RTX 5090 Vigilante’s attempt to fool scalper bots with fake eBay lists

Like Nvidia warned that it would happen, GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 graphics cards are all effectively sold out online. The next inevitable step is for Scalper Bots to hover in and offer these already expensive GPUs at astronomical prices. Instead of finding the normal slate of dealers on eBay, the most prominent 5090 lists are trying to screw the bots by selling them a photo of the cards instead.

While Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 is in hot demand, $ 2,000 5090 takes the biggest Christmas. Some personal and online stores reportedly had only a few cards available to sell and these went fast. Microcenters all over the United States gave vouchers to the first few people to queue in person. Online, RTX 5090 shares are even more bleak. At the popular components site Newegg (Via PCWORLD), Any target card for RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 is listed as sold out. It includes anything from the $ 1,000 cards to $ 2,500 Gigabyte Aorus RTX 5090.

Nvidia previously warned that RTX 5080 and 5090 warehouses would be low. Either way, the scarcity has caused mass confusion for potential buyers. The limited January 30 -launch created mass consparation among customers around the world. Photos on r/nvidia SUBIDDIT shows potential customers standing in the US, UK, Japan and elsewhere to get their hands on the new GPUs despite the cold in January.

The next step would be Scalper’s lists, but the first page of the RTX 5090 at the resale site is full of RTX 5090 lists. A RTX 5090 SOLD For $ 6,000 the same day with the card’s launch, January 30. However, there is a lighting place in the void that is RTX scalping. Gizmodo found that the front of the RTX 5090 lists are Full of fake 5090 cards Meant to scam bots. Some of these lists ask potential buyers to “read the description” or ask any “people” to check the list before they hit purchases.

Some lists include the description, “You receive a photo of RTX 5090. You are not receiving the product.” Another reads: “Don’t buy if man; This is only for Bots!… You will only receive a printed paper image of 5090. ”

Gizmodo reached some of these eBay accounts. The eBay profiles who asked to remain anonymous told us that their listing was not a unified effort on behalf of a specific PC gamer community. They said they individually hoped to strike back Scalper Rush, who seems more and more inevitable with any major hardware release. An account holder told us it was “disgusting what Scalpers do and their control over consumers.”

It is unclear how well this works. An eBay seller noted that a person ordered an order and then asked to cancel, indicating that it was not a bot that bought one. We vigorously suggest that people do not follow in the footsteps of these eBay seller. You are likely to fool a naive or desperate GPU buyer rather than any Scalper Bot.

If something, the Antiscalpers’ work indicates how terrible the bot situation has become with each new hardware release. Companies’ attempts to beat Scalpers are largely failed, especially if the product has limited quantities. When Sony released limited quantities of the special PS1 style PlayStation 5 Pro, it tried to force customers through a site linked to their PlayStation account. Unfortunately for Sony and Hungry PS5 customers, Scalpers sold the devices at hugely inflated prices.

The only consistent way of beating scalpers is to have enough delivery for launch to meet demand. Nintendo has promised that it will not suffer the same fate with its upcoming Switch 2, but we will have to see it to believe it. Nvidia could have avoided this SNFAU by exposing the card’s release to improve the stock. However, it is too late and the genius is out of the bottle. We suggest you don’t spend $ 6,000 or more on a graphics card. The RTX 5090 certainly looks like fun, but we all still have to wait for CPU hardware and gaming software to catch up before we see the true capabilities of these latest GPUs.