Archive for the ‘Advice’ Category
Posted by kittyfireflash on November 15, 2009
eBay Sellers of Fake Flash Memory (False Capacity) usb flash drives, memory cards, mp players as of 20081115 documented by SOSFakeFlash. 735 sellers listed. The ebay sellers on this list have been documented and investigated. SOSFakeFlash has made it easy for you to research. The list is now in two pages: * to K , L to Z.
If you are a victim please report in using the Report A Fake Tab. You matter! You, can help the list grow and increase the counts against these fraudsters!
Sellers * to K
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advice, Hot, Negative FB Tool | Tagged: eBay Fake Flash Guides, eBayers Against False Capacity Drives, eBayFakeFlashSeller, FrankenFlash Project, Fraud USB Flash, SOSFakeFlash | 1 Comment »
Posted by kittyfireflash on November 15, 2009
eBay Sellers of Fake Flash Memory (False Capacity) usb flash drives, memory cards, mp players as of 20091115 documented by SOSFakeFlash. 735 sellers listed. The ebay sellers on this list have been documented and investigated. SOSFakeFlash has made it easy for you to research. The list is now in two pages: * to K , L to Z.
If you are a victim please report in using the Report A Fake Tab. You matter! You, can help the list grow and increase the counts against these fraudsters!
Sellers L to Z
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advice, Hot, Negative FB Tool | Tagged: eBay Fake Flash Guides, eBayers Against False Capacity Drives, eBayFakeFlashSeller, FrankenFlash Project, Fraud USB Flash, SOSFakeFlash | 1 Comment »
Posted by kittyfireflash on September 30, 2009
This is your short reading kit to help you with your eBay Fake Flash Seller.
All the information comes from previous victims who contributed to assist YOU the victims of the future! You will find all the information you need in this reference list.
Please make sure you report in for your eBay fake flash seller using the Report A Fake Tab.
Your evidence is important! We build the fake flash sellers list from people who report. It helps us to issue alert posts on the internet to help others. You should report in, even if an alert has been issued or the seller exists on a list, you can increase the count against a seller. If a seller has been suspended by eBay, the id “deregistered” you can still file a claim with paypal. If you advise us quickly we can still investigate and preserve the evidence.
Testing For Real Capacity Of Memory Storage Chips:
You can run a program to find out what the real size is of your MP Player, usb flash drive your memory card is. Please read: H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives
It will explain about the program H2testw. It includes access to download links and a poll for you to vote on as to how useful the article was to you.
How you can help out:
To understand about Fake Flash Sellers Read:
A Victim’s insight: ebidetrade001 Ebay Fake Flash Seller High Alert Devious – Hong Kong
Victim consumer education on nand flash storage chips:
Want to know the bid prices eBay victims paid for fake MP Players. Read: MP Players On Ebay – Current Prices For Cheap Fake 2GB 4GB 8GB 16GB 32 GB SOSFakeFlash’s Report it includes Q2, 2009!
Important Reading:
PayPay Guide:
eBay:
Checking A Sellers Negative And Neutral Feedback:
Use this tool: http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs
type in your sellers name. Make a note of revised feedback. Those are eBay members who gave into to a fake flash seller in exchange for their money. This tool preserves their original comments before they caved in and allowed you to fall into the fake flash sellers net.
SOSFakeFlash does accept financial donations. If you found this tool useful, please make a small donation to Toolhaus.org – see their PayPal donate button.
eBay Fake Flash Seller Lists:
See the Category Negative FB Tool You will find the most recent lists in this category. We close a fake flash sellers list, usually every month and offer a new one. If you go through the archive of past lists, you can see our progress. You are the ones who really allow for that to happen by reporting in and fighting back.
Repairing Your Fake Flash Device:
Do you want to repair your fake flash memory item? Read: Should You Repair A Fake USB Flash (Pen) Drive?
Please vote on the polls for the article. We need to know your opinions and directions!
If you still wish to proceed, begin with a visit to http://fixfakeflash.wordpress.com/ and read the article on About VID PID Repairing Counterfeit Flash Drives – Steps To Succeed to begin your journey.
Help Support Our Sites – Donate To Our Host Provider:
How can you help support our sites? SOSFakeFlash does not accept donations as we work for free. WordPress is a fabulous software. Did you know it was free? WordPress.com offers “Free” hosting. Yes, absolutely free! They have great technical support and do a beautiful job maintaining sites. They upgrade, enhance and improve things all the time!
