Archive for April 2009
PayPal Orders You To Return Fake MP Players, Fake MP Players , Fake USB Flash Drives, Fake Memory Cards To Get A Refund? Think Again!
Are you thinking of obeying PayPals demands to return fake MP Players, Memory Cards or usb flash drives purchased on eBay from a fake flash seller to get a refund? SOSFakeFlash has published many articles on why you should not. We think you should read the latest article just published by FakeFlashNews.
After reading it please consult PayPal How Long Do You Have To Claim For A Refund In Disputes? A Guide About PayPal From eBayer’s Experiences. and read all the helpful articles published in that guide to assist victims of fake flash purchases on eBay!
Is ebay seller paulandzhuzhu a fraudster or a philanthropist?
Is UK based ebay seller paulandzhuzhu a wealthy philanthropist?
Have we found someone who who is willing to sell a 32GB flash drive at below cost for the benefit of a lucky ebayer? We suspect not, particularly in the light of the fact that the seller is selling this in a private auction. We all know why sellers hide buyer IDs when selling flash drives – to bury the evidence. We at fightflashfraud suspect that this seller is testing the water to see if he can get away with selling fakes.
Suspect UK seller uses private listings
Is UK ebay seller fastflashstore a fraudster? Feedback left by dissatisfied buyers and the use of private listings seem to suggest this is the case. We at fightflashfraud would like to hear from customers of this seller.
UK seller nextvision-uk selling own-brand fakes?
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This is an unusual case. UK seller nextvision-uk may be selling own-brand fakes! An ebay member working with the frankenflash project recently purchased an “own brand” 8GB flash drive from seller nextvision-uk. The buyer felt the low price made the drive seem suspect, so before purchasing the buyer contacted the seller through ebay and got a very re-assuring response. The drive failed testing with H2testw so the buyer contacted the seller through ebay with this information. The seller responded to this message by saying to send the drive back for a refund. Not only did the buyer inform the seller that the drive was not a genuine 8GB flash drive, the buyer also emailed the test program to the address provided on the invoice and asked the seller to test the drives for himself. There was no response to this email and listings for this drive have remained on Ebay. |
The buyer then contacted fightflashfraud who looked at the listing and noticed something that seems to indicate that this is deliberate fraud. In the terms and conditions it says”Please also note that items will NOT be considered for exchange/refund once negative feedback left.” Hmm – fighflashfraud is inclined to translate this as: “Keep your mouth shut and you get a refund if you discover my drives are crap, but if you expose me as a fraudster by leaving negative feedback you will lose your money” – we could be wrong of course, but it seems unlikely. Time will tell! We will be interested to hear from anyone else who bought from this seller.
There are some very odd things about the item the buyer alerted fightflashfraud to (item number 190298552424) for one thing, after being told it was fake the seller reduced the price instead of removing the listing and testing the items. For another the buyer list changed in a very strange way as demonstrated by the image below:
The buyer list originally showed many more buyers than it does now – a screenshot of part of the original list is on the left. The list seen by anyone visiting the listing now is shown on the right – it has gone into reverse order around buyer hanaspanaspoon and all buyers after a certain point on the 20th have vanished although there were buyers after this. Very fishy indeed in the opinion of the fightflashfraud team!
UPDATE 30th April
The buyer contacted a few other people who bought this drive and those who have replied said their files were corrupted. It seems we have a deliberate fraudster here – if you bought a drive from this seller test it with h2testw and claim a refund. As this seems to be deliberate fraud which causes file loss by someone in the UK perhaps buyers might want to consider reporting the seller to the UK police.
New suspect ID appears on ebay selling flash drives
The listing shown above looks very suspect to fightflashfraud – we think taoline2 may be a new ID set up to sell fake flash drives. At the moment this ID has no feedback. If you have bought from this seller please test your drive with h2testw and let us know if our suspicions are founded.
UPDATE 17/05/09:
Seller taoline2 removed listings for the drive above and at least one other model shortly after this post was originally published. The fairly obvious fake above has not been listed again but other drives at a similar overall price have been listed again. The price is just a little too low for it to be likely that the models shown below are genuine 16GB drives.
Fake flash on ebay: yuanaya – an old “friend” with a new ID??
Seller yuanaya is a new ID on ebay – at time of writing this ID has a feedback score of 20. This seller is not using the standard small picture/s previously used in listings but the main page pictures remain the same old faithfuls we have come to expect from an identified fraud ring. Nobody with an ounce of sense should think of buying from this seller – the picture below shows why! This is a well known fake capacity drive. We do not know for sure whether the fraudsters simply reproduced a 2GB kingston casing without realising that Kingston drives of this type are colour coded according to capacity or simply re-programmed real Kingston to show higher (fake) capacities. Either way anyone who buys one of these will eventually lose all their files.
Suspect yexinhong888 de-registered and ebay listings removed
A suspect seller who sold 16GB flash drives, yexihong888, is no longer registered on ebay and ebay have removed the seller’s listings. This indicates fightflashfraud was correct in thinking that this seller is a fraudster. If you bought from this seller test your drive with h2testw and claim a refund.
Flash drives from ebay seller digibabyboy look suspect
Who could afford to send an 8GB flash drive anywhere in the world for £7 ?? digibabyboy, apparently! Guess what – we smell a rat – to the fightflashfraud team listings like the one below whiff of fraud! If you were foolish enough to buy from this seller we think that you will lose all your files after a while. Buyers beware!
See the information on other posts about flash chip prices – you will see that it is highly unlikely that this seller could offer genuine 8GB drives at this price. What do we think about digibabyboy? We think digibabyboy is a fraudster selling fake merchandise that causes people to lose their files.
