Contact
sosfakeflashdrive@gmail.com or leave a comment for the readers to answer.
We are part of the FrankenFlash Project and to do the work being invisible is important. More information will be coming but the urgency for counterfeit flash awareness matters more. It is the priority.
Many people have lost money, some a lot. But….
It does not matter what price paid for the drive – who can put a price on data copied to it? Documents. Photos. Memories? If the source data has been deleted – these files are gone forever. The loss will mean different things to different people.
We are unable to reveal exactly what the data loss can mean or where it has occurred. A lot has to remain confidential. People’s jobs are at stake. Some could face court martials. There is no reason to make people victims a second time – the experience was traumatic enough.
It is frightening to learn just who has been a victim of counterfeit flash drives. Causal users to the most savvy about technology, together they tumble in the fake flash pit. Quiet a few have been rescued by the fake flash angels. No, we can’t elaborate on what that means – only almost all are victims of fake flash drives. It is not just buyers of fake flash on the warpath, sellers are too. Both are working together. Why? If you are a victim of Fake Flash it would be easy understand. If you have not been a victim, think of how you would feel if someone took a hammer to your hard disk or shredded or snapped all your data cd’s, dvds and old floppies – how would you feel about the loss?
See The post What is This Fake Flash All About?
What keeps us going?
“Never doubt that a small group
of thoughtful, committed people
can change the world.
Indeed, it’s the only thing
that ever has.”
-Margaret Mead
china-fake-flash
polls-fake-flash
 |
SOSFakeFlash 
amir said
Dear friends plz help me to fix my girl friend’s flash memory I bought her, with this specification (KingStone Datatraveler DT-100 32GB:
———————————————————————
Device Name: ?[T:]?USB Mass Storage Device(USB2.0 Flash Disk USB Device)
PnP Device ID: VID = 1221 PID = 3234
Serial Number: 1000000000001B07
Revision: 2.10
Device Type: Standard USB device – USB2.0 High-Speed
Chip Vendor: micov
Chip Part-Number: MXT8208
Product Vendor: (N/A)
Product Model: (N/A)
Tools on Web: ?http://bbs.mydigit.cn/read.php?tid=72332
——————————————————————————-And this link (http://bbs.mydigit.cn/read.php?tid=72332) as you know is Chinese and wants MONEY.
Thanks You.
InspectorTech said
Hi Amir,
Please visit the fixfakeflash site. Advise you begin by reading the FAQ on the top menu bar.
First you need to test with H2testw to see what the real size is supposed to be. Second, your best option if you have very gentle hands is to carefully open the usb flash drive to be sure about the chip for usb controller and usb flash storage chip – it is the most reliable way to be sure what software you need to use. Everything you need to find out how to repair is at the fixfakeflash site, even some references for downloads and sites to get software from.
Good luck, hope you succeed in your adventure. Be sure if you do use a tool successfully to retest with H2testw to be sure all problems have been corrected. We are sure your girl friend will appreciate all your efforts to try and save the flash drive. Better a little usable flash drive then a big dangerous fake. Note: If you succeed, never use it for one and only files. A fixed fake must never be fully trusted for files you do not have elsewhere. Those are the rules for safety for rehabilitated fakes.
reuber said
Hello,
I have received from this address (SHOPS A&B G/F POLEUNG KUK SIU CHING MANSION 201-207 YU CHAU ST SHAM SHUI PO HONG KONG) the item “Kingston 64GB Pen Drive-USB 150 Flash Stick” on sep/09 from Ebay.com auction, this is the seller’s email kensington36@126.com
The item came broke, didn’t work then I had contacted the seller and shipped back to you guys on oct/05/09 and the item was delivered on oct/17/09 at 6:19PM, this is the tracking #: RB811206121US http://WWW.USPS.COM if you want to confirm that.
The seller said that I have shipped the item to the wrong address but I can’t understand why because I have shipped to the same address on the package that I have received from.
CAN YOU GUYS SHIP THAT BACK TO ME, PLEASE.
THANK YOU.
John S said
I am confused. I think I bought a fake SanDisk 8GB Extreme IV Compact Flash card today on e-bay. I did a bit of research on the seller [Chinese] and, aside from 3-4 SanDisk Compact Flash cards the seller’s history was in selling underwear. Then I did some research [after the auction, of course] looking for comments on counterfeit SanDisk Extreme IV Compact Flash cards and stumbled onto your site. It appears I may have been snookered.
