Author Topic: Flash Drive Scams (Read 1477 times)

shin · « **on:** January 10, 2013, 08:44:48 AM »

There're a number of USB flash drives, no-name brand, or counterfeit name brand being sold that have a particular problem.

The USB drives have fake capacities. They will be advertised as 32GB , 64GB, 128GB, etc. but actually they will have much, much less.

How much less? Can be 2GB, etc. But.. here's the real con.. The drives have been altered to report having the larger size. So while there is only 2GB, it pretends to have 128GB.

What does that mean? It means the more you put on the drive, the more you think you have -- but do not.

Actually all the previous information is erased, and falsely reported as there. This can sometimes be detected by trying to copy a very large file, or more reliably by using a hardware testing program.

Regardless, if you have one and use it beyond it's real capacity, the majority of your data is corrupted and lost without your knowledge. The drive may operate on a 'first in, first out' principle, that is, whatever your oldest data is, is deleted in favor of the new.

And since many purchasers don't understand the technology or know of the scam, or don't use the full capacity, they do not notice this. Perhaps they think they simply have a defective item, or they themselves made a mistake somehow, rather than realize they are being scammed. And when they do it may be too late.

This sort of scam happens most often on auction sites, and with wares from China. But even big name electronics suppliers can be caught up in it.

brainglitch · « **Reply #1 on:** January 11, 2013, 07:59:57 AM »

Wouldn't you just see the drive capacity when you connect it to a computer?

shin · « **Reply #2 on:** January 11, 2013, 08:58:37 AM »

Quote from: brainglitch

Wouldn't you just see the drive capacity when you connect it to a computer?

No, because the drives have been altered to falsely report their size as being larger.

And so the thief makes money by selling something less costly as something more.

You can find it if the drive is altered by using a hardware testing program, or by observing the data corruption/technical problems yourself through test filling up the drive to its reported capacity.

However the seller may simply say this is a single faulty drive. And so the con has been continuing despite it being reported for a long time now.

Technical folks will take apart the drives and test the chips themselves to demonstrate the issue.

shin · « **Reply #3 on:** January 11, 2013, 09:07:06 AM »

I became aware of the scam when I was shopping around for a new USB flash drive for myself.

I was seeing some bargains a bit too good to be true in extra large capacity drives, and I thought perhaps it might simply because they were non brand name, or had such faults as being slower..

But then I found information about the scam and some reports from folks who had been scammed and breathed a sigh of relief I hadn't bought what looked like bargain quickly but spent some time thinking about it and researching further.

Marlelar · « **Reply #4 on:** January 11, 2013, 07:57:17 PM »

So what brands are safe and how do we know?

Marsha

shin · « **Reply #5 on:** January 11, 2013, 08:22:33 PM »

Check the brand name and model # of the item, and see whether it is widely sold, and an actual model from the manufacturer.

If the packaging appears different than commonly displayed on other online shops for the item, indications like that can be that it's counterfeit.

If there's no brand/model# available, no real specifications besides the size in GB, this is not a good sign.

Hong Kong/China brand counterfeits can use big brand logos and whatnot -- but they -do- tend to look off. The specifications, model #, etc. tend -not- to be given at all. Just the brand name.

I would definitely tend to avoid the auction sites and similar when looking for this type of product.

And always want a generous return policy just in case.

:)

FWIW my thoughts in any case. God help us I pray.