- Corsair has new packaging for its DDR5 RAM
- Some kits are in a sealed plastic clamshell rather than a cardboard box
- Lower-tier RAM still comes in the old box, but a security label is being added
Corsair has introduced countermeasures with its product packaging designed to foil scammers who are stealing memory sticks by swapping them out for old RAM modules and returning these fakes to retailers.
Tom’s Hardware highlighted a Corsair blog post in which the memory manufacturer explains that it has changed the packaging for some of its RAM.
With Corsair’s Vengeance DDR5 RAM kits with two sticks (for example, a 32GB kit which consists of a pair of 16GB modules), the company has switched to using a sealed plastic clamshell rather than a cardboard box. This is with its RGB memory, and also the plain DDR5 sticks with no fancy lights.
This means the RAM is clearly visible to the buyer before they purchase the item, and indeed it’s easily inspected by staff at retailers to help combat incidents of fake returns, as mentioned at the outset. Corsair notes that people are switching products out for ‘non-genuine modules’, which are usually ancient (effectively worthless) RAM from an old PC, or even just dummy RGB lighting modules as seen recently (see the image below).
As an additional measure, the clamshell packaging has a ‘tamper-evident belly label’ so you can clearly see if it’s been opened before.
Analysis: clamshells and security labels are likely to become more prevalent
It’s a sorry state of affairs, really, but this is where the RAM crisis has led us. DDR5 RAM has become so ridiculously expensive that it’s as much of a target now as seriously pricey high-end graphics cards. (These have famously been victims of similar return-related scams, where buyers have ended up purchasing a GPU box that has a rock in it, or a lump of metal, or perhaps a bag of rice).
So, it’s not surprising that Corsair has taken action in this way with these pricier products in their most common variant (dual-stick RAM kits, because you want your memory split into two modules for the fastest operating 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 these will get a security label on the box for some additional protection from scammers, in an update that’s seemingly rolling out soon.
The new packaging for DDR5 modules is already here, and indeed has been in place for over a month, so you may have caught sight of it in retailers (as this Redditor did a couple of weeks back).
Not everyone is a fan of this clamshell plastic packaging, mind, as sometimes it really isn’t easy to get into, degenerating into quite a struggle if you only have a flimsy pair of scissors to try to carve your way into the pack. Also, plastic is not an ideal choice in terms of the environment. Corsair does make it clear that these cases are made from recycled materials, though, and I think it’s a fair enough move to try and outfox the scammers, especially given the kind of expenditure consumers are making to grab a good DDR5 kit these days.
It’s entirely possible that other RAM makers may implement similar moves to help combat scammers.
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