beware; USB flash drives from ebay seller ovino51 likely fakes

Seller ovino51 has listed a number of different models of USB flash drive at auction on ebay and we strongly suspect that they are fakes. We think anyone who buys a USB flash drive from this ebay seller will discover it is fake capacity and corrupts files. We also suspect there is a link between the ebay IDs ovino51 and scott92214.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Used micro SD cards in ebay auctions from travelingc

If you bought a used micro SD memory card on ebay from travelingc you are strongly advised to test it with the free program h2testw – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

another dodgy ebay listing from elmonte91731 for 256GB flash drive

Seller elmonte91731 is at it again with the dodgy flash drive listings on ebay. In this listing the seller states:

It is not a brand name Flash drive, but high quality product.

Oh yeah elmonte91731? Pull the other one – this is a poorly disguised counterfeit Kingston DataTraveler 310 USB flash drive which corrupts users’ files.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

is ebay seller rowell3158’s bum on fire? Fake Kingston flash drive

We thought it a little odd when we spotted the ebay auction above from ebay seller rowell3158 – after all how many people would buy something that costs over $100 without knowing that the person who it was bought for would want the gift? Here is what the seller says in the listing (item number 190484671726):

Up for auction is a Kingston 128GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive. Unwanted gift for Christmas. Still unopened and in original packaging. Sold as is. Payment required after end of auction. Will ship right after receiving payment. Serious bidders only please.

A very sad state of affairs if one’s friend or relative knows so little about you that they waste over $100 on a gift you don’t want!! Being of a suspicious turn of mind – how many times have we seen fake flash listed as “unwanted gifts” ?? we had a look at the seller’s other items and saw this:

Guess what, folks – the supposedly 64GB Kingston flash drive in this ebay auction (item number 190484672208) is also an “unwanted gift” – but in this case the flash drive in question is a discontinued model that was never made in capacities above 32GB. This USB flash drive is without any doubt whatsoever a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files – the questions we are curious to find answers to are:

Does rowell3158 know that at least one of the Kingston flash drives listed on ebay as unwanted gifts is a fake capacity counterfeit?
Is this yet another case of pants on fire?
Will the seller list more fakes if these sell without problems?
We suspect the answer to these questions may well be yes.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Is 256GB DT310 flash drive from ebayer faithpeterson619 genuine?

We think there is a snowball’s chance in hell that this 256GB Kingston DataTraveler 310 flash drive (ebay item number 280606220970) being auctioned on ebay by faithpeterson619 is genuine. This listing looks remarkably similar to that from atruth (item number 160521137654) – could these nice sounding ebayers be one and the same person with less than honourable intentions?

Buyers can check whether or not a Kingston flash drive is genuine quite easily – here are the steps:

1. Look at the back of the pack – is there a serial number?

If there is no serial number (there should be a label showing this) then it is sure to be a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files – but the presence of a serial number does not, in itself, guarantee it is genuine.

2. Look at the USB connector – is there engraving on it giving details about the flash drive?

If there is no engraving you can be sure it is a counterfeit that will trash your files – but again, the presence of engraving does not in itself guarantee it is genuine.

3. If both a serial number and engraving are present try verifying the serial number with Kingston.

If Kingston cannot verify the serial number then you have a fake capacity counterfeit and your data will become lost or corrupted after a while.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

is ebay seller amnon.bl fraudulent? Dodgy listing for USB flash drive!

This is not our first report of suspicions about USB flash drives listed on ebay by amnon.bl – we think this seller has sold a range of fakes over a period of months. When we first published an article about this seller in February we thought that this seller might have bought from a fraudulent supplier in all innocence – we now think this seller may well have been selling fakes deliberately. A fake capacity flash drive (whether a counterfeit brand name item or a generic fake) always corrupts files after a while.

The picture in this ebay listing appears to have been doctored to remove evidence that these are probably fake capacity counterfeit Sandisk flash drives.

It looks as though the places where Sandisk cruzer micro flash drives have markings giving the model and capacity have been badly edited in photoshop (or some other image editing program) to erase these markings. If we are right (and we think we are) then this is pretty certain to be a case of deliberate fraud.

We advise anyone who bought a flash drive that fails testing with h2testw from amnon.bl to leave a negative comment for the seller and open a paypal case immediately. If you already left positive feedback then leave a follow-up comment to warn other buyers about this seller.

Only you, as buyers, can put an end to the career of a fraudulent seller!

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

256GB DT310 flash drives in private ebay listings from longpaddockit

We think it highly unlikely that the 256GB Kingston DataTraveler 410 flash drives in private ebay auctions from longpaddockit will be genuine. Buyers can check whether or not a Kingston flash drive is genuine quite easily – here are the steps:

1. Look at the back of the pack – is there a serial number?

If there is no serial number (there should be a label showing this) then it is sure to be a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files – but the presence of a serial number does not, in itself, guarantee it is genuine.

2. Look at the USB connector – is there engraving on it giving details about the flash drive?

If there is no engraving you can be sure it is a counterfeit that will trash your files – but again, the presence of engraving does not in itself guarantee it is genuine.

3. If both a serial number and engraving are present try verifying the serial number with Kingston.

If Kingston cannot verify the serial number then you have a fake capacity counterfeit and your data will become lost or corrupted after a while.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

256GB Kingston DT310 flash drive from ebayer davomexican

Ebayer davomexican assures us in this ebay listing (item number 140476606730) that this 256GB Kingston DataTraveler 310 flash drive is genuine. This seller even warns that counterfeit Kingston flash drives are abundant on ebay, which is absolutely true.

However; we don’t see how davomexican could possibly sell a genuine one for AU $99.99 with 10 dollars postage, unless of course davomexican is a philanthropist who has plenty of cash to spare?? Buyers can check whether or not a Kingston flash drive is genuine quite easily – here are the steps:

1. Look at the back of the pack – is there a serial number?

If there is no serial number (there should be a label showing this) then it is sure to be a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files – but the presence of a serial number does not, in itself, guarantee it is genuine.

2. Look at the USB connector – is there engraving on it giving details about the flash drive?

If there is no engraving you can be sure it is a counterfeit that will trash your files – but again, the presence of engraving does not in itself guarantee it is genuine.

3. If both a serial number and engraving are present try verifying the serial number with Kingston.

If Kingston cannot verify the serial number then you have a fake capacity counterfeit and your data will become lost or corrupted after a while.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

private ebay auction from under_retail_inc for suspect 128GB flash drive

The used 128GB flash drive in this private ebay auction from under_retail_inc looks highly suspect to us. We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

yordi1010 tries slipping fake 256GB Kingston past ebay fraud detection?

We suspect that ebay seller yordi1010 is trying to slip through the (rather inefficent) ebay fraud detection system with this one day listing for a 256GB Kingston DataTraveler 310 flash drive. There is no way that anyone selling a genuinine one would put up a one day ebay auction with a start price of £20!

Buyers can check whether or not a Kingston flash drive is genuine quite easily – here are the steps:

1. Look at the back of the pack – is there a serial number?

If there is no serial number (there should be a label showing this) then it is sure to be a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files – but the presence of a serial number does not, in itself, gaurantee it is genuine.