If you found the information at SOSFakeFlash useful to you, please consider a small donation to WordPress:
http://wordpress.org/donate/
We appreciate their software, innovation and hosting. If you like our work, please help to support WordPress.com. They made it possible for us to provide you with the information you need!
Recruiting – SOSFakeFlash Needs Help:
Do you have any time to spare? We need new members and help! You can sign on for a short term of duty or a long one. Generally people play it by ear. This is a difficult fight. Current members are suffering from exhaustion, all because they are trying to help – YOU! If you are interested in helping, let us know. You can write to SOSFakeFlashDrive@gmail.com
We need people to warn others, to patrol eBay for potential fake flash listings for MP Players, memory cards and usb flash drives. We also need people who could translate some articles into foreign languages. You decide how you can help.
Posted in eBay Survival Kit | Tagged: eBay Fraud, eBay Refunds, Fake Flash Memory, Fake Memory Chips, False Capacity Flash Memory, FrankenFlash Project, PayPal Refunds, SOSFakeFlash | Leave a Comment »
Posted by kittyfireflash on September 12, 2009
eBay sellers who sell false capacity usb flash drives, try to play innocent. Will you fall for their stories? A victim of Hjstore did not.
Stephen’s eBay Buying Experience:
This has really turned me off from eBay. I use to purchase a lot of electronic odds and ends from there and now I just want to stay away.
I found out about this site a few days ago after looking for some flash memory and seeing an auction claiming fake flash chips, so I tested an 32GB SD card I got around April that I had not used yet. It was fake and died in the verifying process… Yesterday when I got a thumb drive I purchased a few months back I tested it. FAKE…
I sent an email to the seller and filed a cliam through Paypal. Here are the transcripts.
Stephen To Hjstore
I purchased a “16 GB USB Thumb Drive” as described in the auction.
I received the drive today, when i tried to load the drive with data and retrieve it, the data was shown to be corrupt.
I ran a test using “H2testw 1.4″ which fills the drive with data and checks to see that is actually exists on the drive. The test has shown that the drive is significantly less in capacity than described. (Results are available).
I have read and experienced (in a previous SD Card purchase) that there is a large amount of fake or “hacked” flash chips on the market. I strongly feel that this is one of those items.
Here are the results from the test. Observe that the “DATA LOST” is 13.6 GB and that the “OK” data is 1.9 GB.
The media is likely to be defective.
1.9 GByte OK (4109958 sectors)
13.6 GByte DATA LOST (28623226 sectors)
Details:12.9 GByte overwritten (27262758 sectors)
26.5 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 53 sectors)
664.2 MByte corrupted (1360415 sectors)
64 KByte aliased memory (128 sectors)
First error at offset: 0×0000000000000000
Expected: 0×0000000000000000
Found: 0×00000003e6e50000
Writing speed: 2.61 MByte/s
Reading speed: 4.80 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
Thank you very much.
HJStore To Stephen
Dear friend,
I’m sorry for the inconvenience.
But we perform very strict QC procedure and we are sure the item works fine.
I don’t know why the problem happens.
Shall I send a 70% refund and you keep this item?
Or could you please return it for a full refund?
Please accept my sincere apologies.
Best Regards
HJ^
Stephen To HJStore
I would like a full refund as the drive is not what was advertised.
Paypal to Stephen
A Refund was issued.
Stephen, performed the testing we ask of buyers. He then reported in using the Report A Fake Tab .
He had the addressing information for HJStore. Little did Stephen know just how important this information would be! The addresses were checked in SOSFakeFlash’s database. We were able to confirm another eBay id belonging to two counterfeit rings operating on eBay.
Read: eBay Fraud – Heng Fung House – Home To eBay Counterfeit Ring – Lei Sio Hong. Connected To The Don Of Fake Flash In the Orient – 3ToTrade. SOSFakeFlash Investigation.
HJStore’s Testing
But we perform very strict QC procedure and we are sure the item works fine.
Is not unusual for a fake flash seller to say this to a buyer. The strict “QC” HJStore is talking about, is testing to see that the fake will show up as 16GB to an operating system. Flash drive chips are digitally altered to lie about their real size to operating systems.
Do not fall for any tall tales HJStore might tell.
Stephen learned about SOSFakeFlash because someone on eBay tipped him off with a listing. eBay listings about fake pen drives, mp players and memory cards are important. The message must be where the fakes are being sold. It warns people. It teaches them to be careful – to become smart consumers. Most people do not know memory chips can be altered. They do not expect to find this on eBay.