Call To Victims Of Fake Flash Seller takeme2home – Did You Send Items back To This Address?
takeme2home is an eBayer seller id that has a long history of trafficking in fake and counterfeit USB Flash Drives, Memory Cards and MP Players. Detected in June 2008 takeme2home was forced into fake flash retirement.
Don of Fake Flash known under the former flag ship id 3totrade was chased from eBay by members. eBayers and SOSFakeFalsh continued round up his other id’s. One by one. He took the takeme2home id out of retirement and pressed into full fake flash selling duties.
SOSFakeFlash was patiently waiting for this id to return and on April 10th, 2009 published this alert:
Ebay victims began arriving. Address information received added and linked this suspected id to the Don’s arsenal.
Now victims are going through the usual mindless PayPal emailing robots to return the fake flash items. Some caved in, breaking the postal laws in their countries and sent the items back. Did they get a refund? If you examine feedback, it seems that victims did not. In the past the Don Of Fake Flash flash has pulled similar tricks – a bad return address. He did this with the pengsoloshow ebay seller id. It is very likely he is doing it now with the takeme2home id.
Has PayPal ordered YOU to return the items to this address?
C/O LEE TAT FURNITURE & HOUSEWARE PLAZA
SHOP 3-B G/F TAK BO GARDEN, 3 NGAU TAU KOK ROAD
Hong Kong
Are you a person who sent an item to this address and then had the seller id claim it was never received? Please contact us at sosfakeflashdrive@gmail.com
The original shipping address from Kong Kong was:
Lei Sio Hong
Room 1921, HengFung House,
Heng On Estate,
Shatia, Hongkong
The oringal adddress in China was:
Zhong Lisha(TH)
32B, XiaoFeng Building ,
YouYi Road, Luohu District,
Shenzhen, 518002
Guangdong Province
China
As we have said many times, please do not send fake and counterfeit flash nand technology items back to the counterfeiters. Make sure to get PayPal on record with email evidence demanding this. The fact it they know better, but their email robots don’t.
Please see the recent comments on PayPal, there is more information and contact numbers you can call.
- http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/sosfakeflash-notice-board/#comment-1624
- http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/sosfakeflash-notice-board/#comment-1633
and the general link given to sort out PayPal call numbers. PayPal People are reported to have more good sense these days then their robots.
If you are a victim of takeme2home and you sent the item to the furniture store address and did not get a refund – CALL PAYPAL! Forget about any time window claims, insist on your refund. If you paid by credit card, call the credit card company to initiate a reversal. Make a complaint to eBay as well.
Fake Flash eBay Seller leadingstore Bites The Dust – One More eBay Selling Id Of The Don Of Fake Flash In the Orient Neutralized
leadingstore an eBay Seller id controlled by the Don of Fake Flash in the Orient has deregistered. No more selling of fake mp players, fake usb flash drives, fake memory cards!
Recently we published: leadingstore Ebay Fake Flash Seller Alert – China – Don Of Fake Flash In The Orient Clings To His Last Remaining eBay Id
At the time SOSFakeFlash thought it was his only remaining id on eBay. There are more still to catch and shut down. Currently takeme2home the focus. This id is dancing nicely away from eBay, PayPal and eBay Victims.
No one will miss leadingstore. However we have a strong suspicion as to why this old id was been retired. The news is dark.
All we can say right now is that current addressing information is needed on all ebay fake flash sellers. We are looking for addresses on envelopes, addresses given to you when a seller wants you to return the item, addresses given by Paypal to return items to and any addresses you find in eBay directories for sellers. If you chose to leave seller addresses on articles you can at the SOSFakeFlash website, provided it is on an Alert for the seller in question – otherwise we ask you sent the information to sosfakeflashdrive@gmail.com (see the report a fake tab at the SOSFakeFlash website).
The Don Of Fake Flash has done enough damage to eBayers, in fact it what started this Project!
Seller chenwubang88 lists very suspect looking drive on ebay
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This flash drive from chenwubang88 is saying something to me. Can you guess what it is saying? It is saying fake, fake, fakity-fake!
UPDATE (11/05/09) |
We now have the proof that chenwubang88 is a seller of fake flash. Items which we can prove are fake are listed on sosfakeflash. We need your help to gather proof against fake flash sellers. If you bought a flash drive from this (or any other) seller on ebay please test it with h2testw and report in to sosfakeflash if it fails the test – then we can issue alerts stating that the drive is fake (rather than suspect) and add the information to the database. Since the database was started it has been easier for ebayers to get refunds – but unless you add your info it could all fall down! We need you to help us keep the pressure on ebay and paypal.
Question For eBay Members – Did You Buy A 16GB USB Flash Drive From eBay Seller clicktoblue? SOSFakeFlash Advises You Test For True Capacity To Avoid Potential Data Loss
Did you buy a 16GB USB flash drive from ebay seller clicktoblue? His prices are amazing! This USA based seller is almost giving USB Flash drives. Quite a few eBayers have snatched them up at prices below the cost of a grade A Genuine 8GB flash drive chip. See What Are The Real Costs For Flash Chips In China? Guide 2009
These drives can’t be using the new 16GB chips, they still cost far to much in OEM, only brand names such as Kingston and Sony using their sheer power volume can offer decent prices to resellers. Selling nand flash based technology as a rule is not high profit but modest, made up for by selling millions of units.
So how does clicktoblue manage to deliver such fabulous prices to eBayers?
He’s managed to leave Newegg.com 16GB flash drives trailing in the dust without even offering mail in rebates!