My question – how does one ‘run’ this test? The Compact Flash card goes into my digital camera. Do I need to buy a card reader, install the Compact Flash card into the reader and plug into a USB port on my computer? Thanks for this great site. I’ll be pleased to spread the word. One word of concern – the English translation of the German is horrible. The only reason I know this is that the sentences were not complete sentences so I really wouldn’t trust that translation. Surely the author can find someone who is fluent in both German and English. 🙂
John S said
This is the translation I was referring to [above] and I have no idea what it says!
“If the stick to the one just wants to save data that actually heal? Comes your way in the years has come with the system really big hard drives? To clarify this, and the integrity of data media, has developed the small program H2testw c’t. It describes the selected disc with test data, then read this again and review them. Step on no mistakes, is not expected to capacity-problems. This makes H2testw also engineered to detect USB flash drive with a false indication of size as in 2008 came in large numbers on the market. Caution: Do not apply this tool only if there are any important data stored on the drive and it is not the boot disk on the system.”
Huh?
ITguy said
In response to John S question
Do I need to buy a card reader, install the Compact Flash card into the reader and plug into a USB port on my computer?
Yes.
Another option would be to find a friend with a computer that has a built in reader – fairly common on newer systems.
John S said
Dear Fightflashfruad,
Thanks for your kind reply!
It sounds easy enough that a cave man can do it! [I hope – sorry Warren Buffet!]
If I understand, take the memory card, insert into a card reader and into a USB port – or directly into my computer, and the software program h2testw 1.4 will read the memory card 1GB by 1GB for the entire card capacity and give a report on the memory? Thanks greatly for the feedback.
I think I’ve a scoundrel operating out of Hong Kong selling SanDisk 8GB Extreme IV Compact Flash cards. Am giving his a chance to reverse my e-bay transaction [and THEN lower the boom on him] or, if he doesn’t respond, contact my credit card company to dispute the charges and also contact PayPal fraud department and e-bay [same company – two different heads] and warn them. Also provide them with ALL of the current listings and those who “successfully’ bought these cards. Just what I needed – another career.
I really want to thank all of you for your work in helping to stamp out these fraudsters and crooks.
Best regards,
John
John S said
Thanks ITguy! 🙂
silver said
A wrong way miracle !
Hello/Bonjour
[Sorry, my English is bad, I will do my best]
I bought Kingston 8GB Micro sd (class 4), the size test is good, but…
XP said the card is using FAT32 format.
= OK, I run the test with H2testw
== The result was :
=== Write : 8.94 MBytes/s
=== Read : 15.9 MBytes/s
I delete files and run it again with same result… good…, but :
My stupid (?) next test was to format it in FAT32 (like said above, it was before; when received it), and I run again H2testw.
Damned ! very big surprise, always using H2testw, with this very sad result 😦 :
=== Write : 4.35 MBytes/s !!!!!
=== Read : 16 MBytes/s
Two day laters I receive a new one and the tests/results are the same !
I dont understand, I change nothing other than formating the micro sd card in FAT32 (like it was before).
Is it a problem with H2testw ?
Does somebody can help me to understand ?
ITguy said
In response to Silver.
You may want to format the card in a camera to see if it makes a difference
8GB Cards are typically formatted FAT32 but can be FAT16
Extract from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital
SD cards with 4 GB and smaller capacities can be used with many systems by being formatted with FAT16 (4 GB only possible by using 64 kByte clusters, and not widely supported) or FAT32 file system (common for file systems 4 GB and larger). Cards, 4 GB and larger can only be formatted with a file system that can handle these larger storage sizes, such as FAT32
Write Performance on a SD card varies and is dependant on
FAT16 / FAT32 format
Cluster Size
Existence of Backup Table
Extract from: http://www.mobilitysite.com/boards/tips-tricks/228616-storage-card-speed-optimization-long-time-real-world-tests-must.html
Optimal: FAT32/4k/-; backup FAT introduces 100% speed hit; 512byte is slow
Try formatting with 4K cluster size.
silver said
Hi ITguy,
Many thanks for your answer.
===============
You may want to format the card in a camera to see if it makes a difference
===============
Ok I will try (with phone) and report the result.
==============
8GB Cards are typically formatted FAT32 but can be FAT16
Extract from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital
==============
???
Sorry but its not that I read for 8GB card:
(sure, my English is bad…)
[b] “…Cards, 4 GB and larger can only be formatted with a file system that can handle these larger storage sizes, such as FAT32….” [/b]
Also XP offer only FAT32 format for 8GB card (sure, perharps I can play with Linux to format it)
And, its not the “game”, remember, originally XP said the memory was FA32 format (ok about cluster and other variant, I must try, to do tests 😉 )
I Will work on :
===================
Write Performance on a SD card varies and is dependant on
FAT16 / FAT32 format
Cluster Size
Existence of Backup Table
Extract from: http://www.mobilitysite.com/boards/tips-tricks/228616-storage-card-speed-optimization-long-time-real-world-tests-must.html
===================
and, if possible :
===================
Optimal: FAT32/4k/-; backup FAT introduces 100% speed hit; 512byte is slow
Try formatting with 4K cluster size.
