Back-to-back Amazon CPU scam delivers empty Ryzen 5 9600X boxes in 72 hours — $ 10,000-a-month business customer captures fraud on camera

A New York-based computer repair and custom gaming PC retail store, PC Plug, experienced a delivery scam involving Amazon. According to a Reddit post by one of the co-owners, the store ordered an AMD Ryzen 5 9600X CPU from a third-party seller, "The Tech Group," but received only the empty box. They reported the issue and requested a refund, only to order another CPU with next-day delivery. Once again, they received only the box without the CPU.

The store, which relies heavily on Amazon for its inventory, orders around 90% of their hardware from the platform, equating to approximately $10,000 monthly. This incident was not a one-time occurrence; the co-owner mentioned that this has happened around 10 times over the past five years, with packages often arriving damaged or missing components. Additionally, there is security camera footage showing the Amazon packages being opened, revealing only the CPU boxes.

The co-owner expressed concern that the incident may put their Amazon Business Prime account at risk, as their business heavily relies on Amazon for hardware inventory. While Amazon is generally reliable for the store, this incident highlights the prevalence of such scams on the platform. The store advises purchasing from reputable sellers, verifying their ratings and reviews, and recording unboxings to have video evidence in case of issues with the delivered product.