The team at SOSFakeFlash first thought that clicktoblue might be financially well off, doing community service by helping eBayers to buy below cost in these difficult financial times. The problem is these usb flash drive models are all too familiar to SOSFakeFlash. They have published many alerts on them in the last nine months. You will also these models their pdf reports. One is a classic, see BEWARE of FAKE 8GB 16GB 32GB 64GB USB Flash Drives – The Most Famous And Oldest Fake Still Sold On eBay And Internet Sites.
clicktoblue is even selling below prices offered by known counterfeit wholesalers 16GB Fake Counterfeit USB Flash Drives – A Classic Collection Available From Internet Wholesalers. Actually the prices shown in that report are middle of the road, you can actually get them for as little as $5 a piece from some wholesalers, especially if you buy in bulk.
So is clicktoblue selling the real deal and subsidizing the actual costs from his own pocket? SOSFakeFlash decided to scan through his feedback and they found this:
Try to see if its too big for your AZZ port too, u need a pogo stick not a flash
No, concluded SOSFakeFlash, this is not a wealthy person out to help the less fortunate. The reply was in response to the $19.95 model. That model is a usb port hog and depending on how your usb ports are arranged, you can have a problem trying to plug it in.
Derogatory language is very common for USA based fake flash sellers. They don’t have the politeness or the smooth manners of fake flash sellers in the orient and elsewhere. Being scammed with fake flash usb drives is not a pleasant experience, true….
In the orient it is an art of deception. Bad manners are not a part of the fake flash selling or buying experience. It simply is NOT DONE!
So is there any record of clicktoblue being brought to task by an eBayer who said that word…FAKE? Yes, so far there is one according to SOSFakeFlash.
What model is “16GB USB FLASH MEMORY STICK 16 GB 16G G 2.0 PEN DRIVE K”? Why it is known to SOSFakeFlash and victims as the classic of classic fakes – in fact it is probably the oldest still surviving fake being sold.
SOSFakeFlash asked FightFlashFraud to warn all buyers of clicktoblue to test any usb flash drives they bought from him. Failure to do so could mean data loss. Please read: H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives to learn about testing and get the free software. They are also looking for confirmations with the test results from H2testw 1.4. Everyone on their team is curious to know what the real capacity is. If the drives are good and clicktoblue is willing to lose money rather than make it, this might be a first. Sadly their experience is, if one in a model is a fake, the rest are too. Reprogramming these flash drives to lie about their real size is not a defective usb flash drive, it is digitally altering them and illegal. Using the postal system to send and receive counterfeit goods is also illegal in most countries.
SOSFakeFlash is asking people to report any drives that fail capacity testing by using their Report A Fake Tab The classic model is not difficult to take apart to decode the controller chip serial information and the flash drive chip information. Depending on what you find, you can visit Inspectortech’s FixFakeFlash website at http://fixfakeflash.wordpress.com/ . There are several new articles for decoding flash drive chips from manufacturers:
- Samsung Nand Flash – How To Decode Flash Storage Chips To Find True Capacity
- Hynix Nand Flash – How To Decode Flash Storage Chips To Find True Capacity
- Micron Nand Flash – How To Decode Flash Storage Chips To Find True Capacity
- Toshiba Nand Flash – How To Decode Flash Storage Chips To Find True Capacity
the site has information on drive repair too.
The team at SOSFakeFlash is engaged in speculating on controller chips and nand flash drives used in clicktoblue’s usb flash drives. So far the iCreate controller and Hynix nand flash chips have the most votes. Are they right? Or are they wrong? Let them know.
As always SOSFakeFlash reminds fake flash eBay victims to:
- Leave immediate negative to warn other buyers if testing is postive for a fake.
- File an a dispute immediately with PayPal and not attempt direct contact with a seller who has “Fake” already recorded in feedback.
- Report in with the evidence for their database.
You can visit their site at http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/ to find lots of advice on how to handle your fake flash seller and see the work they do in fighting this terrible problem.
We agree with SOSFakeFlash and victims:
Always test any usb flash drive, MP player or memory card purchased on eBay or the internet, before you use it to store any important information.
Do we have a fake (counterfeit) usb flash drive seller in clicktoblue as the evidence clearly indicates?
Or do we have a bad tempered insulting seller who is determined to lose money and personally finance the loss to enrich the less fortunate with 16GB usb flash drives below the market costs for this capacity?
Test and let the team at SOSFakeFlash and FakeFlashNews know.
Refined fake 16GB Sony flash drive sold on ebay by leifengle
This refined fake from leifengle shows the Vaio trademark name on the reverse side – a sure fire sign that this flash drive was not made by Sony (the Vaio name is reserved for laptops) and will cause data loss. This is because such drives show a fake capacity to the operating system and once users get to the limit of the real capacity of the drive (usually no more than 2GB at most) all files are lost or corrupted.
UPDATE 04/06/09
Fake flash seller leifengle has been suspended by ebay and listings removed. If you bought a flash drive from this seller test it immediately with h2testw.
Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device (we can pretty well gaurentee it will) then get your refund claim into paypal quick!
Dancing Hello Kitty a suspect flash drive from kineticmuaythai
What does kineticmuaythai mean by upgrade? We think this means program the drive to be even more fake.
Another flash drive from ebay seller pigpingxian proves to be fake
A flash drive model sold by fraudster pigpingxian as 8GB, which is not yet shown elsewhere, has been reported as a fake capacity drive which failed testing with h2testw. The buyer reported in with test results and full details of the purchase to fightflashfraud. The picture used by the seller and a screenshot from the buyer showing the first part of the test results from h2testw are shown below. Fake fake fakity fake! Avoid this seller!
