Sigh, DDR5 RAM scams are here: sealed DDR5 kits sold with DDR2 sticks, fake weight plates

I didn't think we'd be at the point of DDR5 RAM scams, but here we are: someone purchased an ADATA XPG DDR5 memory kit from Amazon, sealed... but inside, they were counterfeit DDR2 memory sticks.

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The folks over at VideoCardz had a reader tell them they purchased the last 4 units of ADATA XPG Caster 32GB DDR5-6400 CL40 memory from Amazon Spain, with three of the kits arriving first and then the fourth a few days later. The tracking on the shipment showed they were coming from Ireland, with one of the kits resold, and another installed and working normally.

However, things changed when the user opened up the third kit, with the box still wrapped in plastic and looking like a regular DDR5 memory kit from the outside. However, inside of the package were older DDR and DDR2 memory modules with counterfeit stickers that resembled a DDR5 heatsink label, as well as a metal plate that was most likely placed there to fake the expected weight of the package.

The reader said that the sticks would easily fool someone who only looks inside of the box window, but the print quality doesn't look too great up close. The fourth unopened kit was kept handy for a side-by-side comparison between a legitimate package, and the counterfeit one. It looks like someone has swapped out the real ADATA XPG Caster DDR5 memory modules with janky DDR and DDR2 modules, resealed the package and then resold as new.

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The user in question has sent a return request but we don't know if Amazon has refunded the order yet... so we would tell you to be very cautious with any RAM you order, well, any PC part in general really, as you don't want to spend an unholy amount of money on a huge DDR5 memory kit to receive some old-school DDR or DDR2 memory which is useless.