UK seller p-ultimaltd lists 64GB Kingston 150 in 24hr auction!!!

We think that the flash drive (item number 280361437726)  listed in a 24 hour auction by seller p-ultimaltd with a starting bid price of 99p has to be fake. The seller is using private auctions (usually a certain indication of fraud where flash memory is concerned) and clearly states he will not accept returns:

returns are not accepted we only resale this items from factory if you have any problems you need to contact manufacturer for your 5 yeas warranty

Think this just about says it all! Kingston will not refund your money if a flash drive is counterfeit (which we are pretty certain any from this seller will be) the seller is going to resist refunding you and so are ebay and paypal – they want to keep their mitts on the ill-gotten gains too!

Do not buy Kingston DataTraveler 150 flash drives from any seller on ebay!! You will almost certainly be defrauded. If there is a genuine ebay seller of these we would be pleased to hear about it – we will check with Kingston!

Looks like another fake flash seller based in China

Feedback comments indicate that the 8GB flash drives shown above which were sold by kenqyeung08 are fake capacity (2GB not 8GB). Unlike most sellers in China (who are normally polite to buyers) this one responds to negatives by saying that buyers are lying.

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.

Another fake 128GB Kingston flash drive

An ebay member in Australia sold this fake 128GB Kingston USB flash drive for AU $127.50 (approximately £62.56) today. Kingston only announced the first ever 128GB made by anyone on 15th of June. The flash drive looks nothing like this and it is only available on special order. The item shown above is fake fake fakity-fake.

We hoped the seller would pay heed to the ebayer who warned him about this item being fake and remove the item from sale quickly. Not a bit of it. Instead it seems that seller tuyet130953 grabbed the money from the highest bidder and ended the sale early. Not what we would call an honourable course of action!

Ebay sellers be aware – the frankenflash project is watching you. If you sell fake flash memory then you are likely to end up with your ebay ID turning up in internet searches and your reputation going down the pan. It is your responsibility to check that your flash memory items are genuine – when you list an item you accept full responsibility for your listing. Selling fake and counterfeit flash drives is fraud and if you commit fraud you can hardly complain at the consequences.

As ever 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.

Feedback suggests ebay seller hkonstore11 sold fake memory cards

Seller hkonstore11 is not listing anything for sale on ebay at the moment but feedback suggests that the memory cards shown above and the all too familiar flash drive above were fake capacity. There is also a comment about a fake 16GB Hello Kitty flash drive. If you bought flash memory items from this seller test them with the free program h2testw.

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

64GB Corsair auctioned on ebay.com with 99p start price.

We have no idea where this ebay member got this Corsair flash drive but we do know that if it is genuine the seller is likely to make a huge loss.

As ever 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.

Is this a genuine 32GB USB flash drive?

If the flash drive advertised here by seller blueberry_yang2008 genuinely has a capacity of 32GB we will be very surprised. The buy it now price seems too low for the seller to make a profit. The seller previously sold the same model as 2GB – we suspect this may be the true capacity of this flash drive. If you bought one of these you should test it immediately it arrives with the free program h2testw

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

New ebay member in the USA seems to have been to fakeflashland

It seems to us that yet another new ebay member has been shopping in fakeflashland and come back with counterfeit Kingston DataTraveler 150 flash drives in both “32GB and “64GB” capacities. The seller may be unaware that these are likely to be counterfeits – and the buyers who have left feedback so far probably didn’t either test their drives with h2testw or contact Kingston to verify them. Ever genuine DataTraveler 150 has a unique serial number which can be used to verify with Kingston that the drive is genuine.

UPDATE 24/06/09
This seller seems to have been de-registered by ebay – as usual they have made life more difficult for those who bought fakes by removing not only listings for items that had not yet been sold but those that had been bought and paid for – thanks a lot ebay!

If you bought a “Kingston” flash drive from this seller email Kingston with clear photographs of both sides of the USB connector, along with a clear photo of the back of the package. Ask them to email you confirmation that your flash drive is counterfeit. You should then be able to use this email as evidence to claim a refund through paypal. Read the articles on our blogs about PayPal refunds to learn about the dirty tricks they may employ to avoid giving you a refund so that you know how to deal with these!