2. Look at the USB connector – is there engraving on it giving details about the flash drive?

If there is no engraving you can be sure it is a counterfeit that will trash your files – but again, the presence of engraving does not in itself gaurantee it is genuine.

3. If both a serial number and engraving are present try verifying the serial number with Kingston.

If Kingston cannot verify the serial number then you have a fake capacity counterfeit and your data will become lost or corrupted after a while.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

enjoymall79 selling fake flash drives on ebay again!!

We reported about enjoymall79 selling the notorious leather and steel type of flash drive back in January, now this seller is offering counterfeit 128GB Kingston DataTraveler 200 flash drives for sale. A counterfeit flash drive is always fake capacity and corrupts files.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

kath5680 auctioning obvious fake 128GB flash drives on ebay

The 128GB flash drive in this ebay auction from kath5680 is a notorious fake – the leather and steel model is always fake capacity and corrupts files. We suspect the seller knows these are fakes – why else cover up the bit on the package where it no doubt says Sony Vaio?

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

buy it now price from sexythompson for DT310 flash drives too low

The buy it now price in this ebay listing from sexythompson is too low for these 256GB Kingston DataTraveler 310 flash drives to be genuine. This seller also has a number of auctions for these.

The seller gives the location as Luton, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom in listings but is registered in the United States and no items from this seller are listed on ebay UK. Looks thoroughly dodgy to us!! Buyers can check whether or not a Kingston flash drive is genuine quite easily – here are the steps:

1. Look at the back of the pack – is there a serial number?

If there is no serial number (there should be a label showing this) then it is sure to be a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files – but the presence of a serial number does not, in itself, gaurantee it is genuine.

2. Look at the USB connector – is there engraving on it giving details about the flash drive?

If there is no engraving you can be sure it is a counterfeit that will trash your files – but again, the presence of engraving does not in itself gaurantee it is genuine.

3. If both a serial number and engraving are present try verifying the serial number with Kingston.

If Kingston cannot verify the serial number then you have a fake capacity counterfeit and your data will become lost or corrupted after a while.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Kingston DataTraveler flash drives in ebay auctions from emerald48s

The discontinued model of Kingston flash drive in this ebay listing was never made in 64GB capacity – the highest capacity it was ever produced in was 32GB. The 32GB one from emerald48s (ebay item number 150498502721) is the wrong colour to be genuine.

As both these are obvious fakes this leads us to conclude that all the Kingston flash drives being auctioned by emerald48s are fake capacity counterfeits and a fake capacity flash drive always corrupts files. The use of private listings makes us wonder if this seller may be aware they are fakes.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

UPDATE 02/10/2010
This obvious fake sold for £36.52. Given the response (shown below) from emerald48s to a message sent by a concerned ebayer warning the seller this is flash drive was fake we would advise ebay buyers to avoid this seller like the plague!!

Okay, I appreciate your concern. I am simply selling a working 64GB used flash drive. I know it works because I have used it. I have no interest in whether it is a fake or original as I am not qualified to tell.

Also, I am not a Kingston rep and no very little about their products, what they made or did not make. I have already 22gb worth of movie files on there which the winning bidder will get. If you want to join the fight flash fraud, good luck as every product is made in China, Taiwan or Hong Kong.

I lived and worked in China and the far east, there is no such thing as an original, just company endorsements and year on year warranty, what you call a fake you can find in Walmart or Dixons for twice the price, only no one questions their fakes because they offer you warranty.

Note, if the item does not work I am happy to refund, however I won’t be drawn into the fake original battle knowing what I know. Thanks again, sorry for being direct. If you are unsure you will get working item, don’t bid but please stop fighting lost causes, before long all these firms you so respect will be Chinese owned, what will you do then?

Seller emerald48s is right about one thing – Walmart have sold fake flash drives in the past (in the USA around Christmas 2009 if memory serves right) as have some other retailers in Europe and elsewhere – a reason why we always advise buyers to test with h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased.

As to the rest of what the seller says – absolute tripe! You can bet your bottom dollar that any flash drive sold on ebay by emerald48s will be a fake capacity counterfeit – here’s the most recent listing (ebay item number 150500252835 if you want to have a look) – we think there is absolutely no chance of the buyer being able to play all the movies “saved” to this 256GB Kingston DataTraveler 310 flash drive:

Dodgy ebay listings for Kingston USB flash drives from aimmemory

Seller aimmemory has quite a number of private one day “for charity” ebay auctions for Kingston flash drives on ebay. We are fairly certain that the 256GB Kingston DataTraveler 300 flash drive in this listing and others will prove to be a fake capactity counterfeit. Apart from anything else the seller specifically says in the listing above:

Please note that this USB is made in china, in sealed factory package and not tested, therefore no returns are allowed.

Hardly a statement of confidence in the product is it? It seems likely that the 64GB Kingston Datatraveler (ebay item 220673379045 and others) listed by this seller will also be fake capacity counterfeits.

Buyers can check whether or not a Kingston flash drive is genuine quite easily – here are the steps:

1. Look at the back of the pack – is there a serial number?

If there is no serial number (there should be a label showing this) then it is sure to be a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files – but the presence of a serial number does not, in itself, gaurantee it is genuine.

2. Look at the USB connector – is there engraving on it giving details about the flash drive?

If there is no engraving you can be sure it is a counterfeit that will trash your files – but again, the presence of engraving does not in itself gaurantee it is genuine.

3. If both a serial number and engraving are present try verifying the serial number with Kingston.

If Kingston cannot verify the serial number then you have a fake capacity counterfeit and your data will become lost or corrupted after a while.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

very dodgy looking ebay listing from smartq09 for Kingston flash drives

This ebay listing from smartq09 for 64GB Kingston flash drives looks extremely dodgy to us – the picture is tiny so it is a bit difficult to identify all the models shown but we are pretty sure (even with a tiny picture) that some of them cannot possibly be genuine 64GB Kingston flash drives. This seller either bought fake capacity counterfeits from a fraudulent supplier or simply used a photo of all the Kingston flash drives in stock irrespective of capacity.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

alex_dis lists leather and steel Sony flash drive on ebay: it is fake!

The used flash drive in this ebay listing is a fake – there is no such thing as a 128GB Sony leather and steel flash drive other than a fake capacity flash drive manufactured by fraudsters in China which corrupts files.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

myhouse69 – a case of deliberate fake flash fraud on ebay!!

What we have here is a disguised counterfeit 64GB Kingston DataTraveler 150 – the sale of this is nothing less than deliberate fraud. The buyer (if anyone is daft enough) will find this flash drive corrupts their files. The seller knows full well what he or she is doing as a look through feedback and examination of previous items sold reveals:

Sadly; unless len-sys-64 and mckinneybuyguy have already put in a claim against the seller they may have great difficulty in recovering their money from myhouse69, ebay or Paypal. Here is what myhouse69 said in the two listings:

Text of ebay item number 200502922448 sold on Aug 01, 2010 to len-sys-64:

Up for sale is a Kingston Data Traveler 150, 64 gb capacity Flash (Jump) Drive. It is listed as used only because the package was opened to inspect it and test it. I work in data processing and was able to purchase quite a few of these for a good deal. Per the manufacturer, it is compatible with Windows Vista, Windows XP (SP1, SP2), Windows 2000 (SP4), MAC O/S X v. 10.3 and Linux v 2.6x+.