===================
XP dont seem to offer any cluster option (M$…) this option (sorry I always use Linux) but I will try to find some program to do it.
Again many, many thanks for your help, I promise to return here for the result (not tomorrow 😉 )
silver said
Hello,
I do some tests in fat 32 and NTFS.
(I will dont speak about NTFS because my speed tests are better with FA32.)
The memory :
Kingston 8GB Micro sd (class 4)
Initially the speed test using H2testw, was :
(XP said the card is using FAT32 format.)
=== Write : 8.94 MBytes/s
=== Read : 15.9 MBytes/s
I format like it was (FAT32), but now…
(the read speed stay the same)
cluster size = write speed MBytes/s (512/1024 and 64k are unusable)
2 048 = 2
4 096 = 4.35
8 192 = 6.4 (the better after formating, but not 8.94 initial !)
16K = 6.1
32K = 1.6 (a disaster !)
Strange results, but now Something interesting.
I have also an another microSD but 4GB class 4 brand… Taiwan and not so bad.
It seem to work like the Kingston, I have not formated this card.
So I do a XP chkdsk :
3 951 034 368 Total space
3 951 001 600 Free space
32 768 cluster size (!)
120 576 total clusters
120 575 free clusters
Speed MBytes/s Write / Read :
6.7 10.9
Today I have not try to format it (I am sure I will lose speed if I do it)
Actually the speed stay good for class 4 (= 4 MBytes/s), but I would like to understand the loose speed before/after my formating.
(I will get a phone, to a try formating these cards by the end of this week)
I have also repeat these tests without card reader, using a netbook, the results are near the same.
Any idea/try ?
julian said
i got a kingston 128 gb on ebay i used h2testw to test it finished without errors.
Reading speed: 39.4 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4 so dose that meen its Authentic ??
John S said
Just an update from my previous posts.
I was able to [finally] figure out how to download h2testw 1.4 and run my new SanDisk card. After getting cheated by a Hong Kong seller on e-Bay [do your self a favor – do NOT buy memory on e-Bay unless it’s from a legitimate camera seller or you will more than likely be cheated. If you ARE cheated don’t expect e-Bay or Paypal to take much interest]
The card I bought was an 8GB Extreme III Compact Flash memory card and I bought from Adorama so I’m sure it’s genuine.
I was a bid disappointed in the writing speed and the verifying speed. The card showed 7639 MB which is close enough to 8000 MB or 8GB but the writing speed was only 7.23 – 7.24 mb/s and the verify speed was 8.54 – 8.57 mb/s well under the minimum 12 mb/s the Sony card reader said I should get and way under my computer’s 480 mb/s speed. The card says 30 mb/s so it’s pretty slow. I tried other USB slots and all in the same range. The card did come back as no defective sectors so I guess the card should be good. I did not see the readout like others post however!???
I’ve also taken the trouble to review several e-Bay auctions and there is another seller who says his product is in the US but when I look at his profile he’s in Hong Kong. I think e-Bay is aiding and abetting these guys too. They sure don’t seem very interested. They even took the tracking number for my sale down off the site so I can’t verify the card was shipped but have NO doubt it never was shipped – hence my caution to all not to use e-Bay to buy memory.
John S said
Fightflashfraud, thanks for your reply!
I will again warn against buying on e-bay unless it’s from a legitimate store that also has a bricks and mortar store. If you DO get cheated plan on e-Bay and Paypal dragging their feet. My item was [supposedly] shipped on November 30th. When I input the USPS tracking it doesn’t show any other data and e-Bay and Paypal want 30 days to “resolve”. In the mean time the scoundrel “oemway09” has taken down all of his auctions and is no longer an e-Bay seller. Be VERY careful doing business on e-Bay – it’s a private company and owns Paypal. With these guys it’s not about doing the right thing – it’s about the money. I’m sure they don’t want to give mine back and will bet the [former] e-Bay seller is “in the wind”.
John S said
Hi Fightflashfraud,
Thanks for your comments. You’re probably right! That said, e-Bay told me I should see movement as the parcel leaves Hong Kong and again when it reaches US Customs. According to the USPS tracking it’s still languishing in Hong Kong. Maybe I don’t get any tracking other than the tracking number and will just have to wait.
