would you accept?" Since the batteries were useless to me, I said "100%". In the end, I did get a complete refund and didn't need to return the batteries.
    - RetroTechie 3y ago
      ^^ This. Simple rule I apply: if you can't trust the seller, make sure you can test the parts upon receiving them. If sent fakes, make sure to get your money back as a matter of principle. Fun thought: since eBay often rules in favor of buyers, it would be fun if someone would 'abuse' this: buy a good # of often-faked parts from all sellers that offer them, test extensively, and open disputes for any fakes received. That should (in theory) cause a good deal of $ losses for any seller that sold fakes. Maybe repeat regularly, and it might remove some fakes from the market?
    - hakfoo 3y ago
      This happened to me with Dell of all places a few years ago. Back when everyone was making Windows 8 tablets with a quad-core Atom and a $350 price tag, I ordered one of theirs. It got good reviews in the Maximum PC comparo of the time, and it was available with a then-cavernous 64Gb of flash. In week 1 the Wi-fi wouldn't keep connection. By week 2 it had fully bricked. I initiated the RMA process, and the chat monkey asked "If we refund you $50, would you keep the device?" I ended up getting the Asus version which had a nifty little clip-on keyboard, and it at least lasted the warranty term before the touchscreen cracked.
    - RealStickman_ 3y ago
      I bought a used OnePlus 3 on ebay and because I already had another OP3 I noticed right away that the screen was different. Especially in a dark room it was obious that somebody had replaced the original OLED screen with a cheaper IPS one. I did end up getting a partial refund for about the price of a replacement OLED screen.
  - mrweasel 3y ago
    That is a bloody technicality if I ever heard one. Someone, somewhere still took the time to make these fakes, so someone committed fraud regardless. If you're going to commit fraud, at least be honest about it.
    - Joker_vD 3y ago
      First of all, weight-and-size-accurate dummies (whatever they're actually called in English) have legitimate uses. Second, being honest about commiting fraud is counter-productive. Comercial fraud, even though illegal, is still a commercial enterprise at its core and its goal is the same as of any other comercial enterprise: to bring in profit, the more the better. Fraud is not about sending a message on ethics, or showing off someone's character, or helping the marks to keep their money, it's about getting as much money as possible at little cost as possible (with the costs of dealing with legal persecution accounted).
  - LinuxJedi 3y ago
    I once ordered a large batch of 64pin DIP sockets from a Chinese site and received a piece of ladies' undergarment instead. It took a long time to get my money back from that transaction.
    - Y_Y 3y ago
      Did the lady let you keep her undergarment?
      - LinuxJedi 3y ago
        Lol! I had to send it back to China to get my money back
- gnopgnip 3y ago
  https://imgur.com/LB9zTFB https://imgur.com/LB9zTFB https://imgur.com/qlPIY4y https://imgur.com/qlPIY4y They make fake skateboard bearings. These are like 10 cents a piece in bulk.
  - mrweasel 3y ago
    This is what I mean, this product only exits to scam people. That has to show that you intent to commit fraud. So if the seller is honest, they should report the manufacturer, but they don't because the scam is the plan. I'm so tired of this crap.
  - userbinator 3y ago
    There's fake as in "not genuine but similar functionality" and then there's fake as in "not even trying to be functional".
- aidenn0 3y ago
  1. If it's going through a marketplace, having a tracking number makes it harder for the customer to get a refund (we shipped it; it was delivered!) 2. If the customer doesn't use the product right away, having it look close enough means they might not notice its counterfeit until after the N day return window has expired.
- dragontamer 3y ago
  Because the fraud is now harder to prove. You say on your end it was real chips, and that the other guy is faking it by claiming they're plastic chips.
h2odragon 3y ago
early quantum processors. "may de-cohere in shipping"

Why even go to the trouble of actually shipping a product at that point? I'm really surprised by the length people will go to, in order to scam others. Someone took the time to do a fake plastic chip, or reprint a silk screen on an chip with a matching pin-out. My favorites are fake USB drives and "fake" GPUs. The amount of time that has to go into finding old GPUs, faking a driver and relabeling seems like it would exceed the value of the scam, but apparently not.