It is simple, convenient, and practical. Countless times I have used the one that I have to download and transfer giga-bytes worth of data without any problems. Its dimensions are approximately 3.06″x0.9″x0.47″. As always, make sure the device you will be using is compatible with this product.

The item is sold as is, but there shouldnt be any issues since it is basically new.

Oh yea? Well we wouldn’t want myhouse69 in charge of processing our data!

Text of ebay item number 200507090669 sold on Aug 13 to ebayer mckinneybuyguy:

Up for sale is a REPLICA of a Kingston Data Traveler 150, 64 gb capacity Flash (Jump) Drive. This item is Made In China. Its capacity is a full 63.9 gb, and functions perfectly.

It is listed as used only because the package was opened to inspect it and test it. Per the manufacturer, it is compatible with Windows Vista, Windows XP (SP1, SP2), Windows 2000 (SP4), MAC O/S X v. 10.3 and Linux v 2.6x+ (and more than likely Windows 7)

It is simple, convenient, and practical. I use one that I own often and without any problems. Its dimensions are approximately 3.06″x0.9″x0.47″. As always, make sure the device you will be using is compatible with this product.

The item is sold as is, but there shouldnt be any issues since it is basically new. I have several of them, so if you want more than one let me know after you win (no extra shipping) and I will send you the price for extras.

Thank you and happy bidding.

Replica?? Doesn’t myhouse69 realise that copies of brand name good are counterfeits and the sale of counterfeit goods is a criminal offence??

We don’t think that myhouse69 will be an ebay member very long if this is the way he or she intends to behave.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

pardoe2010 sells off fake flash drives from China on ebay

This group of three flash drives sold by pardoe2010 on ebay are certain to be fake capacity which corrupts files. The seller told us in the listing:

16 GB USB MEMORY FLASH DRIVE x3
ALL THREE MEMORY STICKS HAVE BEEN FORMATTED
THESE WERE BOUGHT FROM CHINA A FEW MONTHS BACK AND HAVE BEEN SAT IN MY DRAW SINCE, I ONLY EVER USED THEM FOR PICS AND MP3 MUSIC.

THERES FAR TO MUCH MEMORY FOR WHAT I NEED.

HOWEVER , I AM SELLING THESE ITEMS AS SPARES OR REPAIRS.
JUST FOR THE FACT THAT THEY’VE BEEN SAT IN MY DRAW FOR AGES.

ANYONE WHO BIDS ON THESE ITEMS MUST KNOW THAT THERE ARE NO RETURNS.

This is not the first group of 3 fakes from China sold by pardoe2010.

Someone should call an ambulance as seller must be suffering first degree burns in the nether regions! We wouldn’t touch a flash drive from pardoe2010 with a barge pole.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Suspect ebay listing from evictoria09 for 256GB DT310 flash drive

Seller evictoria09 tells us in this private ebay auction (which in itself is suspect!) that:

I was given two of these for my photography course but I think one is more than enough.

OH YEA?
Now who would have given evictoria09 not one but two 256GB flash drives?

A lecturer who teaches photography and video assures us that no UK college or university would even lend a photography student a 256GB flash drive let alone give them two of them.

They might allow a video student to borrow a 32GB flash drive during video editing sessions but the student would not be allowed to take it away let alone keep it.

Our lecturer friend says there is no need for a photography student to have a high capacity flash drive like this. A photography student would be a lot more likely to be lent a 4GB SD card.

Either evictoria09 has some wealthy friends or relatives or someone should call the fire brigade!!

Buyers can check whether or not a Kingston flash drive is genuine quite easily – here are the steps:

1. Look at the back of the pack – is there a serial number?

If there is no serial number (there should be a label showing this) then it is sure to be a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files – but the presence of a serial number does not, in itself, gaurantee it is genuine.

2. Look at the USB connector – is there engraving on it giving details about the flash drive?

If there is no engraving you can be sure it is a counterfeit that will trash your files – but again, the presence of engraving does not in itself gaurantee it is genuine.

3. If both a serial number and engraving are present try verifying the serial number with Kingston.

If Kingston cannot verify the serial number then you have a fake capacity counterfeit and your data will become lost or corrupted after a while.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

ebay auctions from fionamac83, carlowaycat & hebridean_landscapes

Call us suspicious if you like, but the three ebay auctions for a 64GB Kingston DataTraveler 150 flash drive from sellers fionamac83 (item number 260665335336), carlowaycat (item number 220670231841) and hebridean_landscapes (item number 170541121170) shown below seem remarkably similar:

The start price is the same in all three, all three sellers are apparently in the western Isles and the pictures all seem to be the same. Very odd. Time will tell whether our suspicions are founded or not. Buyers can check whether or not a Kingston flash drive is genuine quite easily – here are the steps:

1. Look at the back of the pack – is there a serial number?

If there is no serial number (there should be a label showing this) then it is sure to be a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files – but the presence of a serial number does not, in itself, gaurantee it is genuine.

2. Look at the USB connector – is there engraving on it giving details about the flash drive?

If there is no engraving you can be sure it is a counterfeit that will trash your files – but again, the presence of engraving does not in itself gaurantee it is genuine.

3. If both a serial number and engraving are present try verifying the serial number with Kingston.

If Kingston cannot verify the serial number then you have a fake capacity counterfeit and your data will become lost or corrupted after a while.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

128GB Kingston DT200 flash drives from ebayer dlong18 likely fakes

The 128GB Kingston DT200 flash drive in the ebay listing above was offered at auction with a low start price and a buy it now option at £50. It apparently sold on buy it now. We say apparently because we have seen many fake purchases on ebay. Whether or not this was a genuine sale the buy it now price was too low for this USB flash drive to be genuine. We are certain that it is a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files.

Buyers can check whether or not a Kingston flash drive is genuine quite easily – here are the steps:

1. Look at the back of the pack – is there a serial number?

If there is no serial number (there should be a label showing this) then it is sure to be a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files – but the presence of a serial number does not, in itself, gaurantee it is genuine.

2. Look at the USB connector – is there engraving on it giving details about the flash drive?

If there is no engraving you can be sure it is a counterfeit that will trash your files – but again, the presence of engraving does not in itself gaurantee it is genuine.

3. If both a serial number and engraving are present try verifying the serial number with Kingston.

If Kingston cannot verify the serial number then you have a fake capacity counterfeit and your data will become lost or corrupted after a while.

If you bought a second hand flash drive that does not have the packaging the only thing you can do other than checking for engraving is to test the drive. There is no need to test the whole drive – most counterfeits have a real capacity of 4GB or less so testing up to 8GB should be sufficient to determine whether it is genuine or not.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Private ebay auctions for flash memory from mr-mrs-wickerman

When we see private ebay auctions for flash memory items like the one above from seller mr-mrs-wickerman it always makes us a little suspicious, especially when (as in this case) the photographs are poor. A bit of digging around the seller’s feedback and the items sold made us even more suspicious!