If it does arrive I expect it will be a factory reject or a counterfeit SanDisk 8GB Extreme IV CF memory card. I’ll sure check it with h2testw 1.4 if/when it arrives. This was my first purchase via China – and may be my last.
Oemway09 must have had others complaining about his memory cards as he disappeared shortly after I bought the card which was about the same time I warned e-Bay that something didn’t seem right about the auction. As they say, “if it’s too good to be true it probably isn’t”. Once bit twice shy – I’ll stick with B&H Camera and Adorama Camera in the future.
I sure appreciate this forum and have learned a lot. Wish I’d have started reading it before I bought that “SanDisk” Extreme IV card! At least I used my credit card – not that they’re in any rush either but I should get my money back. I hope!
John S said
Fightflashfraud,
An update…… I just went to USPS site to try to track this parcel/envelope and it left Hong Kong December 12th.
It took from November 30th when it was dropped of at USPS until December 12th for it to continue its journey. Now I’ll get to see if ‘my’ SanDisk 8GB Extreme IV CF card is fake. If it is, I’ll have to wait months to get this settled. The joys of buying anything from China via e-Bay.
Mick Bevan said
Hello,I am 68 and have been had [with my own greed something for nothing]bought a 64gb stick off Ebay came from Hong Kong,went to the german site begins with H great job,went to the site you said to find info on stick great job,went to the Ruski site translated to English tapped in my disc i.e.Udisk 2.0 came up with the right info 64gb VID 1221 PRO 3234 then the site went into Russian left in the cold as so to speak I just want to try and format the thing,any help anywhere.Ebay told me not to buy of this seller in Hong Kong 3 weeks AFTER I paid for it but it arrived and left it in the box for weeks then the trouble started.Hope you can help.
Chris said
Wow, I bought many cheap 1 & 2 GB transflash and sd cards and mini sd cards from dealextreme.com. None of them were the correct size and all had “security” holograms or “certificates of authenticity” hahaha!
On average each was 975MB – 980MB — the price was right … $2 to $6 USD
Yes, I lost data!
Yes you can “format” them using w98se or xp pro and you can “get” the real size. I did have issues with windows not recognizing some of the cheaper ones after “format”
I chalked up the loss to “wanting a good deal” and I got a good deal. Yes, dealextreme.com will take them back if you provide a photo of the “defect”; but lets face it, if I send them back to Hong Kong, it will take over 3 months for a replacement … so I swallow my pride and absorb the cost / loss
cheers
Chris
Chris said
@John S
Yeah from past experience at least three months! there is a quicker way and it does work. Your “ebay seller” has an email address … yes? well, if you write a nice short formal complaint to the Royal Hong Kong Police and include the proof it usually results in a 5 to 10 day resolution. Crooks all over the world absolutely hate having the police at their door!
fwiw if i send an item back to hong kong using registered mail / post it cost me over $65 CDN and if I send it regular mail it takes 3 weeks at a cost of $12 CDN … and there is “NO WAY” to prove they ever received it back
You may have to search out the city of your thief, but once you do, I’m sure their police department would be interested.
cheers
Chris
John S said
Hi Chris,
Great suggestion but, as you’ve pointed out, it costs a fair amount of money to send it back and I’m not sure the police really care that much. Hong Kong is, after all, China and no longer a British Crown Colony. That said, it’s far easier to put in a claim with e-Bay and Paypal and get your money back. IF I ever receive the card I will test it and if it’s a reject or SanDisk counterfeit, will forward the info to my credit card company and to e-bay and Paypal. Perhaps after they’ve reimbursed a few hundred of us they will require sellers to put in their auction ads how to test the cards for authenticity. In the mean time this is a great forum for people trying to stamp this problem out. Unfortunately, most don’t become aware of the site until after the fact and they end up wasting a lot of time and many, many more are cheated. Expect little if any help from e-Bay or Paypal. It’s easier for them to reluctantly return a few people their money than pull the rug out from under the crooks and thieves.
John
THH said
I emailed the HKPO and the US Postal Inspectors Office and ebay and Paypal my complaint including the scan of the envelope and result of the H2testw. I wrote to the seller that I could not return the SD because of laws against shipping counterfeit items. I was polite but firm and was refunded promptly. I do not know how much of that was my bluster or the seller’s actual worry since I had contacted the HKPO. The following is the auto response I got from HKPO and my note to them inline:
This is to confirm receipt of your e-mail. This message is generated by an auto-reply program.
General Registry / Hongkong Post
你的電郵已確認收到。這訊息是經電腦程式發放。
香港郵政總務室
This e-mail message (together with any attachments) is for the designated recipient only. It may contain information that is privileged for the designated recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, retention, disclosure, copying, printing, forwarding or dissemination of the message is strictly prohibited. If you have received the message in error, please erase all copies of the message (including attachments) from your system and notify the sender immediately.
