Intel, NewEgg and IPEX are not talking about what
REALLY took place.

Way to reassure the market, guys! LOL

We know of 300 of these fake units.
There are no answers about how many may
have existed elsewhere.

Just this KNOWN bunch represents
150K of retail product, though less at
wholesale cost.

What if this was done for the reasons that
NATIONS counterfeit other nations currency?
Just imagine the instability this kind of thing
could cause on a larger scale, much like
flooding the banks with massive amounts
of worthless currency?

Then again, isn't that what our Politicians
are doing?

Is the intent to destabilize the market or economy?

This is the latest/last article on this incident I could find.

http://www.crn.com/hardware/22330017...KH4ATMY32 JVN

Supplier Of Fake Intel Chips Denies Being Original Source
By Scott Campbell, Damon Poeter, ChannelWeb
4:58 PM EST Tue. Mar. 09, 2010 Ipex Infotech, the Fremont, Calif.-
based technology distributor identified by Newegg Monday as the source
of fake Intel (NSDQ:INTC) Core i7 processors shipped to the e-tailer's
customers in recent weeks, said Tuesday that it was not the original
supplier of the phony chips.
Late last week, the first claims surfaced that Newegg had sold fake
Intel processors after customers posted photos and videos on the
Internet showing non-functional chip and heat sink lookalikes packaged
in fake Core i7-logoed boxes. On Tuesday, Ipex's Cathy Liu e-mailed
Channelweb.com the following statement:

"Ipex has been supplying computer components to the technology
industry for over 10 years with the goal of providing quality products
and services to our customers. Recently we were referenced in
connection with some counterfeit Intel Core i7 920 Microprocessors
sold within the US market. While we purchased these products in good
faith from a supplier we are very disappointed to learn of the
questionable status of these products and are taking appropriate
action to resolve the issue for any impacted Ipex client as well as
are fully cooperating with Intel's investigation in to determining the
original source."

Asked by e-mail to name the "original source" of the fake chips cited
in the Ipex statement, Liu replied that Ipex had disclosed that
information to Intel but could not comment on it publicly.

Meanwhile, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel is letting Newegg handle
the fallout from the scam, an Intel legal affairs spokesperson said
Tuesday.

Dan Snyder, an Intel spokeseman for legal affairs, said that from
Intel's perspective, "the ball is really in Newegg's court now" and
that Intel wasn't currently pursuing any legal action against parties
that might have been involved in the fraud. Snyder said that Newegg
was handling customer care admirably in the aftermath of the scam.

"Newegg has been really supportive to us and we've been speaking to
them several times a day," he said. "They're immediately responsive to
any customer that comes to them."

Ipex's Web site, www.ipexinfo.com, was up on Monday but was not
working Tuesday after Newegg's allegations surfaced. Channelweb.com
called Fremont police to ask if an investigation into the scam was in
the offing, but the call had not been returned by midday Tuesday.

ASI Corp., a Fremont, Calif.-based hardware distributor that shares
"some common shareholders" with neighboring company Ipex Infotech,
said it played no part in the scam and was cooperating with Intel in
the chip maker's investigation.

"ASI does not own Ipex. That is not the case. They're a completely
separate company. Ipex is not in any meetings with [us] with Intel or
any other manufacturer that we have. Ipex is a competitor," said Kent
Tibbils, vice president of marketing at ASI.

"If you ask our sales people, they'd identify Ipex as a competitor,
just like many other companies in the computer industry."

Intel did contact ASI after news of the fake processor shipments
broke, Tibbils said.

"We have been in contact with Intel. We're working with them on their
investigation on this particular model. We're cooperating in regards
to what Intel's asking us," Tibbils said. "ASI is not being
investigated by Intel. They're asking questions because of the same
shareholder relationship, but none of those [fake] products came from
us."

In fact, ASI does not even carry the Core i7-920 processors that Ipex
allegedly sold to customers through Newegg, according to Tibbils, who
stressed his company's longstanding relationship with Intel.

"We have to go through a lot to become an authorized distributor. We
are an authorized distributor [for Intel]. Integrity of the product is
very important to us," Tibbils said.

Intel's Snyder said would not comment on which companies Intel had
contacted in the course of investigating the matter.