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.

Test USB flash drives from ebay seller accseries with h2testw

We have a feeling that UK seller accseries made the mistake of buying these USB flash drives from one of the fraudulent suppliers that sell fakes. If we are right then this USB flash drive will fail testing with h2testw because it is fake capacity and a fake capacity USB flash drive corrupts files after a while. The seller probably has no idea these could 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 (or your customers, if you are a seller) run the risk of data loss and corruption.

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

yanglinshop – an ebay fraud ID in China selling fake flash drives

Beware!! Avoid ebay seller yanglinshop. This is an ebay fraud ID in China used to sell fake flash memory which corrupts files amongst other rubbish that falls apart or doesn’t work according to what we read in the seller’s feedback. This ID no doubt belongs to one of the familiar fraud rings operating on ebay out of China.

Seller yanglinshop is one of the more devious sellers of fake capacity flash memory. The listing in which this fake capacity USB flash drive which corrupts files was sold was private all this seller’s listings seem to be. This is a cunning way of hiding what anyone who leaves negative feedback is complaining about! Never buy flash memory on ebay if the listing is private – you are fairly certain to get a fake that trashes your data!

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.

Upcoming article about Internet fraud for Which? magazine

A freelance journalist has contacted us because he is planning to write an article about fraud on the Internet for Which? magazine. He is writing it from a consumer perspective and is interested in hearing from victims of fake flash fraud.

If anyone would like to speak to him about their experience, please leave a comment on this post and we will pass your email address on to him – we have not made his email address public and we will not make yours public either!

Are UK ebay seller’s 16GB Sandisk flash drives genuine or fake?

If this 16GB Sandisk USB flash drive (ebay item number 260560939485) listed on ebay UK by shamjeth1 is genuine then the seller is taking a big risk by listing at auction with a 99p start. Most flash memory sold at auction on ebay fetches below wholesale price so anyone selling like this risks making a loss.

Seller shamjeth1 was lucky last time he or she sold one (item number 260557243135 sold on 28th February) as it went for £18.00 so the inflated postage costs (£4.95) mean the seller would not have made a loss on that occasion. However, had the drive sold for much less, shamjeth1 would have made a loss if it was genuine. We may be wrong – but we have a lurking suspicion that this may not be a genuine Sandisk.

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.

1GB flash drive with free upgrade to 2GB?? We don’t think so!

What on earth does seller discjunkie_2008 mean by free upgrade to 2GB?? You can’t upgrade a flash drive. It’s either a 1GB flash drive or it’s a 2GB flash drive!!

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.