—– Original Message —–
From: THH
To: hkpo@hkpo.gov.hk
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 4:19 AM
Subject: Mail Fraud/counterfeit product
Dear Hong Kong Post Office:
I have received a package I ordered via eBay.com from a seller, fengfeng_joy2008, in your jurisdiction. The package was to have contained a 32GB SD-HC Class 6 memory card for which I made an 20USD electronic transfer payment 5 July 2009 to a Feng Yao Qin, whose email address is fengfeng@126.com .
The package I received from him on the 16 July 2009 was preprinted “POSTAGE PAID HONG KONG PORT PAYE PERMIT No. 4401” “From Ehong / P.O. No. 97527 TSIM SHA TEUI POST OFFICE Hong Kong” The Customs Declaration listed the contents as a Gift “Electronics for sample” with total value of $10.00 Signature is preprinted “Ehong.”
Though the actual contents were a SD memory card, labeled in SD Association format “32GB Class 6,” it was tested with standardized equipment and software and determined, in fact, to be a 4GB, not class 6 card, that had had its firmware programmed to read a false size of 32GB; additionally, the firmware was programmed to hide this fact by overwriting any data in excess of its actual capacity such that a user would not realize the deception until after downloading more than 4 GB and then attempting to read the earliest stored data (which is no longer there.)
Ebay.com records show this entity has distributed several thousands of these memory cards and has suspended one of the accounts used.
My concern is not the 20USD I was swindled out of, but the continuing theft perpetrated by the holder of Permit No. 4401 through the use of your Post Office and the harm he is doing to the reputation of honest businesses in Hong Kong and elsewhere in the P.R. China.
Please contact me if I can be of further assistance in this matter.
Sincerely,
THH
My physical address and phone number
Mick said
Hello,I have been in the Russian site and tried to download U219 format NT2039,get to the point where you have to tap in the code and thats it goes o Russian and ask again only different code must of had a go at least 40 times going back and comming out of the site but cant get into it,I have a Udisk 64gb that worked on the first load-up of 11gb open it all was there great checked the pics all good and the went to clear and format and all went crazy left parts of this and that on the got it down to one file and I get when goingto remove file empty can not remove ?.can anyone help please.Hope you all have a great Christmas and dont get ripped-off next year.
perry said
i buyd a 32gb from mycandyshop
The media is likely to be defective.
1.9 GByte OK (4074353 sectors)
29.2 GByte DATA LOST (61428879 sectors)
Details:25.3 GByte overwritten (53147612 sectors)
146 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 292 sectors)
3.9 GByte corrupted (8280975 sectors)
1 MByte aliased memory (2048 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000007c4d0000
Expected: 0x000000007c4d0000
Found: 0x00000007cefc0000
and its fake like u see
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 2.69 MByte/s
Reading speed: 4.26 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
joharod said
Hello.
I have a USB flask disk of 8GB bought from ebay and fanfan6888 for reading / writing is very slow.
Speed with USBDeview software:
Write Speed=0,24 MB/Sec
Read Speed=3,03 MB/Sec
http://cgi.ebay.es/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220517751325&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
—– The details of select devices
Device Name: +[D:]+Dispositivo de almacenamiento masivo USB(Generic Flash Disk USB Device)
PnP Device ID: VID = 0001 PID = 7778
Serial Number: 788E89DB
Revision: 8.00
Device Type: Standard USB device – USB2.0 High-Speed
Chip Vendor: Alcor
Chip Part-Number: FC8308
Product Vendor: (N/A)
Product Model: U
The_Flash said
Hey guys, I saw an article that you might find to be of interest.
It relates to Kingston flash media, and can be found here: http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=918
Be sure to read some of the comments, too, particularly the exchange between “AgentX”, “Anonymous Coward”, “Tarantino”, and “Bloos” (this appears near to the top of the comments, roughly six comments down at the time of writing, so it isn’t difficult to find).