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rainy—–trip sells impossibly cheap 64GB Kingston
Seller rainy—–trip like xpinky-2008 is registered in Thailand but claims the items being sold are in the UK. The price charged for the drive (which is cleverly not pictured) is impossibly small for a genuine 64GB Kingston.
16GB Fake Counterfeit USB Flash Drives – Review This Collection Available From Internet Wholesalers
You can buy fake capacity usb flash drives cheap from internet wholesalers in the Orient. Price points to suit everyone. A classic collection of fakes in no name brand is being presented for your inspection. The FrankenFlash Project has studied the problem for one year. SOSFakeflash has battled fake flash sellers on eBay along with eBayers Against False Capacity Devices . The war on eBay against fake MP Players, USB Flash drives and memory cards rages on.
People know buying from an eBay seller in the Orient is risky for flash technology, but why do local eBay sellers get caught selling the same fake flash goods?
Local eBay sellers order from wholesaler sites in the orient, looking for low cost with high profit. Not realistic for flash based technology. Buy low, sell high. Using slogans such as “USA Seller”, “UK Seller ” they attract eBay members trying to avoid purchasing fake flash items. When buyers report problems these local sellers often claim “defective one”.
In outreach programs, many local sellers refused to test their merchandise. Others spouted techo babel about the items storing 32GB but you could only access 512MB at a time. Some tested and discovered in horror they had been selling fakes. These sellers removed listings immediately. In the United States and Oceana they would often contact buyers to refund and warn them. The concept of recall, refund is not as strong in Europe.
Knowingly or not, local eBay sellers are helping to unleash the 16GB usb flash plague that leads to data loss for buyers.
InspectorTech and FlashChipTutor did an review of internet sites and chose one sellers collection to present. It represents many of the fake usb penstick flash drives sold on eBay. As you review the prices, please note that the cost of a 16GB flash chip wholesale is over $29 US and is not expected to go lower in 2009. The wholesale cost for 8GB is approximately $13 US and you need two chips to have a total storage of 16GB. Not included in pricing is the rest that makes up a usb flash drive. Only the cost of the chips are given. Keeping this in mind, sellers need to make a profit, they don’t stay in business for long if they sell at a loss.
If you see any items advertising 16GB capacity that look like the items presented in this collection, stay clear. We ask everyone, given the prices for genuine flash chips, can this seller really deliver the promised capacity and stay in business? What are your thoughts and conclusions?
This is not the cheapest seller they found. You can find them at less than half of this sellers price. Naturally you can expect the nand flash drive chip used to be even smaller in real capacity in order to deliver the lower price.
Ebay sellers do your homework! Your dream of buying cheap and selling high will not lead to profit paradise, as your buyers find you out, a fake flash hell is waiting. Please test any merchandise you buy from a wholesaler in orient before you offer it for sale on eBay and elsewhere. It is not just about money, it is about the consequences to buyers when they lose data they can not replace – ever! Selling false capacity usb drives is data poison. Be a responsible seller. If you aren’t willing to research the merchandise you plan to sell, stay AWAY FROM FLASH TECHNOLOGY!
For people interested in buying usb flash drives, please do your research too. After one year of effort the FrankenFlash Project has one message for you from victims of fake flash:
Spend a little more and buy a usb flash drive from a local reputable dealer. All victims have one conclusion – they wished they had! Many feel foolish. Others suffer the pain of information they have lost forever, all because they tried to save money. It is something they regret, many bitterly. Learn from their mistakes and take their advice.
Important Reading:
- USB Flash Drives Best Price Bargains Fair Value To Sell Or Buy 8GB 16GB 32GB
- Genuine Verses Fake Counterfeit USB Flash Drives – A Guide – USB Flash Chips Used – Grades A B C D
- What Are The Real Costs For Flash Chips In China? Guide 2009
- H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives
Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.
Is xpinky-2008 a devious fraudster on ebay?
Seller xpinky-2008 seems rather suspect to fightflashfraud. This seller was registered in Thailand on 27th of June 2008 but states that the 64GB fake capacity Kingston flash drive being sold on buy it now (ebay item 270375435592) is located in Derby in the UK. We suspect that neither the seller nor the flash drives are in Derby.
More UK ebayers list fake 64GB Kingston USB flash drives
UK based ebay sellers a2engineer, shajrari, marcin2578 and naffy23k are all currently selling fake 64GB Kingston USB flash drives. At present we cannot be sure whether these sellers are deliberate fraudsters or not. They may simply be people who fell victim to the lure of profits in these hard times without doing their research to check whether their items were genuine or not. Either way buyers of these fakes will eventually lose all their files.
What Are The Wholesale Prices For Fake 16GB 32GB 64Gb 120GB 240GB 360GB 500GB Sony Kingston Counterfeit USB Flash Drives
Why do eBay members and internet shoppers end up buying fake counterfeit Kingston DataTraveler and Sony MicroVault usb flash drives? Whose fault is it? The buyer? The reseller? The Wholesaler? The black market profiteer who has the flash chips reprogrammed to lie about their real size? It is obvious that the black market profiteer knows what he is doing. Almost all wholesalers do as well. Some resellers know, but quite a few do not. Buyers are not aware and they pay the price.
The FrankenFlash Project is continuing on the mission to educate the Global Public about fake flash usb drives, MP Players and memory cards.
InspectorTech and FlashChipTutor, researched and prepared another shopping trip! Fish out your calculator and have it handy to punch in numbers. Unlike other shopping trips internet addresses and the sites visited are not revealed, instead screen captures are provided as evidence. The Project isn’t interested in promoting these sites or educating people on how to become a fake flash seller. Instead it is an outreach to resellers and consumers to promote awareness.