The listing on eBay interested Stephen to test a memory card he bought on eBay but never got around to using. It died during the testing. When his pen stick arrived, he was already prepared to test it for true capacity. It failed. Stephen went to battle with HJStore and won. His report to SOSFakeFlash helped add another eBay id to two very sinister counterfeit rings that operate together on eBay. Read: Urgent – Hjstore eBay Seller. Did You Buy A 16GB USB 2.0 Flash Memory 16G Pen Stick Thumb Drive From This Seller?
Never underestimate the value of a warning listing on eBay.
Posted in Advice, Alert, Articles - Choice, Stories | Tagged: Fake Flash China, Fake Flash Hong Kong, Fake Memory, SOSFakeFlash | Leave a Comment »
Posted by kittyfireflash on September 11, 2009
SOSFakeFlash has been asking eBay members who have been victims of fake flash sellers to become more active and aggressive to fight the issue on the home territory – eBay.
Fraudulent sellers get away with selling false capacity usb flash drives, MP Players and memory cards because few test the capacity properly. A quick inspection to see what the operating system reports. Fakes are digitally altered to “fool” operating systems! So buyers leave positive feedback, only to discover the awful truth later. Meanwhile, more members fall into the net, trusting the feedback of previous buyers.
One way to help is as a Fake Flash Angel. Contact people who bought from a fake flash seller and send them a warning message, to test!
An eBay member to be known as “Joe” received such a message from another eBay member.
“Joe” wrote to SOSFakeFlash: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advice, Alert, Battle Plan, Stories | Tagged: eBay, eBay Fraud, Fake Flash Angel, Fake Memory, Fake Memory Cards, Fake MP Players, FrankenFlash Project, SOSFakeFlash | Leave a Comment »
Posted by kittyfireflash on September 11, 2009
As an eBay member it is your RIGHT to share your “buying experience” with others and ask them about theirs. If you bought a fake mp player, usb flash drive or memory card you should warn others for the seller. People do not test the capacity properly, they discover the truth much later after leaving positive feedback. Many lose important information.
These sellers on eBay hurt a lot of people and they make a great deal of money. The only way to stop them and shorten their eBay lives is to warn others. eBay only allows a member to send up to 5 messages a day. This quota means one victim can not be effective against a seller, it needs more victims to compensate for the 5 a day message limit.
In 2008, one eBay member asked other buyers about the usb flash drives they purchased. The usb flash drives were fakes. These eBayers also started to contact others.
Soon a full scale war to rid eBay of these items began. There have been many battles and there will be more. The only thing preventing a return to the old days on eBay is YOU!
So how do you warn others? Here is a guide that shows you how. The things to do. The thing’s you should not do. It’s not hard being a fake flash angel, it can take less then 15 minutes a day of your time. Will it make a difference? Yes. Learn why.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advice, Alert, Battle Plan, Strategy | Tagged: eBay, eBay Fraud, Fake Flash Angel, Fake MP Players, FrankenFlash Project, SOSFakeFlash | 8 Comments »
Posted by kittyfireflash on August 14, 2009
Did You Leave Positive Feedback For A Fake Flash Seller Of MP Players, Memory Cards Or USB Flash Drives Purchased On eBay? You are not alone!
Most people only give a quick inspection of their item, they don’t test the full advertised capacity. Afterall, who expected to receive a false capacity item in the first place? Never test by looking at what the operating system tells you about the size, that is the classic trap!
Fake items advertised at 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 120GB, 128GB, 240GB, 360GB, 500GB, 512GB have been digitally altered to lie about their real capacity. Test with H2testw.
You can add to your positive feedback, by doing “Follow Up FeedBack”! Let everyone know the truth!
By putting keywords such as “SOSFakeFlash” and “H2testw” along with the real size and the word FAKE, you can warn others. Fake Flash Sellers hate it! Victims love it!
Don’t forget, if you are still in your claim window race off to PayPal and file a dispute against the seller to get your money back.
Posted in Advice, Fake Flash, Flash Drive Education, PayPal, Victims, eBay | Tagged: eBay Fraud, PayPal, Positive Feedback, SOSFakeFlash, Test USB Memory Chips | 1 Comment »
Posted by kittyfireflash on August 14, 2009
Feature: saffronspas Ebay Fake Flash Seller Alert – United Kingdom It’s about counterfeit Flash Voyager GT usb flash drives.