John Smith said
NEWS FLASH PEOPLE!!! THE FAKE DRIVES HAVE REACHED THE NEWER MODEL OF KINGSTON DATA TRAVELER 200 32 GB!!!! IT IS NOT ONLY FAKE, BUT IT IS BEING SOLD DIRECTLY HERE IN NORTH AMERICA!!! THAT’S RIGHT! IT IS NOT JUST SOLD ONLINE, BUT EVEN THROUGH FREE ADS SITE LIKE KIJIJI CANADA. I LIVE IN TORONTO, CANADA AND WAS BROWSING AROUND FOR FLASH DRIVES WHEN I NOTICED THIS SELLER: NAMED VICTOR NEWMAN SELLING THESE FLASH DRIVES:
http://mississauga.kijiji.ca/c-ViewAdLargeImage?AdId=190206029&ImageIndex=2
CHECK IT OUT!!! YOU WILL NEVER GUESS AT FIRST GLANCE THAT IT IS A FAKE!!! BELIEVE ME I WAS FOOLED! I EVEN INQUIRED ABOUT THE PRICE AND YES HE SAID HE WAS SELLING IT BECAUSE HE HAD TOO MANY FLASH DRIVES SINCE HIS COMPANY ISSUES HIM FLASH DRIVES FOR HIS WORK. AND WHEN I EXPRESSED MY INTEREST TO BUY, HE WAS VERY FLEXIBLE! I TRIED USING TWO LOCATIONS, MISSISSAUGA AND TORONTO, AND HE WAS VERY FINE WITH MEETING ME AT ANY OF THOSE CITIES. WHICH REALLY MADE ME WONDER WHY, SINCE MOST SELLERS ONLY WANT TO MEET AT THEIR ADVERTISED CITY IN KIJIJI SINCE IT IS A HASLE TO GO IN ANOTHER CITY, BUT THIS GUY WAS FINE WITH IT!
BACK TO THE TOPIC AT HAND, LOOK AT HIS PRICES! VERY CHEAP! LOOK AT THE PICTURES AND YOU WOULD BE FOOLED! BUT I AM GLAD THAT I CHECKED FROM THE KINGSTON WEBSITE AND YOU WILL FIND OUT THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DATA TRAVELER 200 THAT IS 16GB LET ALONE 8 GB, AND THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DATA TRAVELER 200 32GB THAT IS YELLOW COLORED!!!
What I meant was there is no such thing as a Data Traveler 200 32GB that is colored like that in the picture a color Yellow and Black, since that Color code scheme is ONLY for 64GB Data Traveler 200, and that THE REAL 32 GB Data Traveler 200 IS COLOR CODED BLUE AND BLACK.
Evidence here at Kingston Website:
http://www.kingston.com/flash/dt200.asp
As you can see the range of the capacity of the Data Traveler 200 series is ONLY FROM 32 GB TO 128 GB.
Their respective Color Code Schemes are as follows:
http://www.kingston.com/flash/dt200.asp?id=2
As you can see this is what I meant from my statement above, as you can see from the seller’s pictures, his 32gb Data Traveler 200 is Yellow and Black colored, which doesnt make sense since that is the color FOR 64GB one. Also he has a 16GB Data Traveler 200, which doesnt make sense since 16GB is not one of the capacity range for a Data Traveler 200, also notice that his 16GB and 32GB Data Traveler 200 is THE SAME! Same Color only different capacity, I say SHENANIGANS! That is why I love Kingston, you can tell the capacity difference, not just from the label of the capacity or size, but the color codes! Each capacity in my experience from whatever Data traveler models ALWAYS had different color codes for each capacity. There is no such capacity that have 2 different colors and especially there is no such capacity that have the same color as another different capacity.
So I hope that my findings will add the list of Fraudulent Flash Drives. Man it has already reached North America in selling local flash drives that are fake! Dam counterfeiters!
here is the actual main AD from the seller.
http://mississauga.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-other-Selling-8GB-16GB-32GB-USBs-W0QQAdIdZ190206029
You can still access this ad when you click my link in my first post and click the “Back To Ad”
Anyways look at his 3 pictures and you will be surprised! They look really really authentic! I would even led to believe that this case is really an authentic kingston one, BUT they NEVER showed the BACKSIDE of the case LOL! Also Observe that he even sells an 8GB Data Traveler 200! As I told you before in my last post, there is NO SUCH THING! The minimum range of capacity for a Data Traveler 200 is 32GB! The minimum price I found on Amazon (directly linked from Kingston main website) is on sale for $79-$80! And this seller is selling it for $35!
Sorry for my multiple posts, but I believe that this warning should come to the attention of many people, that sellers of fake flash drives isn’t isolated in ebay, amazon, or other online sites anymore. They are here in North America, selling locally on local free ad sites like Kijiji and Craiglist. I don’t know about in the US, but is clearly reached here in Canada. Worst thing about is, the fakes are looking more and more like the Authentic one, I am glad that in this case it was obvious by the color codes. I am afraid that one day these fakes will look exactly like the Authentic ones if somebody doesn’t step in and stop them. Oh well, hope my posts were useful to you all!