If you bought a flash memory item from ebay seller mr-mrs-wickerman we suggest you test it immediately with h2test as we think you are at risk of data loss and file corruption. Among the flash memory items sold on ebay by mr-mrs-wickerman were a number of 16GB Kingston DataTraveler flash drives like the one below:

Buyers can check whether or not a Kingston flash drive is genuine quite easily – here are the steps:

1. Look at the back of the pack – is there a serial number?

If there is no serial number (there should be a label showing this) then it is sure to be a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files – but the presence of a serial number does not, in itself, gaurantee it is genuine.

2. Look at the USB connector – is there engraving on it giving details about the flash drive?

If there is no engraving you can be sure it is a counterfeit that will trash your files – but again, the presence of engraving does not in itself gaurantee it is genuine.

3. If both a serial number and engraving are present try verifying the serial number with Kingston.

If Kingston cannot verify the serial number then you have a fake capacity counterfeit and your data will become lost or corrupted after a while.

If you bought a second hand Kingston flash drive that does not have the packaging the only thing you can do other than checking for engraving is to test the drive. There is no need to test the whole drive – most counterfeits have a real capacity of 4GB or less so testing up to 8GB should be sufficient to determine whether it is genuine or not.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Top rated ebay seller gosourcing looks like a fake flash fraudster to us

Top rated ebay seller gosourcing (member since 25-Mar-10 in Hong Kong) gives the location of the 16GB Sandisk Ultra Backup flash drives in this ebay listing as London, UK. Somehow we don’t think so!! We think this seller’s items are exactly where gosourcing is – in China, the source of fake flash memory items! We are sure that any USB flash drives sold by gosourcing will be as fake as the item location in this ebay listing.

Any fake capacity counterfeit USB flash drive (or any other fake capacity flash memory item) corrupts files after a while – once the real capacity (much smaller than advertised) is full there is nowhere for files to go.

There are a few lessons for ebay buyers here:

1. Don’t be misled by the fact that someone is a top rated seller; lots of fraudsters are.
2. Always check seller feedback thoroughly; don’t just go by the general feedback score.
3. Check that item location & seller location match; if not, the seller is probably fraudulent.
4. Beware if flash memory items seem to be bargain price – they may well be fakes.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Is 256GB DT310 from ebay seller stevesjerseys2010 genuine?

Seller stevesjerseys2010 says in this ebay auction for a 256GB Kingston DataTraveler 310 flash drive:

DataTraveler 310 – GOT AS A GIFT WOULD RATHER HAVE THE MONEY ITS WORTH

Hmm – if stevesjerseys2010 wants the money it is worth we wonder why the seller is auctioning it on ebay in a 3 day listing with a start price of $40. Would it not have been much more sensible to list it using a 10 day buy it now at a price rather closer to the real value (for example, the bargain price of $620) with a best offer option, just in case no one was prepared to pay that much?

We think that we have adequatedly commented regarding our thoughts about what this seller has said.

We have an eerie feeling that the buyer may not be very happy with this USB flash drive a few months down the line, once it is too late to do anything about it!

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

UPDATE: SURPRISE, SURPRISE, (we don’t think) this seller is no longer a registered ebay user – at least under this ebay ID, anyway.

pod-electronics lists notorious leather type flash drives on ebay

The leather and steel type of flash drive in this ebay listing from pod-electronics is notorious. Every single one tested by members of our team (and others who have blogs about fake flash) has proved to be fake capacity, which corrupts files. We don’t think for a second that these are any different. Apart from anything else the picture shows the tell-tale shiny little capacity sticker commonly seen on fakes but never found on genuine flash drives.

Seller pod-electronics tells us in the listing that quality control procedures are rigourous:

All products you order go through stringent QC procedures before they are sent out. These procedures include: function testing to ensure products perform well and checking appearance and packaging.

We are inclined to agree with Victor’s thoughts about this!

If this seller’s quality control is so rigourous we wonder how the faulty phone a buyer left the negative comment “Product Faulty, stopped working after 3rd day of use, problem since 1st use” about slipped through.

We notice that seller has also had a number of listings like the one shown below:

In this listing pod-electronics said:

Welcome to my Cool Picture auction…
Each winner will receive a copy of my Cool picture Digitally by Email, upon payment and positive feedback!
I will then leave you GAURANTEED 100% positive feedback in return.
which is sent as soon as I check my feedback, usually within 12-24hrs
The starting bid of 1p is well worth it!
Please dont take the bids to high then its not worth it for you!
check my other items, more will be added as some finish.
Please be assured that this is a private listing so details of the auction title etc can not be seen in your feedback listing!
Please note we only accept PayPal
Please do not bid if your not going to pay!
You are buying a copy of my picture here Not the feedback!!
I will send you a copy of my cool picture as soon as I see the payment.
Warning !! Please wait 8 days after purchasing before purchasing again.

“You are buying a copy of my picture here Not the feedback!! “
Oh really? Hmm… do you think that Victor’s thoughts could apply equally to this statement?

Surely not … naturally, there is obviously absolutely no self-interest (such as positive feedback for buyers of such listings) by pod-electronics here, is there?? The seller is just a very kind person helping out ebay newbies (who sometimes suffer the problem of not being able to buy things because they have no feedback) isn’t he (or she) – of course!

Well folks, it’s up to you – want to risk buying a flash drive from this seller??? Upon your own head be it!

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Very dodgy ebay listings for 64GB flash drives from achim0208

The USB flash drive in this ebay auction from achim0208 looks very dodgy indeed to us! This seller has a number of auctions for these dodgy looking flash drives. You may wonder why we think this looks dodgy; those of you very familiar with different models of flash drive may have realised what we think this is immediately – for the benefit of others less familiar with flash drives let’s take a closer look:

For anyone who does not quite understand this: the picture below is not from this listing – it’s a clue!

So what is ebayer achim0208 selling here? Answers on a postcard please! Suffice it to say we wouldn’t touch the flash drives listed on ebay by this seller with a bargepole!

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

fake 128GB USB flash drive sold on ebay by eidkik

The supposedly 128GB USB flash drive sold in this ebay listing by eidkik is fake capacity and corrupts files. We have been told by those more expert than ourselves in flash memory technology that it is not actually technically possible to make a 128GB flash drive of the type shown – besides which we see other tell-tale signs in the picture that this is fake!

We wonder why eidkik would buy a 16GB Sandisk flash drive on ebay for £29.98 and then sell a 128GB flash drive on ebay around a fortnight later for £51? Does this make any sense to you?

Doesn’t make much sense to us unless (surely not??) eidkik knew that the 128GB flash drive he or she sold on July 14th is a fake. Naw, who would do such a dishonest a thing? Surely not an ebay member in the UK?

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

hvudragon lists fake 128GB Kingston DT200 flash drive on ebay

Although there is no mention of Kingston in this ebay listing from hvudragon what is shown in the picture is the 128GB Kingston DataTraveler 200 – one of the most common counterfeit and fake capacity flash drives sold on ebay during the last few months. The seller says in the listing:

This is a black 128 gb flash drive. I got this for my birthday, but I already had one so I am selling this one.

We think the picture to the right is adequate comment on our thoughts about what this seller says.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

ebay seller 61656165 knows this 64GB Sony Vaio flash drive is fake!!

