Received a possibly fake corsair memory from ebay

[quicky008]

I recently bought a 4gb ddr3 1600 mhz corsair value select memory from ebay.It was delivered today-however on inspecting it i found it rather suspicious-its packaging and product label looked markedly different from what is generally found in an authentic corsair product.Here are some of its photos:

package front
Imgur
Imgur
Imgur

Can anyone please check them and confirm whether it is indeed fake or not?I have seen many value select modules in the past but they looked entirely different from this one-even the logo of corsair appears to have been wrongly printed on this ram.Moreover i think there's no sign of any serial number on the ram.

I haven't tested it on my pc yet-the seller claimed that its a genuine ram and will show up as a corsair module in cpu-z.But does that necessarily mean that this ram is authentic?I've heard that the SPD info in the ram can be faked by skilled forgers.

Should open a claim on ebay and ask for a refund?Please advice.

 

[Vyom]

There should be a serial. And if you can register it online, that should prove if it's fake. If there is no serial, I am afraid, it might be fake.

Sidenote: Please link direct links of images. Or embed them in the post using [ IMG] tags. Or post a single album link which contains all images.
Your post is not mobile/tapatalk friendly.

 

[quicky008]

Thanks for your inputs,one thing that i forgot to mention was that seller had said that if any problems did arise with the ram,there's no need to take it to the service center as this ram has apparently been sourced from "import quota"-instead i should send it back to him to claim warranty.

Did he say so as the ram is fake and the people at the service center might recognize it and refuse to provide warranty?

And how can i determine its serial number without actually installing it on my pc?Isn't it supposed to be printed on the sticker that's visible on the ram?

 

[nac]

Yes, there supposed to be a serial number printed on the sticker.
Going by the price, I would highly doubt even before placing the order. And after seller mentioning that it doesn't have manufacturer warranty, what made you to buy it.

 

[patkim]

You can also write to indiaservice@corsair.com and try to get more details about this RAM. Send them necessary snapshots of the product and they might also provide required info. Also share with them the ebay seller details.

In my experience, India Corsair contact is prompt in replying to mails.

Generally brand new Corsair Value Select RAM in my opinion does not come in blister pack as shown in your image. It's very easy to repack used product in Blister Packaging. Corsair Value Select RAM generally comes as shown in below image (Unless Company has changed packaging) Do verify this with the service center upfront.

 

[quicky008]

Actually i bought it in a rush and didn't take those factors into account-moreover the seller had a high rating and so i assumed that he wont sell me a fake product-Big mistake!

In the photos that i have posted is the serial number visible?But if the label on the ram itself is fake,cant the serial no also be a duplicitous one?They could have simply taken the s/no from a genuine corsair module and printed it on the sticker to make it appear authentic.

The corsair logo on the sticker looks strangely different,also in an original corsair ram the words value and select are printed with no gaps between them,but in this ram the gap exists.Also the font that has been used to print the words is different.

At the rear the white sticker bearing the image of a ship's mast and the word corsair on black background with a blue patch beside them are wrongly placed in this ram-its supposed to be on the left but in this ram its on the right.

Because of this i strongly suspect that the ram is fake.Last but not the least original value select rams sport a wider label-but the label on this module is unusually narrow.

Note:this is the link to the seller's page on ebay from whom the ram was purchased:

online.easy on eBay

 

[Nerevarine]

This is the first time I'm seeing a corsair fake. Thanks for letting us know. Looks like the assholes are upping their brand game.

 

[quicky008]

This is the first time I'm seeing a corsair fake. Thanks for letting us know. Looks like the assholes are upping their brand game.

So it seems certain that this module is fake right?

Should i go ahead and ask for a refund from the seller?I wonder how he will react when i confront him with these facts-what should i do if he refuses to acknowledge that he has sold me a counterfeit ram?

 

[Nerevarine]

No, Im not sure about this, better ask corsair official before taking any steps

You should never have bought from ebay man, Ive had horror story experiences with RAM from ebay.
I already mentioned in many threads, ebay is filled with Kingston and Transcend fakes, I never knew they are faking Corsair also.

There's a good chance your RAM may be a refurb original corsair product also, so make sure its a fake befroe taking step forward

There's also a good chance it would be an OEM corsair RAM, not an end user sale product

 

[quicky008]

Even if its an OEM product or a refurb unit,the logo of corsair on it should have been the same as in the original,right?There shouldn't have been so may glaring differences between the style of printing and the appearance of the symbols-even the font used looks different.

I've sent an email to indiaservice@corsair.com-lets hope they will reply soon,i also posted a thread about this at the official corsair forum but till now no one has replied to it.