The victim known under the pen name of CaptainVoyager, documented his fake carefully – even took it apart to show everyone what you can expect to find.
You will find InspectorTech’s article and CaptainVoyager’s webpage interesting!
We don’t just publish alerts at SOSFakeFlash, we publish your stories. If you would like send us your story at sosfakeflashdrive@gmail.com we are happy to receive it. Note: we will not publish you under your eBay id – unless you insist. You must chose a name or ask us to. Your privacy is important. You can also document your fake at your own website or page and send us the URL address.
Posted in Advice, Flash Drive Education | Tagged: eBay Fraud, memory chips, SOSFakeFlash | 1 Comment »
Posted by kittyfireflash on August 3, 2009
Posted in Advice, Devious, Fake Flash China, Guilty | Tagged: China Fake Flash, Counterfeit Flash Drives, eBay Fake Flash Guides, eBayFakeFlashSeller, Fake MP Players, Fraud USB Flash, SOSFakeFlash | Leave a Comment »
Posted by kittyfireflash on July 20, 2009
Ebay victim finally refunded for fake false capacity usb pen flash drives! Known at SOSFakeFlash under the nom de plume, “SuperMan“, it took an 8 month battle to receive refunds. Some people refuse to be frauded.
As SOSFakeFlash has always said, if you are selected for the “special treatment” from PayPal, get out your boxing gloves and climb into the Ring! “No” from PayPal does not necessarily mean no. It means, time for another round in the ring. Some people just give up. Others will not. Is it for the money? Generally it is more about the principal. Superman’s story shows endurance and determination. You can learn a lot from his final report to SOSFakeFlash. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advice, PayPal, Stories | Tagged: Fake USB Flash Drives, PayPal Refunds, SOSFakeFlash | 14 Comments »
Posted by kittyfireflash on July 19, 2009
THH is a eBay victim of eBay Fake Flash Seller, fengfeng_joy2008. fengfeng_joy2008 is connected to the infamous zjlee08 eBay id. THH bought a 32GB memory card.
THH wrote SOSFakeFlash to share his conversations and story of what it is like to interact with a fake flash seller on eBay.
THH remained polite and direct. For anyone attempting to dialogue with a fake flash seller of memory cards, usb flash drives or mp players in the Orient, this article will provide excellent teaching and insight.
Update July 24th, 2009. The eBay id fengfeng_joy2008 changed to happyyaoyao2009 as a result of this article, in an attempt to evade frauded buyers.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advice, Hot, PayPal, Stories, eBay | Tagged: eBay Fraud, Fake Memory Cards, PayPay Claims, SOSFakeFlash | 15 Comments »
Posted by kittyfireflash on June 24, 2009
SOSFakeFlash MP Player education begins! We will be presenting alerts exclusively on eBay fake flash sellers of MP Players. This is a very high profit area for fraudsters on eBay and it is growing at an alarming pace. Selling in high volume a great deal of money is being made. The sad fact is, few buyers ever discover the truth! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advice, News, eBay | Tagged: Cost Nand Flash Chips, eBay Fraud, Fake MP Players, FrankenFlash Project, Repairing MP Players, SOSFakeFlash | Leave a Comment »
Posted by kittyfireflash on June 17, 2009
Do you want to find out what the real capacity sizes are for usb flash drives manufactured by Kingston Technologies. It is easy with their feature for searching their consumer usb flash drive products. You can select the capacity and see which product lines offer the desired capacity. It is a great search consulting tool and part of Kingston’s effort to combat those who would like to sell cheap imitations of their products or try to super boost older models to report wild unrealistic capacity sizes to operating systems. To consumers these are known as counterfeits and fakes!
Almost all major brand names are currently under attack from counterfeiters. Two companies, Kingston and Sony are fighting back. Kingston is applying additional effort to aid consumers world wide. They have a serial verification site and now have improved their search feature to show what are the capacity sizes they manufactured for a particular product line. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advice, Articles - Choice, Flash Drive Education | Tagged: FakeFlashNews, FlashDriveFacts, FrankenFlash Project, Kingston USB Flash Drives Genuine, SOSFakeFlash | Leave a Comment »
Posted by techchips on June 12, 2009
SOSFakeFlash monitors feedback on fake flash sellers. We are NOT happy to see people change their feedback to neutral or positive to get a refund! Why? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advice, Guilty, News, eBay | Tagged: Corruption, eBay feedback, eBay Scams, FrankenFlash Project, honesty, SOSFakeFlash | 6 Comments »
Posted by kittyfireflash on June 5, 2009
SOSFakeFlash reports ebay members discovering mp players, memory cards or usb flash drives are fake – false capacity and file a dispute, are being harassed by PayPal. This is not new.
