Sinister Counterfeit Connection – Fake Flash Drive Ring On eBay

SOSFakeFlash has been investigating fake flash drives sold on eBay. As data poured in from eBayers reporting counterfeit usb flash drives after testing – information appeared to confirm suspicions of a counterfeit ring operating from China and Hong Kong.

It is estimated that these eBay sellers have frauded thousands of people around the world in a periods of less than one year.

The data loss suffered, the financial and personal damage from the sale of these fake flash drives on eBay is not fully known.

Who are they?

3ToTrade – Whatcools – Shopwithmela – kaho.chan Sinister Counterfeit Flash Drive Connection On Ebay

3ToTrade – Whatcools – Shopwithmela – kaho.chan are a ring of counterfeit usb flash drive sellers on eBay. They are run and controlled by the Master Seller Id – 3ToTrade. 3ToTrade has been given the name “Don Of Fake Flash In the Orient“. The ring he controls operates from China with satellites in Hong Kong. They have been under investigation for several months having frauded thousands of eBayers with fake flash drives. Details and Evidence are presented.

3ToTrade – Don Of Fake USB Flash Drives In The Orient

3ToTrade sells counterfeit usb flash drives. This is no innocent eBay seller. Highly skilled at manipulating eBay, PayPal and Buyers – this Powerseller remains crowned as the “Don Of Fake USB Flash Drives In the Orient “. Offering the new generation of counterfeit USB Flash drives with enough genuine capacity to squeak past testing of even the suspicious buyers, he evaded detection for a long time.

Why we have given him the title “Don Of Fake USB Flash Drives In The Orient”, will be revealed in this article and others in this series. The depth of his fraud is astonishing.

Update September 2nd, 2009 – 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.

Whatcools Ebay Fake Flash Seller Controlled by 3ToTrade

Whatcools is an eBay seller with a history of Counterfeit merchandise selling. Controlled by the eBay seller ID 3ToTrade, Whatcools deals in volume selling.

When 3ToTrade was forced to stop lising Counterfeit Flash USB drives on August 13th, 2008. Whatcools began listing these drives.

Currently eBayers are now fighting whatcools and are testing their drives as they arrive in the Post. As a result on September 3rd, 2008 Whatcools switched to the most devious and diabolical listing possible for selling fake flash on eBay – Private Auctions. To learn more…

Shopwithmela eBay Fake Flash Seller Controlled by 3ToTrade

Shopwithmela is an eBay seller of Counterfeit usb flash drives. A fairly recent id that appeared on Ebay in March 2008. Controlled by the eBay seller ID 3ToTrade, Shopwithmela has sold many fake flash drives. Currently not active in selling fake flash at the time of this post – this eBay seller id is hibernating attempting to repair it’s powerseller score.

kaho.chan Ebay Fake Flash Seller Controlled by 3ToTrade

kaho.chan is an eBay seller of Counterfeit usb flash drives. A fairly recent id that appeared on Ebay in May 2008. Controlled by the eBay seller ID 3ToTrade, kaho.chan is used for hit and run selling. 3ToTrade has been forced to stop lising Counterfeit Flash USB drives on August 13th, 2008. Another id Whatcools, also controled by 3ToTrade started listing counterfeit drives on August 13th, 2008.

On September 3rd, 3ToTrade – changed the listings for both kaho.chan and whatcools to Private Auctions on eBay to avoid detection.

Private auctions are the most devious and diabolical listing possible for selling fake flash on eBay. kaho.chan and whatcools are abusing and in violation of what eBay intents private auctions to be. – Private Auctions. To learn more…

How Fraudulent Sellers Stay One Step Ahead Of Ebay and PayPal

Have you ever wondered how a fraudlent seller manages to stay on eBay? Gets around PayPal? Why sellers of counterfeit flash drives stay in the game – even when complaints mount against them? How when a fake flash sellers are removed from eBay – four new ones sprout to take their places?

eBayers Pound PayPal Doors For Help Against Fake Flash Seller 3ToTrade

eBayers of Counterfeit USB Drives purchased from 3ToTrade on eBay continue pounding the doors of PayPal for assistance.

At PayPal due to a flaw in the dispute console, eBayers are unable to find an option to report counterfeit merchandise, instead the only option is ” Significantly Not as Described item”. This leads to an automatic response by a robotic responder ordering the eBayer to return the item – blind to the fact it is a counterfeit. It is illegal in most countries to use the Postal System to send or receive counterfeit items.

