Flashchiptutor’s Flash Drive Facts

Consumer Awareness – MP Players – USB Flash Drives – Memory Cards – Flash Drive Education

Report A Fake

To report fake – false capacity memory for mp players, memory cards or usb flash drives purchased on eBay:   Report Fake Flash Memory – eBay

14 Responses to “Report A Fake”

  1. Richard Grimmel said

    April 14, 2009 at 5:50 am

    Fake sold on ebay france:

    http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200330993146&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:DE:1123

    Thank you for your site!

    Reply

  2. Marc Berman said

    April 27, 2009 at 5:22 am

    I find this article very interesting and I am sure there are many many fakes out there in the market. Have I just been lucky? I have purchased now a total of 5 x 16 GB USB drives from 5 different sellers on ebay (all asian). I have paid between $ 9.50 – $ 16.00. I have tested all the drives thoroughly and have no doubt they are of genuine 16 GB capacity. If the wholseale prices mentioned in this article are true, somebody is taking a big loss somewhere.

    Reply

    • FlashChipTutor said

      April 27, 2009 at 9:57 am

      Hi Marc,

      What kind of “tests” did you perform? Did you test with a software like H2testw 1.4? That one will write out 1GB files to the stated capacity, read them and then verify them. It is the acid test.

      The prices come from wholesalers in the orient. A lot can depend on the grade of chip, A, B or C and D. The prices were for grade A. We’ve got an article that explains chip grading.

      You can also find out more about your usb flash drives generally without taking them apart by using the information in the article “About VID PID Repairing Counterfeit Flash Drives – Steps To Succeed” available at the http://fixfakeflash.wordpress.com/ site.

      It would be interesting to see the controller chips reported and the testing results.

      To come up with a 16GB flash drive, it does not mean you have a 16GB flash drive chip inside. It can mean you have 2 x 8GB or in some cases 4 x 4GB chips that work together under the controller chip.

      It’s hard to say at the moment if you did get a bargain and someone took a loss or if you really have 16GB. At the prices you mentioned it is not possible to have a 16GB chip in the drives unless someone is willing to take a serious loss.

      Reply

      • Marc Berman said

        April 28, 2009 at 12:36 am

        Hi again,

        I did test with H2testw 1.4, I also managed to load 15.8GB of data on to the drives.

        As all the drives were in good working order and tested, I did not bother to take them apart. If Indeed they contain 2x8GB chips or indeed 4x4GB chips, as long as the performance is not compromised, I do not see this as being a problem.

        A good friend was unfortunate enough recently to purchase a fake 32GB Kingston data Traveller. The chip was only 2GB but the quality of the casing, printing and the packaging was very authentic looking. I do agree you need to be careful when purchasing but at the same time, it is not fair to stereotype all the sellers on ebay, check the feedback both positive and negative. $15 seems to be todays market price for a genuine 16GB drive.

  3. FlashChipTutor said

    May 1, 2009 at 6:12 pm

    To Marc

    I’ve contacted SOSFakeFlash and mentioned your comment. One of the things you say is to check feedback. If you see their site you will learn that a lot of exhortion is used by sellers demanding people to change their feedback if they want a refund. Looking at feedback is helpful. If a person bought from a powerseller it is difficult to see the negatives as they have so many listings. I’ve tried and it is a lot of work.

    SOSfakeflash said that postive feedback means little. It is the negative feedback that counts. I’ve never seen a real 16GB for sale locally or even on the internet by discount sellers you can trust. Newegg is a site that offers heavy discounts, see

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2013240522%201309425474&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE

    I asked sosfakeflash if they could check their database for you, to pfind prices people paid on ebay for 16GB flash drives that turned out to be fake. They said that right now they are very busy, but the request will be considered soon.

    I told them about “stereotyping” ebay sellers. They asked for sellers who sold genuine usb flash drives but got little information,only three sellers ebayers ever recommended. To me that is pretty bad. You would think people would let them know about real sellers.