As ebay seller 61656165 recently bought a guide about fake flash memory from another ebayer there is absolutely no excuse for this listing (ebay item number 320563323267) for a fake capacity and counterfeit flash drive. This seller must know this as he or she has the information. This simply has to be a case of deliberate fraud.

There is no such thing as a genuine Sony Vaio flash drive of any capacity whatsoever, they were invented by fraudsters in China. We suspect that this may not be the first time that this ebay member has listed fake capacity flash drives.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

UPDATE 27/07/2010
This seller is now offering the 128GB Kingston DataTraveler 200 flash drive for US $35.00 with shipping cost of US $12.00. Far too low for them to be genuine so certain to be a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files.

suspect 32GB micro SD cards sold on ebay by budikstore

We suspect that the 32GB Topram micro SD cards listed on ebay by budikstore will turn out to be fake capacity and fake capacity flash memory items corrupt files once the real capacity is full. We think this memory card will start to corrupt photos (or music or whatever is stored on it) once around 2GB has been saved to it. Do not be fooled by what the operating system shows – fakes are programmed to report a false capacity to the operating system.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Test all flash memory bought from leonmama168 on ebay with h2testw

ebayer leonmama168 sold quite a number of flash memory items on ebay which we suspect will turn out to be fake capacity and fake capacity flash memory corrupts files. If you bought an MP player, memory card or USB flash drive from this seller you are advised to test immediately with h2testw. Do not save anything important to it as it may well become lost or corrupted!

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Unbeleivable ebay listing from werner123450_1 for 128GB flash drive

We could hardly credit what we saw when we looked at this ebay listing from werner123450_1. Incredible. Surely no one will be foolish enough to bid on this item?? Or are we overestimating the intelligence of the general public??

We wonder – could this be the suspected counterfeit 128GB Corsair sold by dowi2777 on April 27th as defective (ebay item number 170475697308) on 27th April with the rubberised covering stripped away? Whether or not this listing is for that particular item anyone who bids on this needs their head examining!

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

very dodgy ebay listing for 128GB flash drive from artemis-astarte

Anyone who is familiar with USB flash drives will realise what is being listed here in spite of the (deliberately?) bad photo. What ebayer artemis-astarte seems to be trying to disguise in this listing is a fake capacity counterfeit Kingston DataTraveler 200 flash drive which corrupts files.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

dcnismo3 lists very suspicious 64GB flash drive in ebay auction

We suspect that the flash drive pictured in this ebay listing from dcnismo3 is a counterfeit Kingston DataTraveler 150 flash drive with the coloured outer plastic stripped away. We’ve seen a few of these listed on ebay recently and get a very nasty whiff from such listings. If we are right this USB flash drive is fake capacity and corrupts files.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

fastflashstore sells bulk lots of fake 32GB memory cards on ebay

We have suspected for a long time that fastflashstore was a fraudulent seller on ebay. This seller has now advertised bulk lots of 32GB memory cards on ebay that simply have to be fake capacity – at this buy it now price they simply couldn’t be anything else. A fake capacity flash memory item always corrupts files.

We have had a number of comments about computer memory (ram modules) from this seller being faulty and the lack of response to complaints. We wouldn’t touch any memory item from this ebay seller with a bargepole!! The use of private listings for such items is very suspicious – usually this is an indicator of deliberate fraud.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Suspect ebay listing by stephan8er69 for 256GB DT310 flash drive

Axel expressed some doubts about this ebay listing by stephan8er69 so we had a look – we find this listing rather suspect too, but for a more concrete reason than the riskily low starting bid price. We think this DataTraveler 310 is a fake capacity counterfeit that corrupts files. The seller states in this listing:

Hey every body I have here a brand new Kingston data traveler 310 2.0 256 gb flash drive. It’s the largest flash drive you can purches out on the market, I have just revived this for Christmas to use for my drafting course in school but turns out I bought a brand new computer instead. Now if you looking at this right now you already know the value of this (1000$) I’m selling it for much cheaper just because time are tough and I could use the money to get by. This is brand new never opened. Any questions please feel free to email me.

Thank you and remember Serious buyers only please!!!!!!!

Strange… we are sure that the Kingston DataTraveler 310 was not available in December 2009; in fact it wasn’t announced until February 18th – so did Christmas come somewhat later in Florida than everywhere else??

We think that the picture on the left illustrates our view of this sales pitch from stephan8er69. We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

fashonvictimes selling counterfeit Kingston in private ebay listing

The fact that fashonvictimes is selling these counterfeit 128GB Kingston DataTraveler 200 flash drives in a private ebay listing makes us wonder if fashonvictimes knows that these are fake capacity flash drives which will corrupt files. We think that as these are obviously counterfeits (they’re too cheap to be genuine) it is very likely that the memory cards from this seller are also counterfeit and fake capacity.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

pward932010 lists fantastic fake 512GB USB flash drive on ebay!!

The USB flash drive in this listing from ebayer pward932010 is without any doubt a fake. This USB flash drive is fake capacity and corrupts files. We’ve seen a lot of fake flash drives listed on ebay with this packaging. Beware of any flash drive (whatever the capacity it is advertised at) that come in this packaging!

This particular flash drive has a fairytale capacity – no genuine flash drives of 512GB capacity exist yet!! We think the real capacity of this flash drive is probably more like 512mb (half a GB) – a very expensive fake.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Beware ebayer dartslady10 sells fake flash memory! Test with h2testw

An ebay member warned us a few days ago that we should watch ebay member dartslady10 and, sure enough, this ebayer is now selling fake flash drives! The buyer of item number 300427625972 (sold on May 21st) was either someone who didn’t test the drive with h2testw or this seller’s partner in crime as it was exactly the same obvious fake shown in the listing above.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

UPDATE
By the way – dartslady10 is selling a computer complete with a lot of Windows software – we think it highly unlikely that the licences are genuine! We think dartslady10 is an out and out fraudster!

UPDATE 29/05/2010
We are fully expecting that dartslady10 (or this ebayer’s partner in crime) will try to sell the fake flash drive purchased from auboland on May 15th (shown in the listing below which dartslady10 left positive feedback about today) at some point if they think they can get away with it!!

UPDATE 8th June 2010
Seems that dartslady10 is still snapping up fake USB flash drives to sell either under this ID or that of the seller’s partner in crime – unfortunately we don’t currently have enough team members to fully investigate such minor criminal activity on ebay when there are major criminals like nsdpro (one of the fraudsters dartslady10 has bought from) to deal with.

chicago.dragonext:private ebay auction, suspected fake flash fraudster

We have a couple of questions for ebay seller chicago.dragonext:

• Why use a private ebay auction to sell a flash drive? – unless (of course) you are trying to hide the fact that you are selling fakes!
• Where exactly in Hong Kong is GET IT FAST! ???

What do we think about ebay seller chicago.dragonext? We suspect that this seller may well be a slightly more intelligent fraudster than usual. Of course we may get a big surprise and find that this flash drive is genuine. Somehow, we think not.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

isabella1425 selling fake USB flash drive in private ebay listing

This USB flash drive listed by ebayer isabella1425 (location Falkirk, Scotland – a place where would expect honesty!) is certain to be fake capacity and will undoubtedly corrupt files.