Here is a rough cost sheet for flash drive chips in US Dollars, valid as of March 2009 and likely to remain for the rest of the year:
1GB = 3.38
2GB = 4.11
4GB = 6.61
8GB = 13.23
16GB = 29.41
These are the costs of the chips. It does not include the rest of the usb drive, MP Player or memory card – just the nand flash chip. Write the prices down on paper for 1GB, 2GB, 4GB. These are the most common true capacity sizes found when testing fakes. It doesn’t matter what the advertised size is. Remember for a usb flash drive the cost of rest of the drive can be about $2 to $5 US more. We don’t have the cost for a 512MB flash chip handy but it may be as low as $1 US.
Every one of these usb flash drives is a counterfeit. No Sony drive shown was ever made by Sony. Some Kingston flash drives may have been made by Kingston, but then reprogrammed by fraudsters to a fake capacity and repackaged. The lime model is 2GB real capacity. Do you know the true capacity found for the “Sony Counterfeits”? Not one drive has shown a capacity higher than 512MB! Surprise. They are using chips most likely cost less than $1 US Dollar. Just like eBay, there are the hidden costs that come with shipping and in many cases you can double the prices you see here. Then add import duties.
Who makes the profit? These items have sold on eBay for more than $60 US at resale to buyers who did not do their homework and trusted in the brand names. Unfortunately eBay is not the only place you will find these drives. These fakes have invaded just about every country; imported by resellers who find the prices so attractive and are dreaming of profit heaven. Soon they will discover the sad truth. Buyers will not spare sellers who sell them and many have contacted local law authorities.
Please do not buy these items. Do not import them into your country. If you are a buyer, report the seller to Kingston or to Sony immediately and give them all the details of the transaction including the sellers address information. If you bought any of these items on eBay, do not spare eBay, eBay seller or PayPal. There is no excuse for sellers not doing their product research before selling. eBay should patrol for these items instead of keeping their head in the sand. Paypal according to SOSFakeFlash needs to stop moaning and wiggling away from refunding buyers – take ownership for buyer protection or remove it all together as it is a sham in the eyes of victims.
Important Reading:
- USB Flash Drives Best Price Bargains Fair Value To Sell Or Buy 8GB 16GB 32GB
- Genuine Verses Fake Counterfeit USB Flash Drives – A Guide – USB Flash Chips Used – Grades A B C D
- Buying Kingston and Sony USB Flash Drives On eBay Safely – A Guide
- Kingston USB Flash Drives – Detect Counterfeits And Fakes – Product Verification
- Free Fake Flash Guide Download From Fighting flash fraud on Ebay
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H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives
Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.
Fake Kingston and Sony USB flash drives – a horrific problem
We are horrified at the variety of fake Kingston and Sony drives sold on the Internet generally and ebay (our main focus at the moment) particularly.
SELLERS: PLEASE DO RESEARCH BEFORE BUYING KINGSTON OR OTHER BRAND NAME DRIVES FOR RESALE!
Most are fake – you will lose money and end up with angry buyers if you do not check that items are genuine.
ebay seller yummymummy18-08-86 sells an expensive fake
Here is a rather expensive fake being sold by UK seller yummymummy18-08-86 – this drive probably has a real capacity of about 512mb not 16GB – the real 16GB is red. The value of this drive would be about £3.50 – £4.50 if it was not fraudulently programmed to show a higher capacity to the operating system. It is worthless as it stands. There are real 16GB flash drives available for around £20 – £30 so buying this would be an expensive way of losing all your files! We strongly advise people not to buy Kingston drives on ebay – so far we have not found any real ones, only fakes. In fact we’d strongly advise avoiding flash drives on ebay altogether as there are so few genuine ones.
Seller apealy probably a familiar ebay fraudster with a new ID
Seller apealy is selling the usual set of fake 16GB flash drives from a familiar ring of Hong Kong fraudsters. Some of the pictures used are exactly the same as previously used by this fraud ring – especially in the early listings. They are obviously cottoning on to how easily we spot these as apealy has changed to new pictures for some drives. Here is a screenshot of a listing for the most obvious fake – the real 16GB model is has red plastic, not green!
beyboosry and markroesmoa sell “64GB” flash drives on ebay
Two sellers with new IDs registered in Hong Kong, beyboosry and markroesmoa, are using identical pictures to sell “64GB” flash drives. These listings set off alarm bells at fighflashfraud and we consider them highly suspect. The prices the flash drives are selling for would bankrupt anyone who was selling real flash drives. Real 64GB flash drives sell for the best part of £100. You cannot get anything but a fake for £40.
Counterfeit Ring – eBay Sellers minggege99, abestpartner0, and niuren2008
SOSFakeFlash can confirm that the seller ids: minggege99, abestpartner0, and niuren2008 are the same same person who was involved in the trafficking in these Counterfeit Kingston DT150 32GB usb flash drives recently flooding eBay. Over 4600+ units were sold and over £80,000 of listing sales on eBay!
eBay removed all evidence and deregistered the seller ids. PayPal is currently trying to evade responsibilty in refunding buyers. Both must be very worried about hearing from Kingston Technologies for allowing these items to be sold on eBay, many eBay members contacted Kingston and all were told the items they had purchased were counterfeits.
