Fake Flashdrive - Beware

Nowadays, a lot of immitation items are available in the market. Some of us do aware with immitation product but not others. I believe most of us do aware on other stuff such as Crocs, apparel stuff, LV, Prada, Adidas and the list go on.They might looks-alike from the genuine product, but in some cases, we can detect it from a physical part that it's a fake. But how to detect the immitaion or should be called a fake pendrive? Let's go through the news that i've been collect it lately.


I jumped in to the popular forum for Malaysian tech savvy. And entered their sub-forum called the garage sales. Just browse around or can be called "window shopping'. Hehehe..

Suddenly i found out this ads which the price is out of this world.. Gotcha...

256GB for just RM99!!! WTF..

Wow... I pinch my self twice as the price is un real. Because current price for thsi flashdrive would cost around RM1k++ .. Then i go through all of the comment inside where some of the forumer had Googled around and found an interesting story on this item.

I fear this is the same as a recent scam where someone was selling high capacity Kingston thumbdrives at a very cheap price. Turns out these were 2gb drives with their firmware modified in order to show a larger capacity (in your case 256gb) when you do a Properties check on My Computer. They even appear to be able to copy files in up that capacity, and only when you try to use the "copied" files will you realise the problem.

They can cheat us eventhough we go throgh check into My Computer properties checked. But how do we know the genuine or the fake one.?

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.

How to avoid buying fake/counterfeit USB Flash Drives?

• HIGH volume sellers do not guarantee items authenticity and in fact this tends to be the sign of counterfeit sellers with items usually set at less than half the market price in your country.
• 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 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 AVOID 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.
• 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 memory categories, such as 'SanDisk USB flash drives, SanDisk secure digital cards & Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo' and sellers that are using original SanDisk / Sony web download pictures to list corresponding counterfeit items as they do not represent the actual item that you will receive!
• WATCH OUT for low Buy-It-Now item (value needs to be over $25 to be elligible for coverage under eBay Standard Purchase Protection Program) and where shipping fee far exceeds its item value (Circumventing eBay fee).
• WATCH OUT for item disguised as eBay listings from your country but dispatched from China.
• CONTACT SanDisk/Sony/Kingston counterfeit Hotline.

 credits to eBay review and guide

mostly comes from Mainland China seller

Huh.. More story on this fake flashdrive.. Most of it occur in eBay site.

• Fake Flash Drive News
• Ebay Forum
• Fight Flash Fraud

  Just beware on the to good to be true price.. Google around if u have a doubt