This is not the first time that this seller has listed a fake flash drive. We reported about the self same model of flash drive (always proved fake in testing by our team) listed at 128GB capacity back in March.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Beware of 128GB USB flash drives sold on ebay by compnet10

So the 128GB USB flash drive in the listing above has been tested with h2testw has it? In that case we can only assume that compnet10 knows it’s a fake as every single USB flash drive that we tested which came in this packaging was fake capacity which corrupts files.

Ebay seller compnet10 previously sold even more obvious fakes (see left) earlier this month. There is no such thing as a genuine Sony Vaio flash drive – they are fakes from China.

We have a visual comment about this seller’s “testing” (see right).

We urge anyone who bought a flash drive from compnet10 to test it immediately themselves.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

ebay seller cry2503 charges more for postage than for flash drive!

Seller cry2503 (registered on ebay Spain) is charging more for postage than for the 32GB flash drive in this listing. This makes us wonder whether or not these flash drives actually have the advertised capacity.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

blas6677 lists fake 128GB Kingston flash drive on ebay Spain

This 128GB Kingston flash drive listed on ebay Spain by blas6677 is certain to be counterfeit and fake capacity. A counterfeit fake capacity drive always corrupts files after a while. We suspect that this seller may know it is fake as the sale is private.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Seller deirius evades ebay fees by hiking up shipping charges

We would not buy flash memory from seller deirius (registered on ebay Spain) as we think sellers who load all the costs onto the post and packing, as this seller is doing, are not trustworthy. We would not be at all surprised to hear that the USB flash drive in this listing is fake capacity and corrupts files.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

If you bought flash memory from bobob_uk test it with h2testw

We though that the flash memory items listed on ebay by bobob_uk looked suspiciously cheap so we took a look at the seller’s feedback to see what buyers had to say.

We saw comments which suggest that the class six memory cards sold are not class six and are slow.

A number of people seemed to have returned items and asked for refunds and a couple of buyers said the seller is not in fact based in the UK.

If you bought flash memory from this seller we suggest that you test it immediately as it may be that the items are fake capacity – if the flash memory is fake capacity then it will eventually corrupt files.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Beware of MP players from ukpluseuro – suspect seller in the UK

We have a feeling that the MP players listed on ebay UK by ukpluseuro will not have the advertised storage capacity. We think they are cheap fakes purchased from a wholesaler in China and that this seller knows it! This seller advertises this as a stock clearance – we don’t think so!!

Investigations by the fightflashfraud team suggest that this seller is connected to another UK seller who sold fake capacity flash drives until exposed by fightflashfraud and is probably still selling other dodgy flash memory items!

This member changed ebay ID three times in just over twelve months – now why would you do that??

The UK member we see connections with also changed ID several times. Do we have a little ebay fraud ring developing here?

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Private ebay auction from seller in Spain for 128GB Kingston

Why is seller parasito10 using a private auction to sell this 128GB Kingston DataTraveler 200 flash drive on ebay? Could it be that this seller is aware that this (ebay item number 260568224802) is fake? The seller shows a screenshot of the drive properties in the listing in an effort to demonstrate that it is genuine.

Such screenshots are totally meaningless – the properties shown are those the drive is programmed to show and have no relationship to the real capacity of flash memory. We are sure that this is a counterfeit fake capacity flash drive that corrupts files.

In the extremely unlikely case that we are wrong then the serial number can be verified with Kingston – we are certain that we already know what Kingston will say!

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

USA ebay seller with private listing for suspect USB flash drive

We think it highly unlikely that this 32GB USB flash drive listed by wendyg2010 is genuine. We are sure this will prove to be a fake capacity flash drive that corrupts files. We wonder if this seller may know that the flash drives (3 different models) he or she is selling are fakes – this would explain why these listings are private!

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

UK seller with suspiciously high number of used flash drives

We find the large number of used flash drives listed by ipazy a bit odd. It makes us a bit suspicious. We strongly advise anyone who bought a flash drive from this seller to test it immediately with h2testw.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Are this USA ebay seller’s flash memory items genuine?

USA ebay seller weasel_spit has sold a large number of flash memory items in auctions, all of which seem to have come without packaging. The seller’s explanation for this somehow does not ring true to us so we wonder if the items might be counterfeits. If they are counterfeit they will be fake capacity and fake capacity flash memory corrupts files.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Private auctions used by USA ebayer to sell obvious fake flash drives

Seller 777blagoshop (an ebay member in the USA) used private auctons to sell fake capacity 128GB and 64GB leather and steel type flash drives that corrupt files. The use of private auctions makes us wonder whether this is a case of deliberate fraud rather than a case of a seller inadvertantly buying from a fraudulent supplier.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Would you trust this ebay seller? We certainly wouldn’t!

UK selller evals69 has sold a large number of “used” 4GB Kingston flash drives in bulk lots (and a smaller number of 8GB ones both in bulk lots and individually) on ebay.

The seller’s pictures of the two drives in question are shown on the left. The top one is the 8GB model and the bottom one is the 4GB model. We got a strange smell coming from this seller’s listings so we investigated a bit – here’s what we found:

The first sale made seems to have been for a job lot – 20 of the 4GB flash drives. The seller’s explanation for a bulk listing of 20 used 4GB would seem plausible at first glance, but read on to learn more.

64GB Kingston DT200 on ebay USA certain to be counterfeit

The 64GB Kingston DataTraveler USB flash drives listed by exmarinejoc on ebay USA in private auctions are certain to be fake. No one could afford to list these at the low start price or this seller’s auctions if they were genuine. The risk of making huge losses is just to high given the low bid prices made for flash memory on ebay.

The use of private auctions is rather suspect – it makes us wonder if this seller may be aware that these are counterfeits. Counterfeit flash drives are also fake capacity – programmed in China by fraudsters to display a false capacity to the operating system. A fake capacity flash drive corrupts files.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

ebay item number 170447506668 rings bells with us – alarm bells!

These are the self same flash drives originally listed individually in one day auctions by suspended ebay seller matt.oates whose listings have been removed by ebay. Could it be that matt.oates and kylie1951 are one and the same? Or is this just co-incidence?

The seller says in this listing:

100 x Brand New, Packaged 32GB Leather 2.0 USB Flash Drive – UK Seller – Based in Lincolnshire.
The perfect opportunity to start your own business on eBay.
Storage : 32GB

Product Features:
– USB 2.0
– Compatible Windows XP, Vista and 7, Mac OS X 10.3 or Later

Payment via Personal Cheque, Bank Transfer or Cash on Collection only. Although payment via PayPal is offered above I do not accept it. PayPal fees are just too expensive!

FREE UK Delivery or you can collect!
Will deliver abroad but please add £20 to cover extra costs.
Any questions I will answer immediately so please feel free to ask.

Good Luck

We strongly disagree about buying these being an opportunity to start and ebay business – more like an opportunity to get yourself thrown off ebay and have your paypal account suspended like matt.oates – curious, is it not, that seller kylie1951 does not accept paypal? It wouldn’t happen to be because the seller’s account has been suspended would it? We wouldn’t touch these with a barge pole – they are fake capacity USB flash drives and a fake USB flash drive is gaurenteed to corrupt files.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

UPDATE 12.43pm Thursday February 18th 2010
These sold for 395.02 – so the buyer paid £3.95 each for 100 fake flash drives. Did it not occur to buyers that no one could possibly sell genuine 32GB flash drives at this price on ebay? At this price a seller would probably make a loss on a genuine 1GB flash drive!!

