The site sells the RTX 3090 for less than £1,400
Buying a high-quality graphics card is very difficult, especially due to the increase in popularity of cryptocurrency.
People are buying graphics cards, specifically, the NVIDIA RTX 30XX range, to mine cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency mining is where investors gain cryptocurrencies by solving cryptographic equations through the use of computers.
This process involves validating data blocks and adding transaction records to a public record known as a ledger.
Due to its ability to make money, more people are using this method.
But graphics cards like the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 are required. As a result, they are very sought-after and in many places, they are not available.
Those who do manage to purchase these graphics cards are selling them on eBay for nearly triple the price.
However, a website called British Miners is supposedly selling these much-needed cards at a lower price.
According to SpanishNews.com, the website is a scam.
A discussion Reddit has also highlighted issues with the website not being legit.
By using a professional-looking website and advertising top graphics card, the site is offering cards at a price that is attractive to customers to spend their cryptocurrency savings.
The website does look legitimate with a TrustPilot page.
But the reviews on there are mostly warning people that the website is a scam.
High-end graphics cards such as a 3060Ti cost £400 which is a bargain, but it does not happen on the current market.
The site sells the RTX 3090 for less than £1,400 which is impossible given the high demand.
But for those who are unaware, it looks to be a fantastic deal for them. Especially, for customers waiting to build their new computers or rigs.
Once you select the card you want to purchase, the scam comes to light on the checkout page.
No matter what is done, card payments are always declined.
The card payment form is apparently Stripe but the financial services company stated that there is no Stripe form on the checkout page.
It turns out to be a simple HTML form that you can type anything into the card number box and get the same result: “Your card has been declined”.
For PayPal, the website states that PayPal is not available in the UK, despite it being a global company.
The only payment option on the website is Bitcoin.
The BTC address is built into the checkout page’s script to decline your card.
‘Paying’ the website results in your Bitcoin going and no graphics card in return.
Unfortunately for victims of the scam, it is almost impossible to contact them and their offices highlight that it is not a legit company.
The website states that the head offices are in London and New York.
However, the London address is apparently of a House of Fraser store while the New York address is an empty building.
The customer service number always goes to an answerphone.
Sending an email may result in a response, however, it is usually during the early hours of the morning, well outside of office hours and another red flag that the British Miners website is not legit.
Therefore, it’s becoming more evident that the website is not operating legitimately, despite lots of people are being lured to the site to buy graphics cards due to Google providing exposure in shopping results.
No matter how desperate you are for a graphics card, you must avoid websites like British Miners unless you have evidence of being able to make legit purchases on such a website, including the different payment methods.