The_Flash said
This can only be viewed in the UK, but if any team members are located there, it’s worth the ~45 minutes or so of watching: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rfgmt/b00rfgl6/Fake_Britain_Fake_Goods/
It’s a BBC documentary on fake goods, what goes into them, the dangers presented by them, how they sneak into the country, and how it’s not just a matter of the goods being cheap-but-usable as a scary number of people seem to think. I was a bit surprised that they didn’t cover fake flash media, really.
Maybe it might be worth dropping the team behind this programme a line?
Pete said
If those Chinese scums got you and you can’t get a refund quickly then why not make their life harder??? Buy a few mp4, usb etc from same seller if he didn’t block you yet, if he did buy from his friends (similar looking auctions). Then just simply wait for 2-3 weeks and deny that anything arrived to you ;]. They always send it by the cheapest possible way so they don’t have a proof of posting/delivery. Then it is easy. Report to ebay item not received. They refund quite fast (few hours usually). You have your money back and a nice 2GB MP4 usb for free ;].
KittyFireFlash said
Hi Pete,
I hear you…..
SOSFakeFlash doesn’t like nationalities or race being attacked. Fact is though, you are echoing what many people are thinking.
Your advice makes you a fake flash commando. There is an increase in commandos fighting side by side with fake flash angels.
Small wonder. The teams are going nuts trying to keep up with this stuff.
Fake flash commandos existed way before any of the FrankenFlash sites. They were born before fake flash angels. Little choice, no internet voice. They used to get together with their friends and rip a scum seller to pieces. Shut them down or like you said, Pete, make their life harder. Hell is an nice word for it.
A lot of the things they used to do, can’t be done anymore on eBay, Pete. The oldies tell us stories… Used to be a fair fight, not anymore.
We will not say people should do what you say, but we will not say they shouldn’t. Everybody gets to fight how they think they should. No thought police in the project.
People have the right to chose their uniform. Fake flash angel. Fake flash commando. Investigator. Writer. Advisor. Fake flash fixer. Intelligence provider. eBay warning lister. ect….
As the report a fake menu item says, this is a war. There are going to be a lot of battles. Collateral damage needs to be avoided, so everyone has to be sharp – no place for having a hot head or being so mad you can’t think straight.
If you are going to be a commando make sure your seller is guilty. Pete’s idea is not new. We see it going on. Nobody is crying about it, not with all the sellers on the lists. We do feel for the victims though. Looks like we might have to split for 3 lists soon.
Other people have suggested cheap route in comments at this site. Buy a bunch of cheap crap, anything from the seller. Wait a bit like Pete said and then witch about the quality and stuff like that.
We don’t get it. eBay quick refund if not received, eBay agony if you do the straight path, sometimes. Everybody wishes it would be predictable, instead of wishy washy.
Some scammers are cooked for cheap stylus stuff, zapped with negs. LOL! Instead of the flash sh*t they sell. Go figure. So for anybody who is a victim of a lousy stylus, we love you. You actually are helping fake flash memory victims. A weird sense of justice.
The volume of fake memory sold on eBay is crazy. We might have to raid kindergardens and people from retirement homes soon to get enough help.
Fake flash angels and fake flash commandos, march with us to help free eBay from this stuff.
Matt said
Case Aginst: obamastores
Item: 180477932924
Case status: Closed
First > Last Email
#############################
21 Mar, 2010 at 17:39 eBay Customer Support has opened a case for you.
The seller has 10 days to respond.
Details you provided:
The item is not as described
You have tried contacting the seller
You paid on XX – XX – XX
You contacted the seller through email.
You did not get a response from the seller.
More comments: Email seller through the ebay questions mechanism, seller has failed to respond.
You did not give permission to share this phone number with the seller.
The best time to reach you is at “Any (GMT)”.
The item is fake
Additional information:
“The flash memory stick described as 32GB capacity is in fact only around 4GB with a hacked index making it only appear to be 32GB. The Stick won’t accept any data past the 4GB limit.”
You wanted:
“Refund + return postage”
—————————————-
22 Mar, 2010 at 12:35 The seller has responded to your case with other solution.
Seller’s message:
“I would like to pay for the shipping fee to you to ship it back..Just don’t worry.”
—————————————-
22 Mar, 2010 at 13:08 You have responded to the seller.
Your message to the seller:
“Unfortunatly I won’t return this item without recieving a full refund first, mainly due to the certainty that it will ‘disappear’ in the mail system and this dispute will become void due to the lack of evidence. If you agree to these terms then I’ll be happy to post it once i recieve the refund + postal costs.”