Who is the seller or distributor? Reported by victims, one:
LEE Wai Bun
FLAT RM 842 6/floor
HANG SENGBLDG
64 DES VOEUX RD
CENTRAL
Hong Kong
To assist the Hong Kong Police and the Hong Kong Technology Crime Division to find and question Lee Wai Bun about these counterfeits:
You can also write to the Technology Crime Prevention Unit at:
or if you wish, donate your fake by mailing it with your details to:
Technology Crime Prevention Unit,
Technology Crime Division,
Commercial Crime Bureau, HKP,
22/F, Arsenal House,
Police Headquarters,
1 Arsenal Street, Wanchai
Hong Kong.
KINGSTON DT150 128GB USB Flash Drive Shows Up On eBay!
A KINGSTON DT150 128GB USB Flash Drive for sale on eBay? Oh no…. Oh yes!
The last 40 days have been bad for Kingston’s flag ship usb drive with over 4,600 counterfeits sold on eBay – they were only 32GB. Now a whopping size of 128GB has appeared and is being sold by eBay seller chichouneatonio.
We don’t think eBay seller chichouneatonio did his homework. Please do not buy this usb flash drive. eBay sellers, please research your merchandise on eBay before you list!
If you visit kingston at: http://www.kingston.com/flash/dt150.asp?id=8 you are not going to see this usb flash drive. At the moment the largest capacity available is 64GB and NO HIGHER!
Everyone, when you are interested in a brand name usb flash drive, visit the manufacturers site first. See what they make, what the flash drives look like and their prices if available.
This item is also a poor counterfeit. Can you see why besides the obvious colour coding?
Would Kingston use a sticker for the capacity size? Over existing packaging? We don’t think so.
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 FAKE 8GB 16GB 32GB 64GB USB Flash Drives – The Most Famous And Oldest Fake Still Sold On eBay And Internet Sites
Would you like to see the oldest and still very popular fake usb flash drive sold on eBay and available at internet wholesaler sites in China? This drive normally doesn’t have a genuine flash drive capacity more than 2GB but it has been reprogrammed to false capacity sizes as high as 64GB!
Important Reading:
- USB Flash Drives Best Price Bargains Fair Value To Sell Or Buy 8GB 16GB 32GB
- Genuine Verses Fake Counterfeit USB Flash Drives – A Guide – USB Flash Chips Used – Grades A B C D
- Buying Kingston and Sony USB Flash Drives On eBay Safely – A Guide
- Kingston USB Flash Drives – Detect Counterfeits And Fakes – Product Verification
- Free Fake Flash Guide Download From Fighting flash fraud on Ebay
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H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives
Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.
It has been sold for several years on eBay, by many fake flash sellers. If you see a drive like this being sold – make your bidding fingers run in the opposite direction! There is something special about this particular fake besides the fact that more eBayers have been stung by this one model then any other. This is the false capacity usb flash drive that started the war on fake flash selling. If you are reading articles at one of the FrankenFlash Project websites – you can thank this model.
One of the good things about this fake is that it is easy to take a part to decode the flash chip and the controller chip. It usually has an icreate controller but the flash drive chips differ. It has been sold for very low prices and very high prices. Much depends on the size of the false capacity. For example if you want it to pretend to be 32GB this is a wholesale price being offered at a site in the orient for resellers.
The seller says there are 8 4GB flash chips inside. Hmmm.
The circuit board is 2 inches long. So how could you get 8 4GB flash chips and the controller chip to fit even if you use both sides? Old flash drives generally have a flash drive chip 3/4 inch long. Even if they are 1/2 inch long each, there is no place for the controller chip. The icreate chip is 1/4 inch in length. Flash drive chips need a distance from each other for soldering. To make 8 chips seen as one, you need a very advanced controller and that would cost $
It has been sold under so many descriptions and so many sizes. In the past, listings would boost about it being a Samsung flash drive. 50% of fake flash sellers on eBay still offer this ancient. It can be ordered wholesale in large quantities for as low as $2.5 Small wonder then that it continues to be present on eBay.
Use it at it’s false capacity and you will lose data.
Victims complain it stores files in Chinese. Please, nobody is kidding here but people unfamiliar with computers and technology have said this and not once either. No it does not store files in Chinese, but the swiggles and strange characters one often sees is the result of corruption once you exceed the true capacity. Not only that, you can not delete the files or folders. You have to reformat it in the operating system to begin another cycle of fake flash data loss.
The good news is that this is one of the easiest fakes to repair. And once repaired to it’s tiny real capacity it behaves.
This classic of classics will be around for a long time to come. It is very inexpensive for resellers, the temptation just too great. Mostly you will find it at 16GB these days. The higher false capacities are just too obvious to most and real 32GB and 64GB flash drives can be found under $150 these, with rebates from genuine brand, a lot less.
So if you see this drive advertised for more than 2GB in size stay clear. By the way, it comes in true capacities as low as 512MB…
If you want to review all the counterfeits found on eBay you can visit these two sites. Just type in the word Kingston in the search box to see what is currently documented:
64GB fake Kingston from mass_storage_estore and *big_memory*
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UK sellers mass_storage_estore and *big_memory* are offering 64GB Kingston fakes for sale despite having been warned that this model of drive is not made at this capacity. Don’t these sellers understand that they are committing a criminal offence by offering such items for sale? Are they so desperate for money that they are willing to risk landing in jail? |  |
Sony Upgrades Kingston DataTraveler DTI/2GB To 64GB – Scams And Fraudsters!
Would Sony upgrade Kingston’s DataTraveler 2GB DTI/2GB to an amazing 64GB? They are competitors in the usb flash drive market. Why would Sony give Kingston a helping hand and make a 2GB usb flash drive walk on water? To demonstrate they have more knowledge and expertise? FlashChipTutor doesn’t think so. It is just more fake flash spin from counterfeiters who continue to attack both brand names to make their fake flash profits.
