RAM crisis gets weirder as $999 DDR5 RAM kit is returned - and the replacement reportedly turned out to be dummy modules

RAM buyers beware - expensive high-end memory kit from Corsair was reportedly swapped for dummy RGB lighting modules News (Image credit: Corsair) Darren Allan published Return results in a Corsair lighting enhancement kit being supplied instead A Redditor reportedly bought a 96GB DDR5 RAM kit from Corsair One stick was faulty, we're told, so the kit had to be returned The replacement turned out to be $35 worth of dummy RGB lighting modules, and Corsair is now investigating what happened here We've recently witnessed a number of costly RAM purchases gone wrong , and here's another tale of memory woe. Whereas previously we've reported on RAM scams that've happened via retailers, as VideoCardz reports , the buyer in this case was dealing directly with the manufacturer, or so the post on Reddit tells us. The Redditor says that they bought a 96GB RAM kit from Corsair - we don't know the exact model, but these DDR5 products now start at $999 in the US, after the ridiculous price inflation for memory over the past few months - and had to return it as one stick of RAM wasn't working. It was sent back to Corsair for a replacement, but when the new DDR5 RAM arrived, it wasn't DDR5 RAM at all. In fact, as pointed out by others on Reddit, what the poster of the thread received was a Corsair lighting enhancement kit . If you have empty RAM slots, these dummy modules are designed to slot into them, simply to provide the illusion of full banks of premium memory (and bolster the RGB lighting effects inside your PC). Of course, on their own, these RGB modules aren't good for anything, as they're empty and don't actually contain any memory chips. They're also a tad cheaper at $35 compared to the grand that the Redditor forked out for their 96GB memory kit. Analysis: be extra careful out there While the RAM and other hardware scams (often GPUs) we've seen at the likes of Amazon are not exactly uncommon, it's more unusual to see this happen when buying direct from the manufacturer. In fact, you wouldn't expect this at all. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. It is, of course, possible that there's been a glitch in Corsair's internal system and a shipping mistake. Or that, in the same vein as many (purported) Amazon scams, a bad actor could have bought the DDR5 RAM and the empty lighting modules, then initiated a return for the memory and sent the latter in its place - and Corsair didn't pick up on the fraud. All of this is just speculation, of course. At any rate, the good news is that a Corsair rep has got in touch on Reddit, and has a ticket number from the buyer, so is now investigating this incident with the company's support team - and the Redditor should be contacted soon. Hopefully, a resolution is close at hand, then. The Corsair rep...

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