Thermal Grizzly scammed out of $46,000 by Alibaba metals suppliers — company spread the risk across two copper and aluminum suppliers, only for both to send cheaper, fake materials

Source: Tom’s Hardware

Image credit: Thermal Grizzly, Der8auer

Thermal Grizzly (TG) was scammed by fake‑material sellers in China, losing nearly $46,000. Overclocker Roman “Der8auer” Hartung’s accessories firm struggled to source copper and aluminum plates in Europe, so it turned to two suppliers on Alibaba. Despite precautions—paying 30 % up‑front and the remainder after shipment confirmation—both shipments turned out to be largely counterfeit.

Copper shipment #1

The first crate was advertised as copper slabs. What arrived were ferric metal slabs (iron/steel) with a thick copper coating. A visual inspection passed, and a corner sample looked acceptable under electron‑microscopy, but a thermal surface conductivity meter gave no reading (reference copper read 89 %).

A milling test exposed white metal and sparks, and a magnet confirmed the material was copper‑coated steel.

Image credit: Thermal Grizzly, Der8auer

The second swindler – aluminum

The second supplier mixed a few genuine aluminum sheets with cheap steel plates used as ballast to reach the expected weight. Roughly a quarter of the shipment was usable; the rest consisted of steel sheets hidden beneath the aluminum layers.

This supplier also sent a copper shipment that, like the first, turned out to be copper‑plated steel—magnetic and far cheaper than real copper.

Financial impact

Der8auer estimates the loss at ≈ €40 000 (~ $46 250), not counting the time, reputation damage, and additional sourcing costs. He hopes to recover a few thousand euros by selling the steel scrap, but the bulk of the loss is unrecoverable.

One supplier has stopped responding; the other remains in contact, but Der8auer doubts any meaningful restitution. He notes that pursuing legal action across Germany and China would be costly and unlikely to succeed.