Resellers looking to make a fast dollar order from these wholesale internet sites in the Orient. For $15 US can a counterfeit. Most are resold on eBay. “Upgrading” is a polite word used in the orient for digitally altering a usb flash drive to lie about it’s true capacity to the operating system.
Important Reading:
- USB Flash Drives Best Price Bargains Fair Value To Sell Or Buy 8GB 16GB 32GB
- Genuine Verses Fake Counterfeit USB Flash Drives – A Guide – USB Flash Chips Used – Grades A B C D
- Buying Kingston and Sony USB Flash Drives On eBay Safely – A Guide
- Kingston USB Flash Drives – Detect Counterfeits And Fakes – Product Verification
- Free Fake Flash Guide Download From Fighting flash fraud on Ebay
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H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives
Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.
Sony did not exactly upgrade this usb flash drive. It is also the lime model and that would be only 2GB true capacity if it actually has the right flash drive chip inside. Anyone who used this drive will suffer data loss once they exceed 2GB.
If you want to review all the counterfeits found on eBay you can visit these two sites. Just type in the word Kingston in the search box to see what is currently documented:
Cost of flash chips in media players, flash drives or memory cards
SOSFakeFlash asks that all victims of fake flash purchases read the following article by FlashChipTutor:
What Are The Real Costs For Flash Chips In China? Guide 2009
Please see the current pricing for flash chips. You still need to test but you will understand why you fell into the fake flash pit along with the rest of us. FlashChipTutor is interested in your comments!
abestpartner0 – Did You Buy a 32GB Kingston DT150 32GB 32 GB DataTraveler 150 USB Flash Drive From This eBay Seller?
If you purchased a USB Flash Drive from abestpartner0 eBay please test it immediately to ensure that you have the advertised capacity. Please see: H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives for testing information and where you can find the software to download.
eBay has deregistered this seller after he sold over 1300+ counterfeit Kingston DT150 32GB 32 GB DataTraveler 150 USB 2.0 Flash Drives. abestpartner0 earned over $50,000 at the expense of eBay members.
Time is running out to file a dispute, please read these articles for help.
UK seller moneyworx11 sells massive fake capacity flash drive
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Yet again a seller in the uk has listed a non-existent capacity drive. Can we stress yet again that there is NO SUCH THING AS A 120GB USB FLASH DRIVE
The seller, moneyworx11, may be a deliberate fraudster as buyer IDs are being kept private. |
Is Kingston And Sony Making Cheap 16GB USB Flash Drives? A Sony MicroVault DataTraveler Wholesale $11 US
Sony and Kingston, are they joining forces to make a Sony MicroVault DataTraveler usb flash drive? Yes you can buy them wholesale. The best of both worlds Sony and Kingston. Their famous usb flash drive names: MicroVault and Datatraveler.
Of course there is no such thing. Kingston did not make it and Sony did not make it. FlashChipTutor is convinced they are not the ones to come up with such a hybrid. Of course it is just more fake flash spin. You can buy them cheap too. These 16GB fakes are selling at less then the cost of an grade A 8GB flash drive chip!
Naturally you can expect to NOT receive the advertised capacity. This the famous little fake that sports the Sony name and the Microvault brand. SOSFakeFlash doesn’t have a true capacity on record higher than 512MB so far. It can be just about any size you want it to be, fake flash reprogrammers are happy to oblige so long as they get their cut. The bigger you want it to be, the more they will charge you. This little counterfeit has been sold in sizes as high as 500GB! There are no usb flash pen sticks on the market for consumers higher than 64GB. This famous counterfeit does a lot of damage to buyers data. If you want to lose your precious files, buy this drive. If you are a reseller who wants to cheat people and then be chased from pillar to post by angry buyers and have the police knocking at your door this is thing to sell.
Important Reading:
- USB Flash Drives Best Price Bargains Fair Value To Sell Or Buy 8GB 16GB 32GB
- Genuine Verses Fake Counterfeit USB Flash Drives – A Guide – USB Flash Chips Used – Grades A B C D
- Buying Kingston and Sony USB Flash Drives On eBay Safely – A Guide
- Kingston USB Flash Drives – Detect Counterfeits And Fakes – Product Verification
- Free Fake Flash Guide Download From Fighting flash fraud on Ebay
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H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives
Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.
If you want to review all the counterfeits found on eBay you can visit these two sites. Just type in the word Kingston in the search box to see what is currently documented:
http://ebay.dybteam.com Attacked – The FrankenFlash Project Advises New Address http://ebay.totalh.com
Due to heavy bandwidth and the recent attack on http://ebay.dybteam.com/ the FrankenFlash Project has removed this website.
It addressed Bayers who suffered from fake and false capacity MP Players, USB flash drives and Memory Cards Purchased on eBay. Specializing in providing translation to reach the global community, eBayers Against False Capacity Flash will be missed.
It is not easy to fight the the issue of fake MP Players, Memory Cards and Usb flash drives. Fraudsters and scammers are finding their sales decreasing. That is what the project has in mind. Eliminating the traffic in false capacity fake MP Players, Usb Flash drives and MP Players. The profits made by these scammers and fraudsters is alarming. The damage being done to buyers with lost information is terrible. It is a war. Fake Flash needs to be stopped. eBay is the first area to be addressed. Fortunately there are team members who have a solid IT background working in the project.