The robotic emailer is leaving eBayers frustrated and leaves PayPal exposed for future liability. When calling PayPal and speaking directly to a claims agent the position is generally the opposite. We want to know…

PayPal – Reasons To File Dispute For Counterfeit Flash Drives Purchased On eBay

Why should you file a dispute with PayPal against a seller of counterfeit flash drives on eBay? As we have said many times – eBay and PayPal can do litte against a counterfeit seller if people do not report or file complaints. We advise avoiding direct contact with a seller if you have tested and found you bought a fake. Here is why.

PayPal – How Investigations On Counterfeit USB Flash Drive Sellers On Ebay Could Be Raised

PayPal might raise an investigation on a fake flash seller on eBay – but only if there are multiple complains from eBay buyers. The only way this can happen is if you file disputes at the dispute console. If you are under the gun for a 10 day time limit read on to learn more about investigations or if you want a fake flash seller on eBay dealt with.

3ToTrade – Communication with The Don Of Fake Flash – HarryEvidence

HarryEvidence has been battling 3ToTrade for his refunds for fake flash drives. The following is a selection of email communications in chronological order as presented to us by HarryEvidence. It does not begin at the early stages but when things started to heat up.

eBay Not Responding To Counterfeit USB Flash Drive Warnings From eBayers

eBay is not responding to Counterfeit USB flash drive warnings from eBayers. The problem appears to be a flaw in their robotic emailing system that claims to be “Tailored Responses”. As a result one of the worse offenders on eBay – 3ToTrade continues to remain active. As much as eBayers are trying to help eBay they are meeting with resistance. Here is an example.

zamanshop – eBay Seller Of Fake Flash Removed From eBay

zamanshop frauded many eBayers with fake flash usb drives. He was contacted in a outreach to eBay sellers in the USA. He never responded. This is usually a sign of a seller who knows he is selling counterfeit drives. Sellers who ignore requests to test their drives will be probed and investigated. It is estimated he sold over 1,000 drives to unsuspecting eBayers before…

What is This Fake Flash All About?

Exactly when it began, is a mystery to all of us. What is clear is that it was detected on eBay back in 2005. This can easily be verified by querying the internet. As the demand for higher capacity drives grew and as they were very expensive, someone found a way to reprogram controller chips on flash drives. Or that is what people think. The truth is more likely that people saw an opportunity to make money by using the genuine tools for programming the controller chips in an illegal manner. Purposely choosing the wrong parameters to report the existing flash drive size as higher than they really are.

Fake Flash Sellers eBay Report 20080902

eBay Flash Drive sellers, wonder if they sell fakes? Do you wonder which eBayer countries have been stung by fake flash USB drive purchases on eBay? Not certain which seller to chose? Well you are not alone.

We can’t really tell you about the honest sellers – we know they exist but they are being drowned out by the counterfeit flash drive sellers on ebay. We can tell you who has been caught with their hands in the counterfeit fake flash cookie jar.

Fake Flash USB Drives – Ebay – Mug Shot Report To Help You Recognize The Fakes 20080902

Ebay USB flash drives how to spot the fakes fully revealed in their counterfeit glory. See the USB drives sporting their counterfeit cloths. A Full report 67 eBay Sellers exposed, 129 drive models. This is the report everyone has been waiting for and for many eBayers wished they had before they bid on a counterfeit drive.

A newer report exists at this site.  See under eBay Reports (Mug Shot Reports) category.

Fake Flash Sellers Stopped eBay Report 20080902

This report lists eBay Sellers identified with the selling of counterfeit drives on eBay and who have been stopped. The information comes from the FrankenFlash Project’s sub group: eBayers Against False Capacity Drives.

For the first time information kept in-house and confidental is being released to the public. Note that if a seller was a victim, the seller is identified as such. See the article: Bay Sellers Can Be Victims – How Does This Happen? for details.

Unfortuately, those stopped do start again when they think the coast is clear to begin once more – it is a never ending battle and little help has come from eBay or PayPal directly so far. The best we can do at this point is leave a bread crumb trail for them to follow. It seems to help, to a degree.  Fakessellersstopped20080902.pdf  Future reports may be released, at best on a monthly basis.

H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives

H2testw 1.4 has proven itself to be the best of breed for detecting counterfeit Flash drives. It is extremely easy to use and proves detailed information. Created by Harald Bögeholz, the interface is in German but has the option to run in English. It is free and standalone.

New!  This article contains a poll you can vote on.

Nothing is installed into the operating system. Designed for Windows it can run under Linux if Wine is installed. It will not run under Macs as it is a Windows Software . If your computer can not run the software – ask a colleague or friend who has a windows based computer to help you test.  However if you are a Linux or Mac user we have good news for you,  keep reading. A software has been developed based on the idea of H2testw,  just for you.

To learn more and for download information