Nvidia GPU scams are rampant right now – here's what to do to stay safe

• Reports of various Nvidia GPU scams keep surfacing, and scammers find new ways to trick shoppers
• Some buyers claim to have received old GPUs or a bag of rice instead of the card they expected to get
• Shopping and selling second-hand is riddled with tricky situations, too — my friend got scammed out of $1,900

It's definitely not a buyer's market for GPUs right now, which might explain why scams are running rampant. I keep hearing about new ways in which scammers target buyers (and sellers) of the best graphics cards, and honestly, some of them are truly baffling.

Some people are getting bags of rice and pasta instead of a high-end GPU; others get a backpack; and some get what looks like a graphics card, but the insides reveal that it'll never work.

To help you navigate the obstacle course of buying ...