As many will recall, Zotac's GeForce RTX 5090 Solid graphics card series has had a storied career since launching earlier this year. One example served as the progenitor of "ROPGate"—as rooted out by original TechPowerUp investigations. Despite a ban of non-D variants in the region, Zotac GeForce RTX 5090 Solid OC retail units were reportedly available to purchase—via online auctions—in China. Late last week, a disgruntled Alameda County-based customer highlighted their purchase of a very disappointing package.

Taking to the official Micro Center subreddit, member "JamesFerg650" outlined a so-called "backpack scam," and directed frustrations at the long-running computer retail store. A more measured update was shared online later on: "yesterday after work I went to the new Micro Center in Santa Clara for the soft opening. Almost four hours after clock out time, I was home with my brand new Zotac 5090. I was so happy leaving Micro Center, I went out the door without a second thought and drove home smiling and singing along to my (favorite) music. All that build up became the biggest letdown when I opened my box to find three cross-body backpacks inside rather than my 5090."At the tail end of last month, Micro Center proudly announced the grand opening of a ~40,000-square-foot Silicon Valley branch. This monumentous occasion even attracted members of the press; likely due to the fact that the retailer has returned to the area, after a 13-year absence. Over a hundred customers were lined up outside, prior to doors opening at 10 a.m. Many were in attendance with graphics card acquisitions in mind; day one photos show several locked cabinets that housed highly sought after custom GeForce RTX 5090 32 GB models.

Despite missing morning celebrations, JamesFerg650 managed to secure an overclocked Zotac unit—current price tag: $2900. According to a calmer Reddit post, he believes that direct feedback has resulted in the uncovering of additional fraudulent products: "I was lost. I couldn't sleep with thoughts running through my head so fast of everything I did wrong (also was reminded by quite a few commenters in my previous post). I couldn't shake the feeling of 'I'm screwed.' Well, a hard lesson has been learned on expensive products. Open your boxes/items in store if reasonable, record openings if you are not and make sure it is what you want. Thankfully, I was the only customer (so far) who was sold one of these from the store. They tracked it back to their supplier and gave them hell all last night and today, because they found 31 MORE (also so far) at their store. All Zotac 5090s. Managers and employees had seen my post last night, and began their search and continued this morning."

A Micro Center representative did respond to multiple community member queries, mostly sourced from the official company subreddit. A spokesperson commented (as shared by JawaOfficial): "our team is aware of these reports and are actively investigating the legitimacy of the issue. At this time, we are still working internally with our Santa Clara team to confirm details they have on their end. We sadly do not have any details to confirm if this is indeed true, however we are working as quickly as possible with the Santa Clara team on this. While they are aware of these reports, our team in-store will do everything they can in their typical process to check these items before they are purchased. Our best recommendation from here is speaking with the Santa Clara team in-store if you plan on visiting, for any more information they may have at that time." According to a VideoCardz news update, Micro Center reckons that crafty swapping activities took place at a Zotac China—prior to a factory-sealing process and subsequent shipping of retail stock, bound for North America.