peter_retief 3y ago
What I actually thought, they do get to buy some time though.
Joker_vD 3y ago
If you fail to ship anything, that's an open and close case of fraud. If you ship anything, especially if it's at least superficially similar, you can argue it was a good-faith mistake, just a case of failed due diligence.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  Yes, I think that's it. Also, there's this interesting exchange I had with an eBay seller a couple of years ago. I purchased a bunch of NiMH batteries. Because I test every component I buy even for my hobby projects, I immediately noticed that they were 1/10th the capacity that they should have been, and were marked as. I contacted the seller to return them and get a refund. They told me "honest mistake" and then began a negotiation. "How large of a refund would you accept?" Since the batteries were useless to me, I said "100%". In the end, I did get a complete refund and didn't need to return the batteries.
  - RetroTechie 3y ago
    ^^ This. Simple rule I apply: if you can't trust the seller, make sure you can test the parts upon receiving them. If sent fakes, make sure to get your money back as a matter of principle. Fun thought: since eBay often rules in favor of buyers, it would be fun if someone would 'abuse' this: buy a good # of often-faked parts from all sellers that offer them, test extensively, and open disputes for any fakes received. That should (in theory) cause a good deal of $ losses for any seller that sold fakes. Maybe repeat regularly, and it might remove some fakes from the market?
  - hakfoo 3y ago
    This happened to me with Dell of all places a few years ago. Back when everyone was making Windows 8 tablets with a quad-core Atom and a $350 price tag, I ordered one of theirs. It got good reviews in the Maximum PC comparo of the time, and it was available with a then-cavernous 64Gb of flash. In week 1 the Wi-fi wouldn't keep connection. By week 2 it had fully bricked. I initiated the RMA process, and the chat monkey asked "If we refund you $50, would you keep the device?" I ended up getting the Asus version which had a nifty little clip-on keyboard, and it at least lasted the warranty term before the touchscreen cracked.
  - RealStickman_ 3y ago
    I bought a used OnePlus 3 on ebay and because I already had another OP3 I noticed right away that the screen was different. Especially in a dark room it was obious that somebody had replaced the original OLED screen with a cheaper IPS one. I did end up getting a partial refund for about the price of a replacement OLED screen.
- mrweasel 3y ago
  That is a bloody technicality if I ever heard one. Someone, somewhere still took the time to make these fakes, so someone committed fraud regardless. If you're going to commit fraud, at least be honest about it.
  - Joker_vD 3y ago
    First of all, weight-and-size-accurate dummies (whatever they're actually called in English) have legitimate uses. Second, being honest about commiting fraud is counter-productive. Comercial fraud, even though illegal, is still a commercial enterprise at its core and its goal is the same as of any other comercial enterprise: to bring in profit, the more the better. Fraud is not about sending a message on ethics, or showing off someone's character, or helping the marks to keep their money, it's about getting as much money as possible at little cost as possible (with the costs of dealing with legal persecution accounted).
- LinuxJedi 3y ago
  I once ordered a large batch of 64pin DIP sockets from a Chinese site and received a piece of ladies' undergarment instead. It took a long time to get my money back from that transaction.
  - Y_Y 3y ago
    Did the lady let you keep her undergarment?
    - LinuxJedi 3y ago
      Lol! I had to send it back to China to get my money back
gnopgnip 3y ago
https://imgur.com/LB9zTFB https://imgur.com/LB9zTFB https://imgur.com/qlPIY4y https://imgur.com/qlPIY4y They make fake skateboard bearings. These are like 10 cents a piece in bulk.
- mrweasel 3y ago
  This is what I mean, this product only exits to scam people. That has to show that you intent to commit fraud. So if the seller is honest, they should report the manufacturer, but they don't because the scam is the plan. I'm so tired of this crap.
- userbinator 3y ago
  There's fake as in "not genuine but similar functionality" and then there's fake as in "not even trying to be functional".
aidenn0 3y ago
1. If it's going through a marketplace, having a tracking number makes it harder for the customer to get a refund (we shipped it; it was delivered!) 2. If the customer doesn't use the product right away, having it look close enough means they might not notice its counterfeit until after the N day return window has expired.
dragontamer 3y ago
Because the fraud is now harder to prove. You say on your end it was real chips, and that the other guy is faking it by claiming they're plastic chips.

h2odragon 3y ago

early quantum processors. "may de-cohere in shipping"