Beware of FAKE Memory Drives on eBay

Hey Guys,

I came across this while looking for stuff on eBay, and I figured if it was ok with the Mods and JFB, I would warn people of all the fakes out there!!


BEWARE of FAKE 1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB USB Flash Drives on eBay
by: memory-r-us(private)
1680 out of 1708 people found this guide helpful.
Guide viewed: 58357 times Tags: USB Flash Drive | 1GB 2GB 4GB 8GB | SanDisk | Sony | Kingston


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CAVEAT EMPTOR, BEWARE of Counterfeit USB Flash Drives
Millions of eBayers have been deceived by fake, low quality, unpopular cheap drives!

* We have a Windows program to expose the internals of any USB flash device connected via standard USB port. It will reveal the following 3 CRITICAL information that you need to determine if you have a fake/counterfeit flash device.

The manufacturer.
The model number.
The unique serial number.
Please contact us and provide us with the following:-

eBay Item Number (and/or eBay Seller ID) you have purchased from.
Clear hi-resolution digital camera photos of the actual item(s) against white paper background (set your digital camera to MACRO mode before taking close distance shots). Take a front view, back view, bottom view, side view and its packaging (if any).
Include your email address and the program will be sent to you if we are unable to verify your item's authenticity.
More than 95% of all 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB USB Flash Drives listed on eBay are counterfeit items and have 'fake' capacities.
They were reprogrammed from much smaller cousins 128MB, 256MB and 512MB capacity drives for quick profit!
Difficult to differentiate visually, as they look like cousin to a real mccoy. Most of them even have brand new packaging, serial numbers like a real mccoy.
COMMON counterfeit brands found flooding on eBay are:-
SanDisk - Cruzer Mini (SDCZ2) or Cruzer Micro (SDCZ4).
- Program printout of genuine drive is shown in article below, check it out!
FAKE SanDisk Cruzer USB Flash Drives Exposed
FAKE SanDisk Extreme Compact Flash Cards Exposed
FAKE SanDisk Ultra Compact Flash Cards Exposed
FAKE SanDisk Ultra Secure Digital Cards Exposed

Sony - Micro Vault.
Counterfeit Sony Micro Vault does not bundle with software such as 'Virtual Expander'. Most Sony fakes show their capacity as 'G' instead of 'GB'.
All Sony Vaio USB Flash drives available on eBay are counterfeit as 'Vaio' refers to Sony proprietary branding reserve for Sony notebook series only.
All Sony 8GB USB Flash drives on eBay are also counterfeit.
FAKE Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo MagicGate Cards Exposed

Kingston - Data Traveller I & II.
Counterfeit Kingston does not bundle with software such as 'Migo'.

Imation - Swivel & Mini.
Counterfeit Imation does not bundle with software such as 'Imation Flash Manager'.

Hyundai, Laser, LG, Transcend, TwinMOS.