Is this corsair RAM genuine? - The Corsair User Forums

 

[whitestar_999]

It might be possible that ram is refurbished/oem/used corsair & sticker is fake corsair to make it look like new corsair ram.

 

[quicky008]

^That thought had crossed my mind-if i install it and it shows up as a corsair DIMM in cpu-z,then can it be assumed that the ram is indeed that of corsair?

Are there any tell-tale signs or foolproof methods that may be helpful in checking the authenticity of the ram?

Update:I had messaged the seller about this issue,he just replied back,stating that he was willing to take back the ram and issue a refund.He has also requested me to send it by india-post as their warehouse is in a remote location.Should i send it back right away or file a guarantee claim on ebay and return only when ebay approves it?Will the latter process be safer rather than dealing with the seller directly?

here's a transcript of his msg:

"Hi,

Refer order & your message regarding product not working / compatability issue / not satisfied with product.

We are sorry for situation happened . We are ready to take product back and issue you a offer a refund.

Please send product return to below address and once we receive it we arrange to send a refund. Kindly send dispatch tracking via Ebay message & whatsapp 7O176891OO, as our warehouse is in remote so we encourage return shipping via India post for which we also pay postage to you. :-

Om Solutions Store,
B-534, EWS, AVas Vikas,
Near Shiv Shakti Mandir,
Rudrapur - 263153 Distt. U. S. Nagar
(Uttarakhand)
Mob. : 7017689100

Thanks! "

 

[whitestar_999]

Only foolproof way is confirmation from corsair but as far as I know there is no way to spoof info of DIMM in cpu-z.

 

[quicky008]

^thanks,but the seller has agreed to take the ram back,should i still file a claim on ebay just to be on the safer side?

 

[whitestar_999]

Will seller give you another ram or will he refund the money?

 

[billubakra]

Brother don't send it back without raising a claim with eBay first. Their cs is a mess anyways.

 

[quicky008]

@whitestar_999 :As you can see in the above message,the seller seems to have agreed to give a refund,so i am thinking of returning it now.

So I will file a claim on ebay -even though its gonna be a long winded process i hope it will be somewhat safer than dealing with the seller directly.

 

[rijinpk1]

@whitestar_999 :As you can see in the above message,the seller seems to have agreed to give a refund,so i am thinking of returning it now.

So I will file a claim on ebay -even though its gonna be a long winded process i hope it will be somewhat safer than dealing with the seller directly.

product seems to be from some other brand,
and whatever the seller says, go through the ebay website to file an issue and refund rather than an outside settle for which ebay is not responsible for!
what will you do if the seller dont refund you?ebay will not help as you will have violated their policy by then.
go through the normal procedure after you get the confirmation from corsair.
Also post the product link here. was there really a manufacturer warranty specified over there?

 

[quicky008]

here's the link to the product page:

CORSAIR 4GB DDR3-1600 MHz (PC3-12800S) DESKTOP RAM 4 GB DDR3-1600 MHZ | eBay

the warranty info mentioned there appears to be misleading-even though its been stated there that its under manufacturer warranty,the seller himself said that i will have to send the product to him for rma in case any defects are found in it,which is really odd.

I've been trying to raise a claim since yesterday,but ebay is not letting me do so as the item was sent via fedex and they haven't yet updated its delivery status-so ebay is assuming that the product is still undelivered! Should i contact the folks over at fedex and request them to duly update the status so that i can raise the guarantee claim?

Update:a representative of corsair has confirmed on their forum that its most likely a fake ram-therefore hopefully this will help dispel any further doubts that might have still remained concerning the authenticity(or the lack thereof )of this #$%@! ram.

 

[billubakra]

here's the link to the product page:

CORSAIR 4GB DDR3-1600 MHz (PC3-12800S) DESKTOP RAM 4 GB DDR3-1600 MHZ | eBay

the warranty info mentioned there appears to be misleading-even though its been stated there that its under manufacturer warranty,the seller himself said that i will have to send the product to him for rma in case any defects are found in it,which is really odd.

I've been trying to raise a claim since yesterday,but ebay is not letting me do so as the item was sent via fedex and they haven't yet updated its delivery status-so ebay is assuming that the product is still undelivered! Should i contact the folks over at fedex and request them to duly update the status so that i can raise the guarantee claim?

Update:a representative of corsair has confirmed on their forum that its most likely a fake ram-therefore hopefully this will help dispel any further doubts that might have still remained concerning the authenticity(or the lack thereof )of this #$%@! ram.

When you said that the seller was telling you to take refund outside of ebay, that is fishy enough. Tell fedex cs to update the same so that the process can begin.