Some Newegg customers complain of phony processors

Consumers who purchased certain types of Intel processors through online distributor Newegg were surprised - and understandably aggrieved - to find that the product that arrived was nothing more than a plastic mock-up of a CPU.

The distributor said in a statement that "we have since [the incident] come to discover the CPUs were counterfeit and are terminating our relationship with this supplier." Tech news site HardOCP had initially identified the supplier in question as D&H Distributing, but it was later revealed that IPEX was behind the phony chips.

Newegg has pledged to make restitution to any customers who received the bogus devices, which were supposed to be Intel Core i7-920 processors, and has said that "we take matters like this extremely seriously, and are working in close cooperation with Intel and the appropriate law enforcement authorities to thoroughly investigate this incident."

Experts say that, while online retailers can frequently offer very attractive deals to their potential customers, those customers have a responsibility to be on the alert for any possible fraud or abuse.