- Corsair has new packaging for its DDR5 RAM
- Some kits come in a sealed plastic cover instead of a cardboard box.
- The lower level RAM still comes in the old box, but a security label will be added
Corsair has introduced countermeasures into its product packaging, designed to thwart fraudsters who steal memory cards by exchanging them for old RAM modules and returning these counterfeits to retailers.
Tom’s Hardware highlighted a blog post from Corsair in which the memory maker explains that it has changed the packaging of some of its RAM.
With Corsair’s Vengeance DDR5 RAM kits with two devices (for example, a 32GB kit consisting of a pair of 16GB modules), the company has switched to using a sealed plastic cover instead of a cardboard box. This is with its RGB memory and also with the simple DDR5 memories without fancy lights.
This means that the RAM is clearly visible to the buyer before purchasing the item and is, in fact, easily inspected by retailers’ staff to help combat incidents of false returns, as mentioned at the beginning. Corsair notes that people are swapping products for ‘aftermarket modules’, which are usually old (effectively useless) RAM from an old PC, or even just dummy RGB lighting modules as seen recently (see image below).
As an added measure, the clamshell packaging has a “tamper-resistant front label” so you can clearly see if it has been opened before.
Analysis: Folding covers and security labels likely to become more prevalent
It really is a sad situation, but this is where the RAM crisis has taken us. DDR5 RAM has become so ridiculously expensive that it is now as much of a target as very expensive high-end graphics cards. (These have been victims of similar scams involving returns, where buyers ended up purchasing a GPU case that has a rock, a piece of metal, or perhaps a bag of rice in it.)
So it’s no surprise that Corsair has taken action this way with these more expensive products in their most common variant (dual stick RAM kits, because you want your memory to be split into two modules for the fastest running speeds).
In case you were wondering, Corsair’s lower-tier RAM modules still come in a traditional paper box format. However, the memory maker clarifies that they will receive a security label on the box to provide additional protection against scammers, in an update that will apparently be released soon.
The new package for DDR5 modules is here and has actually been out for over a month, so you may have seen it in retail stores (like this Redditor did a couple of weeks ago).
Not everyone is a fan of this clamshell plastic packaging as it is sometimes not easy to get into, which degenerates into quite a struggle if you only have flimsy scissors to try and force your way into the package. Furthermore, plastic is not an ideal choice in terms of the environment. However, Corsair makes it clear that these cases are made from recycled materials, and I think it’s a pretty fair move to try to outsmart the scammers, especially considering the kind of expense consumers are spending to purchase a good DDR5 kit these days.
It’s entirely possible that other RAM manufacturers will implement similar measures to help combat scammers.
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