No Name or Unpopular Brand.
How to tell if your USB drive is counterfeit and has fake oversize capacity?
The fake will deceive you by displaying the 'false/oversize' capacity when you connect it to your PC, however they will NOT be able to store the data to the stated capacity.
So you MUST perform data test by writing a BIG (1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB) file to the usb drive, then READ back the same file from the usb drive to another location on your PC to compare. The READ back process is the only proven way to uncover its 'REAL' capacity.
A genuine USB flash drive will complete data transfer of a single 1GB file anywhere from 50 to 180 seconds writing to. Usually the writing time is twice as long as the reading time.
The fake will take an excessively long time (1 to 7 hours) only 'pretending' writing but the data was not actually being written. Hence when you try to read it back, it will claim data as being CORRUPT. Many have reported that many strange files/folders eg. 00000.000 will appear and you cannot delete them.
The fake flash drives are usually shipped out from ASIA especially from China, Hong Kong, Korea or Singapore, and they are also listed on Australian, UK, USA and European's eBay.
The counterfeit model cannot be located or matched with any genuine models on the manufacturer's web site.
Counterfeit 'USB Flash Drive / Compact Flash / Secure Digital / Memory Stick' are flooding the eBay market at very low Buy-It-Now (too good to be true) price to make you think is an absolute BARGAIN, for example:-
[$45 for 2GB you get 128MB/256MB]
[$75 for 4GB you get 256MB/512MB]
[$100 for 8GB you get 256MB/512MB]
How to avoid buying fake/counterfeit USB Flash Drives?
High-volume sellers do not guarantee items authenticity.
NEVER to be deceived by the high eBay feedback of the seller by not doing your homework, this is how it traps one after another. Findings are many provide positive feedback too early upon receiving of an item without having the item being properly check out and tested first, hence many regret.
REMEMBER to check the seller's past selling history and especially sellers who have their bidder's ID protected or hidden.
GENUINE SanDisk, Sony and Kingston USB drives ALWAYS bundle with preloaded manufacturer software on the unit.
CHECK the model against the manufacturer's web sites to see if you can find a match. Some are easy to spot. Sony, SanDisk and Kingston models are the most difficult to differentiate visually as they usually use 'genuine' pictures from manufacturers' web site to sell their counterfeit items.
AVOID misleading slogans such as 'Opening special', 'New product not yet available in your country' or 'I am using one and it works very well for me'.
BEWARE of sellers that only list high-risk flash categories, such as 'SanDisk USB flash drives, SanDisk secure digital cards & Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo'.
WATCH OUT for low Buy-It-Now item where shipping fee far exceeds its item value (Circumventing eBay fee) and for item on eBay listings from your country but dispatched from China.
What to do if I have acquired a counterfeit item! Who is responsible?
Selling counterfeit items deceiving as genuine is considered as FRAUD, not merely a simple mistake. It is seller's sole responsibility.
Consumer protection laws are designed to protect all consumers, the gullible as well as the shrewd. The fact that a false statement may be obviously false to those who are trained and experienced does not change its character or take away its power to deceive others less experienced. Our consumer protection laws were enacted for the protection of the people, many who are trusting and naive about the wolves of the business world who come dressed in lambs' clothing.
Counterfeit items are NOT covered by genuine manufacturer's LIFETIME warranty.
If you have bought from high volume sellers, you should not be ALONE in the battle. Please kindly advise all other buyers in same situation as you are or simply ask them to review this guide.
How to get full refund and how to expose fraudulent sellers?
Check if the seller is still actively listing the same counterfeit items right now!
An effective way against seller FRAUD, is to avoid contacting seller upfront to get refund directly from seller. Instead you should proceed to complete the Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described process dispute after 10 days of item closing date so that eBay or Paypal is alerted of the development of fraudulent situation. If you have paid by Paypal, you can also complete the Paypal Buyer Complaint Process to get refund from Paypal within 45 days.
Since you have NOT been provided with what you have paid for, it does not falls into seller's return policy. You are covered by the 90 days protection period under eBay Standard Purchase Protection Program.
Unless these fraudsters would risk their eBay account for permanent suspension, they will for sure be in contact with you quicker than anything else. You then regain control of the situation and the power is again on your side.
Counterfeit is FRAUD, do not settle with the seller unless the seller is paying for all the associated return shipping cost of the item.
You still own the right to provide negative feedback against the seller to alert the fraudulent situation to warn other eBayers.
Provided that you have provided negative feedback to the seller and if subsequently the seller provides you with an unfair retaliatory negative feedback, you have a case to lodge against the seller by requesting eBay for feedback removal to fully protect your feedback.
Effectively you will get your money back either from the seller or from eBay/Paypal. Most important by going through this, you have assisted the process of exposing fradulent sellers on eBay, which will result in permanent suspension of the seller's account.
In most countries, FRAUD is a CRIMINAL offense and injunctions may be brought against the fraudsters to prevent them from moving on under a different name after being banned. Thus, you may choose to contact your law enforcement agencies or each respective brand manufacturers in your region, to report counterfeit and provide them with your item detail and the source of the item.

Here is the link for the rest of the detailed warnings!!!

http://reviews.ebay.com/BEWARE-of-FAKE-1GB-2GB-4GB-8GB-USB-Flash-Drives-on-eBay_W0QQugidZ10000000001236200?ssPageName=BUYGD:CAT:-1:SEARCH:3
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