Who has contributed to the fight? Everyone. From housewife and causal computer user, to accountants and IT professionals. Teenagers, Truck Drivers and Octogenarians – all have tried to give a helping hand. It’s a global problem. It needs to be stopped. The project has replaced http://ebay.dybteam.com/ with:
we don’t intend to let the international community down. Ebayers Against Fake Flash Devices II has the same functionality of the old site. Translation will be slower but it is now offered in 42 languages. It offers caching but will only translate 1 article every 11 minutes. In time the cache will build to provide everyone with the information they need in languages they understand.
For translation on news for fake flash you can visit http://fakeflashnews.totalh.com/ FakeFlashNews II.
MP Players eBay Stop Buying 8GB 16GB MP3 MP4 At Cut Rate Bargain Prices SOSFakeFlash Advises
MP Players are hot on eBay! Beware. 8GB and 16GB Players with MP3 or MP4 are likely to be fakes or counterfeits if you bought at low prices. If you are lucky your MP player will be 2GB or 4GB – not more.
Fake MP Players on eBay are an old story and it’s been around for several years. Every day there is a new crop of victims. Why? Bargain hunting! SOSFakeFlash has no choice but to issue this warning. Do not buy any MP Players on eBay advertised as 8GB or 16GB. Period! Stop looking for bargains! You are not going to get a real 8GB or 16GB at $25 to $50.
We know that economic conditions are hard, but you need to be realistic about paying fair prices. If you want to pay less and get more – welcome to fake flash hell!
You might find SOSFakeFlash’s words harsh. They are. Too many people are being frauded and few get their money back. Many eBayers are conned into believing their MP Player is “defective”. There is nothing defective in reprogramming a flash drive chip to lie about it’s size!
Make sure to look at the reference reading presented below for additional information and advice. Also see the list of eBay Sellers caught selling fake MP Players as of April 4th, 2009 at the end of this article
Most of the Fake MP Players are coming from sellers in Hong Kong and China. There appear to be two distinct rings operating under many id’s. It is a fake flash collective. Beware that due to SOSFakeFlash’s internet presence eBay sellers are now listing advertising local countries. You will only realize the truth when your MP Player arrives.
The profits from selling fake MP Players is mind numbing! Current estimates are 1 in a 250 sold leads to a PayPal dispute, that is 249 ahead. Both eBay and fake flash seller are dancing with fake flash profit joy – at your expense!
Avoid the misery of filing disputes. The pain grows when eBay quickly suspends the seller, whoops all listings gone, all evidence gone. You will have to crawl under the hood of your Paypal account and do a lot of extra digging to file a dispute when a seller is deregistered.
eBay and PayPal are not not going to make it easy for you. The harder the better. After all they don’t want to refund you. eBay has never warned members who bought from a fake flash seller and they never will. Why? It means admitting to the fact they have a problem.
Never pay for an MP Player using your bank account, use your credit card with PayPal. It gives you a better chance of recovering your money. PayPal hates it. Fake flash sellers will hate it more! PayPal may say they can’t refund you because they need to get to the fake flash sellers funds. Funny how quickly they will claw back the money from the fraudster when the credit card company does a reversal!
For now, do not buy MP Players at 8GB 16GB with MP3 MP4 on eBay. Save up until you have enough to buy a real one locally. There are just too many fakes. eBay is not cleaning things up, instead they registering sellers so they can remove listings and all traces of what these scammers sold! The fraud is astonishing.
If you bought an MP Player on eBay, tested it and found out you have a fake, make sure you leave a negative immediately! File a dispute afterwards. Never withdraw your negative in exchange for a refund. Never return a fake with the hope or promise of your refund. Also be a good citizen and do your part – contact other buyers who left positive feedback and get them to test! If you left positive feedback – do follow up feedback indicating that you really bought a fake! Add in your feedback the web address sosfakeflash.wordpress.com – our calling card and message to fake flash sellers and to assist other eBayers trying to find the truth and get help!
- Fake MP Players On Ebay – 8GB 16GB Tidal Wave Of False Capacity – What Can You Do?
- eBay Fake Flash Sellers Of MP Players – USB Flash Drives – Memory Cards – About Their IDs
- Buying On eBay – MP Players – Memory Cards – USB Flash drives – Why You should Use A Credit Card To Pay And Not Your Bank Account
- Why eBayers Don’t Get Refunds When They Return Fake Flash
- PayPal How Long Do You Have To Claim For A Refund In Disputes? A Guide About PayPal From eBayer’s Experiences.
Also visit the new site http://flashdrivefacts.wordpress.com/ and read:
- USB Flash Drives Best Price Bargains Fair Value To Sell Or Buy 8GB 16GB 32GB
- Genuine Verses Fake Counterfeit USB Flash Drives – A Guide – USB Flash Chips Used – Grades A B C D
Report in to SOSFakeFlash if your testing confirms you have a false capacity device.
Now, have a look at the sellers caught by SOSFakeFlash so far.
Ebayer yexinhong888 sells 16GB flash drives that look very suspect
| Ebay seller yexinhong888 is selling 16GB flash drives that look very suspect to fightflashfraud. This seller, based in China, is selling drives in packaging that is well known as being used for fake capacity drives. If you bought from this seller you should immediately test your drive with the program h2testw. It is extremely likely that flash drives from this seller have been programmed to lie about their capacity to the operating system. It is likely that the real capacity of the drives is 2GB or less. Anyone using fraudulently programmed memory will eventually lose all their files. |  |
UK ebay seller marriott-adam selling 360GB & 500GB Kingston
We are informed that 360GB & 500GB Kingston are being listed by UK based seller marriott-adam. When questioned by an ebayer about a 360GB drive the seller claimed to work for a company that manufactures them for Kingston. Kingston denies there are any drives above 64GB. Who would you believe?
Fighting flash fraud on Ebay 