About Fake 64GB USB Pendrives – SONY MICRO VAULT and More

Fake Flash continues to be sold on eBay. Recently fake Sony Micro Vault flash pendrives at an audacious 64GB capacity size appeared for sale. These flash drives have even been traced to manufactuer showrooms in china. Recently joining SOSFakeflash to fight and hunt down sources of fake flash our newest detective – known as “Superman “, saved an eBay seller – dragging him to safety away from fake flash selling. Here is what superman reports on Sony Flash Drives along with an update from FakeStopper’s most recent research on flash drive manufacturing in china:

About the production of (possibly) fake flashpens – here are examples.

1. If you look into Sony’s website and search for USB flashpens (Micro Vault is the brand name for it) you will not find anything above 16GB.

But in this site you may find USB Flash Drive up to 120 GB, you can order it wholesale. See:

Shenzhen Topkeen Industry Co., Ltd.

As website pages can disappear with incredible speed once fake flash is discovered here is a screen capture so the evidence does NOT Disappear. SOSFakeFlash is determined to make sure that the evidence trails remain. Proof that this illegal trade and fake flash plague is real and not a phantasy of wild imaginations.

Notice in close up how the “S” in Sony has been smudged out with retouching. Hmm, does anyone know why?

2. Up to few weeks ago were offered on ebay “Sony Vaio” Pen Drive with 120GB capacity.

The listing superman reported was ebay item number 120314890620. You can try to search for it, but you will no longer find it. Why? eBay has made certain to erase all trace of it’s existence. Not an unusual practice for eBay. As we continue to fight against fake flash, eBay is busy erasing the evidence as quickly as it can – so it appears never to have existed. It is one of the reasons we document and capture information as fast as we can and why we ask you to report to us.

For this listing superman said:

while the brand Vaio is from Sony it is reserved to notebooks there is no mention in Sony’s product list of this type pendrive.

We would have liked to present the information to you, but eBay removed it.

Finally digging deeper superman found a 64 GB Sony Flashpen being sold on eBay in his country.

3. I found a 64 GB Sony Flashpen on offer from a vendor not far from where I live.

I contacted the vendor , supplied info about program to test it. In return I received many thks and the offer was canceled (the vendor tested it and found fake).

So superman has indeed lived up to his chosen pen name. He saved an eBay seller with a perfect score from being caught up in the fake flash wars and going down in flames. He saved eBayers from becoming victims of fake flash.

You should know that superman is a victim of fake flash. He has chosen to fight, not walk away from the problem. He knows what he has experienced and gone through – he is trying to help others avoid it.

Since the fake flash seller stopped immediately – he is classified as a victim seller. Victim sellers who behave in an honourable way – will not be exposed by the Frankenflash project. Provided they refund buyers and recall drives if they have been listing for a while or if they have just started to list and remove the listings immediately. SOSFakeFlash tries to find fake flash listings from new sellers with excellent scores and no record of devious dealing and drag them to safety – away from fake flash selling. Some times it is a struggle to convince them to test, but victim sellers are glad we exist. Fraudent sellers have a very different reaction – you can guess what it is.

Finally superman’s conclusion?

Where again this fake Sony 64GB was coming from? The answer I think to these question is always in Shenzhen.

Fakestopper is currently deep in research on the source of the problem of fake flash and where it comes from:

I can’t believe they are putting 120GB, imagine what the buyer will find out when it only 8GB. Yes you right, Shenzhen in China is a very FAMOUS place for counterfeit. In fact, every where you go in Shenzhen are fakes. There is just way too many people and corruption that is basically impossible to control. Having said that, Shenzhen is also the place where alot of usb flash drive manufacturer are based.

I can tell you I been doing investigation, and communicating with manufacturers in China over the past few weeks. Alot of manufacturers I contacted are geniune and they are big distributers of usb flash drive around the world. I requested the product info from all of them, and told them about the fake drive issues. What they told me is there is basically no usb flash drive above 16GB in China! NO 16GB+!!! They are basically the producer of these memory chip and imagine their answer to me about usb flash drive.

So you can see why those drives above 16GB is highly likely or even to say 100% to be fake.