    Did you look at their list of sellers on ebay that sold fakes? Or looked at their reports?

    If they send me information 16GB flash drives, I will be happy to publish it.

    Marc if you know of any ebay seller who offers 16GB usb flash drives at $15 dollars that are genuine real capacity, please let me know, so I can post here and send to sosfakeflash.

    Reply

  4. Nancy said

    May 4, 2009 at 4:59 pm

    Marc where did you buy your flash drives from? 16gb at $15 is a great price.

    Reply

  5. dillon_1948 said

    March 2, 2010 at 9:20 am

    i was suckered into buying wholesale sony 500gb flash drives,which were promply removed from my ebay listing..
    i am not a tech just an old disabled guy trying to get my 200plus dollars back.
    the us postal inspector needs to take a very strong stance against frauds being sent int usa from China.

    Reply

  6. shirlee said

    June 8, 2010 at 5:21 am

    http://myworld.ebay.ca/ppokwuma?ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:CA:1181

    SELLER ppokwuma (1013)
    97.7% Positive Feedback
    Member since 22-Apr-01 in United States
    Location: TX, United States

    I recently purchase an New Kingston / DT200/64GB/2.0 USB Flash Drive On EBAY . But was disappointed when i received my package merchandise was open and taped on side and look completed fake color was not bright and number 64gb is not like the authentic item on Kingston website. I have to say this site help me detect the real from the fake counterfeit copy. I want to thank you for post this web site up its help and many others customer out there. Thank you for a wonderful website that PROTECT US FAKE SELLER.

    Reply

  7. shirlee said

    June 8, 2010 at 5:28 am

    Please beware of seller on ebay ppokwuma
    http://myworld.ebay.ca/ppokwuma?ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:CA:1181

    counterfeit Kingston / DT200/64GB/2.0 USB Flash Drive

    I received an item that does not match the seller’s description.
    Fake (e.g., it’s a counterfeit or copy of an authentic item)

    Reply

  8. ankita said

    February 2, 2011 at 4:10 am

    i hav purchased 3 USB’s from mumbai (india) but none of it is working so what should i do ????

    Reply

  9. brian hallmark said

    February 3, 2011 at 6:56 am

    i brought a kingston 128gb data traveler 200.
    every time try to put data on the folder is empty why
    is there any way to fix it

    Reply

  10. Dilan said

    March 26, 2011 at 12:20 am

    Hello

    I bougth from China and from Ebay a MP3 sport player 32GB
    its the copy one its very similar to the SONY NWZ W252
    its very similar… you can find it in ebay or Made-in-china or AlibabaExpress

    with the size of 4GB, 8GB and 32GB

    I bougth the 32 GB; but the real size is GUESS!?! 2GB!!!!

    I understood very fast because after 2 GB of putting file
    every file was corrupted

    so guys Carefully when you buy some cheap stuff on internet or in the shop

    Hope i can help someone!! 😉

    Reply

  11. fannta79 said

    August 6, 2011 at 3:27 am

    Hi Guys,

    I also purchased a KINGSTON 32Gb SDHC CLASS 6 Card, which actually is not being produced by Kingston. Testing with H2 revealed it is a hacked 4Gb card. Everythin gbeyond 3,6Gb will be lost!

    It utilises a 32G bit Nand Flash AR FBNL63B56K3WG-AR Spectek chip (4Gb).

    I have attached a link to a photo of the internal.

    imageshack.us/photo/my-images/43/spectec.jpg/

    Cheers

    Reply

  12. Sad Buyer said

    August 25, 2011 at 6:30 am

    Another FAKE / IMITATION,

    sold by US ebay member / seller (trakkk) !

    Sold as genuine brand new ADATA 32 GB Class 10 SD Card.

    The packaging and card case feel veeeeery cheap and soft, most important the brandname ADATA is not written ANYWHERE on the package!

    The SD card itself has an ADATA looking sticker on it but as you can see it is totally misaligned and unevenly attached!

    A few photos:




    Reply

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