An individual known as @watagjt on X recently became a victim of a rather technical and elaborate memory scam after they bought what they thought was desktop DDR5 RAM. In fact, it was actually a memory module with older DDR4 chips soldered onto it.
The issue with this scam is just how scary the scammers managed to make it look normal, like nothing was wrong on the outside. The memory module, by the way, was from Kingston, and is based on the brand’s 32GB DDR5-5600 CL40 model.
@watagjt says that the memory module showed no visible damage or evidence of tampering, but that was before they removed the heatsink on the supposed DDR5 stick. That’s when they discovered the trickery and sleight of hand of the scammers.
Upon removing the heatsink, they found DDR4 chips soldered directly onto the DDR5 PCB. The scammers had taken the time to painstakingly mark the lower-grade chips with the Micron logo and 2UG45 D8DDZ logos, thus making them look like the real McCoy to anyone none the wiser. But not this buyer, fortunately.
To be clear, the markings are valid DDR5 identifiers. Here’s the thing: the real DDR5 chips use an 82-ball VFBGA package, measuring 9 x 11mm. The real DDR5 modules using Micron D8DDZ chips are also documented, meaning that whoever the scammer is, they had to have known this.
To that end, there are DDR4 modules that share the same 9 x 11mm package size, but there is one giveaway: the BGA count. In contrast, the DDR4 modules use a 78-ball TFBGA layout, and not the 82-ball layout, but again, unless you know how to look at these parts under a microscope, you’re never going to be the wiser.
We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: there is no end to the lengths a scammer would go to if it guarantees them a quick payday.
(Source: @watagjt via X, Videocardz)