Over the last 15 months, SOSFakeFlash has observed PayPal use many different tactics to avoid living up to their promise of buyer protection. The latest tactic is to demand buyers submit documentation to support their claim the item is not “authentic”. What should you do? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advice, News, PayPal | Tagged: eBay Fraud, Fake Memory Cards, Fake MP Players, Fake USB Memory Sticks, Fraud, PayPal Claims, PayPal Refunds, SOSFakeFlash | 3 Comments »
Posted by kittyfireflash on June 5, 2009
eBay buyers who file claims against sellers of fake usb flash memory sticks, MP Players and memory cards often find themselves drowned in email robotic responses that have the intellegence of a peanut.
This is because responses are cut from templates, no real intellgence is required. Contacting Paypal by telephone requires a person respond to you. The results can be varied but it is better than an email robot. You should explain the situation and not let the person brush you off or give you a story – demand escalation or that they contact a supervisor immediately you feel they are not helpful.
If you need to settle a claim, try to call. Use toll free numbers if you can. Eric has contributed telephone numbers he found for you to call and a link with more information.
Please use this post to leave additional telephone numbers in your country and also email addresses. Use other Paypal posts to leave comments on the status of your cases. Let’s try and build a complete reference list to assist eBay fake flash victims around the world.
Eric:
Here is a link to all sorts of PayPal phone numbers and contact information (there is more info for U.K. and Australia on the page but I just posted the North American #s):
http://www.italkcash.com/forum/e-currency-e-gold-e-bullion-paypal-epassporte-etc/2191-paypal-helpline-get-thru-paypal.html
PayPal Phone Numbers: America & Canada
1-402-935-2050 (Toll Number)
1-888-215-5506 (Toll Free Number)
1-888-221-1161 (Toll Free Number)
1-408-376-7400 (Toll Number)
1-650-864-8000 (Toll Number)
1-402-935-2284 (Toll Number — Banking and Check Issues)
1-402-935-2212 (Toll Number — ACH Processing & Check Services)
1-402-935-2255 (Toll Number — Account Review Department)
1-402-935-2257 (Toll Number — Account Review Department)
1-402-935-2223 (Toll Number — PayPal Compliance)
1-402-935-2250 (Toll Number — PayPal Compliance)
1-402-935-2000 (Toll Number — Customer Service Department)
1-402-935-2007 (Toll Number — Customer Service Department)
1-402-935-5181 (Toll Number — Debit Card Services)
1-402-935-2116 (Toll Number — Escalations Department)
1-402-935-2129 (Toll Number — Escalations Department)
1-402-935-2238 (Toll Number — Management, Escalations Department)
1-402-935-2239 (Toll Number — Fraud Prevention Department)
1-402-935-2251 (Toll Number — Manager, Resolutions Department)
1-650-251-1101 (Toll FAX Number — Never Fax w/o a Case Number!)
1-408-376-7514 (Toll FAX Number — Never Fax w/o a Case Number!)
1-402-537-5755 (Toll FAX Number — PayPal Chargeback Department)
1-402-938-2337 (Toll FAX Number — Compliance Department)
1- 303-395-2802 (Toll FAX Number — Compliance Department)
BTW the people who answered my calls at PayPal were both based in the USA … and as I mentioned they were both very polite and helpful … but of course not everyone may have had the same experience.
Additional Reading:
If you have more telephone numbers or email addresses, please leave them in comments on this post.
Posted in Advice, PayPal | Tagged: Contacting PayPal, eBay Fraud, PayPal Buyer Protection, PayPal Claims, PayPal Telephone Numbers, SOSFakeFlash | 2 Comments »
Posted by kittyfireflash on June 1, 2009
You bought a fake MP Player, usb flash drive or memory card and discovered the Truth. You dragged the fake flash seller to the PayPal dispute console and forced him to return your money. Your money is refunded, then suddenly you find an unpaid item strike against you from eBay. What is going on? What should you do? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advice, PayPal, eBay | Tagged: eBay, ebay fake memory scam, flash memory fraud, PayPal, SOSFakeFlash, Unpaid Item Strike eBay | Leave a Comment »