Scammers are among the lowest forms of life, but they can be crafty. In recent times there's been an increase in the number of scams that try to rip people off by selling expensive items without the things that make them expensive items.) reports that Safedisk, one of the world's premier overclockers, fell victim to a scam where he bought a Core i9 14900K that wasn't what it appeared to be. This wasn't some low end i3 chip marked as a 14900K, though.
Firstly, the chip arrived with a sticker saying warranty would be void if it got taken out of its clamshell. I'm pretty sure the fine print of Intel's CPU warranty allows you to actually use the product, but 10 points are awarded to the scammer for the creative dissuasion. Still, Safedisk went ahead and tried to get the chip to boot. To little surprise, it didn't.
But this really isn't funny, it's sad. I mean, why would a scammer bother with something like this? It seems like a lot of effort with a lot of risk involved. Maybe the scammer works for an Intel-contracted company or fab and thought this would be an easy way to make a few bucks from some failed products destined for the bin.