Brand Name Flash Vendors and Fakes

Sony is not very happy about fake flash sold under their brand name. If you take a suspected item to one of their outlets to be examined – prepare to have it confiscated. If you bought the item on ebay, you should not leave without written attestation from Sony regarding the fact that the item(s) are fake. Why?

Paypal likes to play games with eBayers who file disputes. Many who submit the evidence from H2testw 1.4 and claim counterfeit – fake are ordered by Paypal to get a third party appraiser. It seems to depend on whoever is answering your email and if you have drawn the short straw for the day. In Europe, according to a number of trade boards, a program such as H2testw 1.4 is considered the 3rd party!

So if you bring your suspected fakes to a brand name vendor to be examined – make sure if they take your drives away (they do have the right in many countries to do this) – that they provide you with a written statement attesting to the fact that they certify the items are fake, and itemize them for you. If you bought a lot of drives, only take one or two of them along. Tell the vendor – if they want them, paper attestation please. Hold the remaining fake flash items as hostages.

Generally the brand name vendor should be sympathetic to your situation and will be happy to certify the items they must confiscate as fakes. If you didn’t buy the counterfeits on eBay, this attestation from the vendor is still useful to you. You can take it to the police to deal with a local seller of fake flash or even the courts…provided you have documentation from the brand name vendor certifying them as fakes.

If a brand name vendor treats you badly for having brought the drives for inspection – let us know! Send us your full story to sosfakeflashdrive@gmail.com We expose fake flash vendors. We will also expose genuine flash vendors who treat victims of fake flash badly and who victimize a buyer a second time – buyers who act in good faith as law abiding citizens trying to help genuine vendors by exposing the problem to them. If any vendor doesn’t want to provide you with attestation, ask them to google for sosfakeflash while you are there. We think this should clarify things quickly for them.

Summary

Fake Flash is not only found in unbranded drives – we have documented cases of brand names, mainly Sony and Kingston.

China currently does not have the ability to manufacture any usb drive higher than 16GB. As of November 2008. In 2007 they could only produce drives of 8GB.

Flash drives of more than 16GB do exist, but they will not be made in China. Not right now. See who makes them by taking the Flash Drive Education 102 course filed under the category Flash Drive Education at this site.

Report any brand name fakes you have to local vendor offices. Call them first. Make sure that they will write you an attestation if they intend to confiscate the drives – if found to be counterfeit. If you have many – only bring a few in for inspection. And for your good citizenship – they ought to offer you a true capacity drive for your efforts and assist you to reclaim your losses (assestation – law enforcement resources for your claiming). You can advise them to google for SOSFakeFlash prior to your scheduled visit – so they will be on the same page when you arrive. Afterall – fakes sold under their name is bad for business. You are both victims.

Based on the evidence provided by superman and FakeStopper – DO NOT BUY OR BID ON ANY Flash drive offered on eBay with an advertised capacity of more than 16GB. This is for any seller based in the Orient or close to the Orient. If the drives are being sold from a local eBay seller in your country – be suspicious. Examine our mug shot reports, take the the 101 and 102 Flash Drive Education Courses offered at this site. Contact the seller and ask if he has tested and certifies that the drive being sold has passed H2testw 1.4 – keep the email record if you get a response that it has been tested and did pass H2testw 1.4. If a seller does not respond to you – you have your answer. You might even do a good deed – contact a few people who bought the drives and ask them to test!

SOSFakeFlash also advises that you do not buy any 16GB drives on eBay without doing the same steps just mentioned. We have not found one 16GB drive yet that was the advertised capacity. At the moment 16GB fakes are being dumped in quantity. Remember in digitally altering a drive (reprogramming) you can make a drive any size you want. You can have a 1 GB drive pretend to be 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB or even 120GB!

If you want to buy a 16GB or 32GB drive – take the courses we offer so you can search out a true capacity drive for sale – they do exist. Don’t expect to bid or buy one at $10 or $20 or $30. Do the homework to find a true drive at a good price. Your best bargain will be at about 15% to 25% below the retail in a local store for a real drive. At reputable internet sites outside of eBay look for those where readers are allowed to comment on them and describe how long they have used and how much data they stored. Check what is offered against the manufacturers site. Superman made things pretty clear about Sony, Fakestopper about what China is current capable of producing.