Feedback comment suggests we may be right to suspect this seller on ebay of selling fake flash memory items

Feedback from someone who bought the memory card shown in the listing above suggests that we could be right to suspect that ebay seller easy-digital-store (registered in Hong Kong) is selling fake flash memory items. This seller offers Sandisk memory cards and Sandisk flash drives. We have an uneasy feeling that they are fakes – but we might be wrong.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

What in the heck is a refurbished USB flash drive we wonder?

Top rated ebay seller fashionuniononline advertises these flash drives on ebay as “refurbished” – we wonder what the heck a refurbished flash drive is!

We know what a refurbished computer is – it is one that has been used and has then had any faulty parts replaced and been returned to a fully functional state (though of course not brand new) – the seller says:

4GB SanDisk Micro USB Flash Drive (Refurb but new) with a 5 year Warranty

*Please be Aware these are Refurbished Pen Drive. The have the word ‘Refurb’ stamped on the Pen Drive to show they are refurb. The performance of the card is equal to a new one but they only come without packaging.

Something cannot be refurbished AND new – it is either a used refurbished item or it is a new item! You cannot “refurbish” a flash drive! You can manually delete any user files or reformat it to remove all previous data (in which case as far as this model is concerned the U3 will be lost) – you cannot “refurbish” it! This ebay seller’s sales pitch seems a bit dodgy to us. Maybe one of us will buy one and check it out.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

UPDATE 18/O2/2010
A member of the fightflashfraud team bought one of these from fashionuniononline and we are amazed to report that the buyer tells us it passed testing with h2testw. The item was indeed marked as refurbished – something we have never come across before with USB flash drives. We are flummoxed about what exactly is meant by refurbished in this context and we still have some doubts about these.

Korean ebay seller of fake Kingston USB flash drives pretends to be UK seller

This 64GB Kingston DataTraveler 200 USB flash drive is a fake that corrupts files. Seller handsomeones is registered in Korea but tries to look like a UK seller. This suggest to us that deliberate fraud is involved here. Fake flash drives like this are fake capacity – the flash chips used in fakes mostly have a capacity of 2GB or less, though fraudulent program fools the operating system into displaying the capacity advertised.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

This flash drive on ebay UK is not made by Sony and not 64GB

UK ebay member homeboy10184 has a number of private auctions for this USB flash drive which is fake capacity and corrupts files. It was not made by Sony and is not really a 64GB drive, though this is what will show in drive properties.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

UK seller cwmwitch2009 gets away with fake flash sales on ebay

We now suspect that UK seller cwmwitch2009 is a cunning fraudster. We first posted about this seller on December the 10th 2009. Despite selling the obvious fake USB flash drive shown in our original short article (and other items we are sure are fake) this seller still has 100% positive feedback!! Why??

We think it is because this seller gives immediate refunds to anyone who complains, so that the buyers don’t leave negative feedback. Because sales are private no one can tell what a comment is about as you cannot see the item the comment refers to.

Very few buyers test flash memory items properly and are fooled by what the operating system shows. If something goes wrong and the seller refunds them they never realise they bought a fake! This seller seems to be taking advantage of buyers’ ignorance by apologising and giving refunds to the few who notice something is wrong.

Very clever – the buyer thinks the seller is honest and leaves positive feedback, often without even indicating there was anything wrong! Here are a selection of positive comments that we are fairly sure are from buyers who were sold fakes by cwmwitch2009:

• Compatability issues with my PC and USBs but full refund given immediately. Thks
• recieved refund thank you
• strange device, full refund
• Compatability issues with my PC and USBs but full refund given immediately. Thks
• Great eBayer, very helpful and honest all round A++++++++++++++++++++
• Item was faulty, however received full refund, so overall service was good.
• OK but doesn’t work perfect with APPLE.
• Item was faulty but the seller was excellent, tried to help and gave full refund
• Item not working. Refund given without quibble, thanks

The seller also has two neutral comments:
• Ordered 2 and both were faulty, but full refund given without any problem
• Item did not appear to be original copy but full refund received.

Never buy flash memory items in private sales!! YOU ARE ALMOST CERTAIN TO GET A FAKE.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Does this Kingston USB flash drive sold on ebay even exist?

An ebay member alerted us yesterday to the fact that he could not see this flash drive on Kingston’s website. We think he could be right in concluding that this is probably another fake.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Very strange listings from an ebay member in Germany

An ebay member in Germany guenstig-007 has very strange listings for the item shown on the left. The picture shows the most obvious type of fake USB flash drive possible. There are three things that indicate this is fake:

1) The packaging
2) The model – every one that looks like this which we tested with h2tesw proved to be fake
3) The shiny little capacity sticker

Seller guenstig-007 appears to claim in listings that these passed testing with h2testw and have a capacity of 32GB – somehow we don’t think so! This leads us to suspect that this is likely to be a case of deliberate fraud. Anyone who bought one should test it with h2tesw – we are sure it won’t pass the test!! We are pretty certain the USB flash drives sold by guenstig-007 will corrupt files.

The seller listed a number at auction and has one longer-running buy it now listing, item number 260535323646 – we think that guenstig-007 is heading for the fraudster database!

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

A very dodgy private auction for a 4GB USB flash on ebay Belgium

We think that romeoarti has been buying fake flash drives on ebay and is re-selling them in private auctions.

Feedback suggests that this seller previously sold at least two 16GB flash drives – one of which was certainly the same model – sold by just about every fraudster selling fake flash on ebay.

The use of private auctions suggests to us that this seller is well aware that what is being sold here is a fake that will corrupt users’ files.

We consider such behaviour absolutely despicable.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

We think this UK ebayer is a fraudster selling fake flash memory

We first reported about UK seller leeclark1 on September 17th 2009 when we noticed a 32GB Kingston DataTraveler USB flash drive from this seller that we were fairly certain was fake.

Since then leeclark1 seems to have had a number of listings removed by ebay. This was presumably because they were illegal counterfeit and fake capacity items – yet this seller has not a single negative!! What is going on here??

Is ebay protecting leeclark1 from negative feedback by removing listings so that items vanish from the buyer’s won list in the hope that buyers won’t know what to do when they found they got a fake??

Are we just paranoid?? We all used to love ebay – now we don’t trust them an inch – and we certainly wouldn’t buy flash memory items from leeclark1!! Here is one of this seller’s most recent listings – we suspect this will be yet another fake.

If you bought a flash memory item from this seller then test it with h2testw
– if it fails this test report in to sosfakeflash then immediately leave leeclark1 a big fat neg (or if you left a positive already a follow-up comment to warn others to test with h2testw) and claim a refund through paypal.

Do not let fraudulent sellers, ebay, and PayPal to walk away with your cash if you have been defrauded!

Holy Moley! More fake Kingston flash drives on ebay Australia!

