Is flash memory fraud only coming from eBay sellers in Asia? No. Many eBay members believe you can avoid being scammed by buying from local eBay sellers based in their home country. Unfortunately this is not true. You can just as easily buy a false capacity usb flash drive, mp player or memory card from a local eBay seller.
ClickToBlue was an eBay seller registered in the United States. He sold 16GB fake usb flash drives. FakeFlashNews tried to warn eBay members in April 2009.
He sold these 16 GB usb flash drives for only $19.95 US! Of course they were fakes but he exploited the fact he was a USA seller. People afraid of buying a fake, thought he was safe. A lot of sellers will try to promote themselves by including their country in image listings. It gives a false sense of security.
Later in September 2009, five months later, SOSFakeFlash was able to issue an official alert: clicktoblue Ebay Fake Flash Seller – United States
Did that stop clicktoblue from frauding people in the United States? No.
Instead he escalated in advertised size to 32GB.
So in October 2009, SOSFakeflash issued: American Fake Flash Memory Seller Returns For Another Round Of Fraud On eBay. Accomplished In Claiming Defective, Rude To Buyers – clicktoblue.
Awareness started to increase on the internet about this American fake flash memory seller clicktoblue. At last negative feedback started to pour in. Finally he was suspended by eBay.
It took 10 months until eBay members woke up and applied enough pressure to have him removed.
Will he be back?
You can bet he will try once his suspension is over. He does have a high feedback number and fake flash memory sellers are reluctant to surrender ids like that.
Still the efforts of the FrankenFlash project have made the global public aware of this id. If he does try to come back and sell fake flash memory he won’t have as long an opportunity. He will be discovered by frauded buyers.
The sad part about the victims of clicktoblue? Most buyers lost their money. As recorded in feedback, eBay ignored the pleas of members. clicktoblue refused to answer email or refund. Most fake flash member sellers do, once they are discovered.
One buyer reported receiving viruses, not uncommon with reprogrammed usb flash drives. In fact this is very common.
The reprogramming frequently is done on infected machines. In a lot of cases, the infected flash drive is used as a master. This master is used in a unit which clones many usb flash drives simultaneously.
Having to spend an additional $200 to repair a personal computer damaged by a fake usb pen stick must have really hurt. A lot of buyers who purchase cheap usb flash drive fakes, end up with viruses and repairs to their machines. It’s not an unusual and it happens a lot. It’s a terrible experience for people who buy on eBay and the financial consequences a hard lesson.
eBay is not the place to buy usb flash drives. It is just too dangerous. It really does not matter if the eBay seller is based in Asia or in your own country – if you buy them on eBay you place yourself at risk.
Price is usually the strongest indicator that you are about to purchase a fake, but not always. SOSFakeFlash reports many fraudulent sellers, aware of the FrankenFlash Projects work to expose sellers, have started to raise prices so they will not be spotted or obvious.
American eBay seller ClickToBlue is a perfect example of how you can buy a fake outside of Asia. It makes it clearn fake flash memory is not exclusive to eBay sellers in Asia.
Flashchiptutor's Flash Drive Facts 