Seller holymoley2010 registered on ebay Australia has listed what simply have to be counterfeit and fake capacity 64GB Kingston DataTraveler USB flash drives in private sales. We suspect this may mean that the seller is aware that these are not genuine items and will corrupt users’ data.

We advise everyone to test all flash memory with the free program h2testw.

Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.

UK ebay member heeds warning that flash drives were counterfeit

Kingston do not make the DataTraveler 200 in 256GB capacity as the ebayer who listed this would have realised had this seller taken the simple precaution of checking the Kingston website before buying flash drives to sell on ebay. This ebayer obviously bought from a fraudulent supplier.

We think these 64GB Kingston DT200 drives may be counterfeit

We have a feeling that basilbrush-09 bought these 64GB Kingston DataTraveler USB flash drives from a fraudulent wholesaler and that they will prove to be counterfeit and fake capacity. Many ebay members have bought flash memory items from fraudulent suppliers to re-sell on ebay and a lot of them do not realise. The fact that basilbrush-09 is using private listings makes us wonder if this seller does know.

As usual we strongly advise ebayers to test all flash memory with the free program h2testw.

Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.

MP3 players sold on ebay look dodgy to us

We suspect that the MP3 players sold by ftaway2009 will turn out to be fake capacity – they seem too cheap to be genuine. However they are probably useable if you don’t save anything to the player itself and just use a genuine SD card in them to save your music to.

As usual we strongly advise ebayers to test all flash memory with the free program h2testw.

Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.

HP flash drives in private ebay sales

The use of private sales by dc1909 made us suspect that these flash drives might not be genuine so we checked on the HP webstite. We could not find any USB flash drives there that matched the appearance of this so we think these could well be fakes.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

flash drive worth £40 in ebay auctions with a 99p start price?

We are a bit suspicious about the ebay listings by sanguid for these flash drives. The Integral 8GB Ag47 with 256 bit Military Level AES Encyption is worth about £40 but the seller has them in auctions with a 99p start price. Would you risk loosing money like this? We wouldn’t!

The seller says they were bought for a government project that was cancelled. Hmm – as some members of the fightflashfraud team have worked for the British Government and have contacts who still work for government we know how things operate. As a result of what we know we are disinclined to beleive this.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

We wouldn’t give this UK ebay seller top rating!!

Ebay may give UK seller ijtdirectltd top rated seller status but we certainly wouldn’t!! Buyer feedback indicates that all the items shown above were either fake or faulty. We first quetioned whether memory cards from this seller might be fake back at the beginning of September – since then there has been a lot more negative and neutral feedback.

This feedback not only suggests that flash memory items (memory cards and flash drives) may either be fake or faulty (causing data loss) but that the seller’s claims about fast dispatch are not lived up to and that the seller lists items when they are out of stock. It also seems that the seller is sometimes less than responsive to buyer complaints.

We think it is very unwise to buy memory cards, media players and USB flash drives on ebay – there are very few (if any) reliable sellers with genuine items who list on a regular basis. The fact that ebay gives a seller top rated status just seems to mean the seller rakes in profit for them – not that the seller will give you good service!

Several notorious fraudsters in China have top rated seller status!!

As usual we strongly advise ebayers to test all flash memory with the free program h2testw.

Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.

UK ebay member lists patently fake USB flash drive

This flash drive listed for sale by UK ebay member hmida76 is patently a fake that will corrupt the buyer’s files. There is no such thing as a 120GB USB flash drive – by which we mean something of the size you can put on a keyring or lanyard.

There are hard drives of this capacity that connect via a USB cable but you would find it darned inconvenient to put something this big on your keyring or a lanyard (if you even could – as they are not designed that way) and you would probably look very silly indeed, if you found a way to do it!!

This is perhaps is demonstrated by the (admittedly bad) little picture on the left of the smallest size of portable hard drive (dimensions rather than capacity) that connects via USB ports possesed by the author of this post. It is shown with a lanyard and the author’s car keys.

At least perhaps the photo demonstrates the difference between a USB flash drive and a portable hard drive that connects to the computer via a USB cable! Would you want to wear something like this round your neck or carry it on your keyring?? I certainly wouldn’t.

This is the only type of portable drive that comes in 120GB capacity.

USB flash drives like the one pictured in the listing at the top of this post do not come in this capacity – the closest is 128GB and a genuine one would probably cost you £300 or more. Anyone who buys high capacity flash memory on ebay is asking for trouble. Please folks – do your research before you buy anywhere (not just ebay) either for yourself or – even more importantly – to sell to others.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you (or your customers) run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report in to SOSFakeFlash if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Another fraudster on ebay selling fake flash by the look of it

We are certain that the 32GB SD memory cards sold by powerlee8816888 will prove to be fake capacity as will the USB flash drives from this seller. Fakes trash files. This devious seller is now using private auctions to cover up fake flash sales. Never buy flash memory in private auctions – it is almost certain to be fake!

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report in to SOSFakeFlash if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Seller in Germany lists another fake flash drive on ebay

Having had positive feedback from the victim of the listing above (and another that ended the same day) seller gizmo-sc listed a third of these obvious fake 32GB USB flash drives. In the listing it states:

Dies ist eine Privatauktion,deshalb gibt es keine Garantie und Rücknahme!!!

– oh right then, so no gaurantee and return policy! Why does this not surprise us one little bit?

UPDATE 10/11/09
Seller gizmo-sc has listed a few more of these fakes now!

As usual we strongly advise ebayers to test all flash memory with the free program h2testw.

Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.

Non-delivery of suspected counterfeit 16GB Transcend SD cards from ebay seller registered in Canada

Seller should19160 (registered on ebay Canada) had a feedback score of -3 at the time of writing and was no longer listing anything for sale.

This model of Kingston USB flash drive is not made in 64GB

This 64GB Kingston USB flash drive listed by onbeatoffers is a fake and will trash users’ files. Kingston do not make this type of drive in 64GB capacity, as a quick check on their website will confirm. The use of a private listing suggests the seller may know this is fake. We strongly advise against buying flash drives in private listings – it is usually a sign of deliberate fraud.

We advise everyone who buys flash memory items to test them with the free program h2testw irrespective of where they were purchased – otherwise you run the risk of data loss and corruption.

Report your fake if testing confirms you have purchased fake capacity flash memory on ebay.

Looks as though we found another ebay fraudster in the USA

A look at feedback for seller samfadhel06 suggests to us that this is another seller of fake flash drives. This seller already has a negative comment about this item not working:

It doesn’t seem as though the seller dealt with the buyer’s complaint in the way an honest seller would; by providing a working replacement (or if the item was out of stock) a refund. This makes us suspect that this is yet another fraudster on ebay.

We advise everyone to test all flash memory with the free program h2testw.

Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.

These 64GB USB flash drives on ebay USA are bound to be fake

These 64GB USB flash drives from US seller e-treasure-stor-e are bound to be fakes that will trash users’ files.

USA ebay seller lists 120GB USB flash drives on ebay

Poor old snoopy fainted yet again when he saw the ebay listing below from babiespower.
Snoopy knows his USB flash drives and can say for a fact that there is no genuine USB flash drive with a capacity of 120GB.

He just isn’t coping with what he sees on ebay these days – so many fakes, so many victims of fraud.