—————————————-
22 Mar, 2010 at 13:15 The seller has responded to your case with other solution.
Seller’s message:
“Hello friend, I feel so sorry for the inconvenience caused. WE really don’t hope this things happened. I would like to make full refund to you for my sincere apologies. COuld you please kindly remove the negative feedback for me after receiving your money? I really want to resolve the problem for you..Please give me a chance..many thanks. Best regards, Judy”
—————————————-
22 Mar, 2010 at 13:39 You have responded to the seller.
Your message to the seller:
“Friend, I will remove the feedback once a full refund is recieved. If you’d like the product returned then include the fee required, return will be sent via recorded/tracked courier to ensure the delivery is recieved. If this isn’t acceptable then I will send the product and details to a trusted recipient such as your local law enforcement office from where it can be collected. Best regards, ”
—————————————-
23 Mar, 2010 at 11:59 The seller has responded to your case with other solution.
Seller’s message:
“Full refund has been done.Please check and close the dispute for me.Thanks. I have sent the feedback revision request to you on ebay.Please check and revise the negative feedback for me.Thanks.”
—————————————-
Your note:
“A full refund has been recieved, no aditional funds for return postage or a return address were supplied as requested; Seller asked to close dispute with no additional terms attached so instead I will dispose of the fraudulent item locally. ”
#############################
Additional Private Email Sent (early during the dispute when seller tried to act innocent):
Friend, A quick google of your eBay account name reveals you to be a mutiple fake offender.
Sosfake.worldpress.com shows a great number of buyers with simliar complaints, also the H2testw freeware app comfirms the hack.
Let’s drop the ruse and just sort this out civil, I’d like a full refund within the next 48 hours; if you’d like the product back then send extra for postage.
If these conditions are met I will retract my eBay dispute and negative feedback.
Best Regards,
#############################
Got a refund in just over 24 hours, hope this info helps other achive the same thing.
Elliot44 said
Nevermind Ebay, in legimate computershops in the Netherlands, you’ll need to be careful as well, they can also sell fake memory, some are unaware and some pretend to be!
kari said
I am on my 4th possible fake flash from ebay….I cant understand the results of the H2test…so i sent the barcode info to kingston…below was their reply….
and btw, getitinaflash you recommend cannot be found on Ebay or Google
thanks
kari
heres from kingston…
License Key: G582G51-37B0846D
Email Address: SAANENS@FIDNET.COM
The flash memory product you inquired was already registered by another user, so it may not be authentic Kingston memory product. We suggest that you double check the information on the product label. (Refer to the Kingston Verification website for details).
KittyFireFlash said
To Kari,
Sorry to hear you are on your 4th, hope you reported the sellers using the report a fake tab. All information and clues help. Addresses, addresses. Names sellers use in emails. Investigation is very time consuming but necessary.
Don’t feel bad, I received more than 10+.
I learned my lesson. Painful. Only like others here, I channeled the experience to positive action. So you Kari and other readers, would have the opportunity to learn the truth and use the information to fight back against the sellers who frauded you.
There is more information on Kingston Validation at http://fakememorysentinel.wordpress.com/
Thanks for the info on getitinaflash, yes seems has disappeared. We will have to put on the “to do” list and contact the site owner.
Economic times are getting harder, not easier as news media keeps on reporting. We don’t know if this honest seller has gone under (hard to compete with cheap prices from fraudsters) or has changed the site name. We will try to find out.
TechChips said
SOSFakeFlash contacted the ownner of getitinaflash.
The owner is still in business, but not the website. Unfortunately as people run to buy cheap (read fake memory), 😥 he was unable to compete with scammers in Asia.
Another honest and genuine flash memory seller gone. His observation? People are only willing to buy genuine usb flash drives AFTER THEY GET TAKEN FOR A RIDE AND ARE SCAMMED!
It’s a terrible loss. A lot of honest sellers are going under.
According to FlashChipTutor, this is a serious problem.
1) Buyers are in need of education on Flash Memory prices.
2) eBay is the last place to buy any flash memory technology!
Kitty removed the information on getitinaflash from safe sellers. Maybe when people are willing to pay fair prices, getitinaflash will be back…..
kari said
Can someone please tell me what the test results mean? I ran the H2testw…and do i leave the files it put on the flash? or do I delete them? thansk so much for the replies before
Kari
The media is likely to be defective.
22 MByte OK (45056 sectors)
63.9 GByte DATA LOST (134154240 sectors)
Details:62.9 GByte overwritten (132057728 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
1023.6 MByte corrupted (2096512 sectors)
1 MByte aliased memory (2048 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000001500000
Expected: 0x0000000001500000
Found: 0x0000000fff600000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 1.41 MByte/s
Reading speed: 3.28 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
kari said
KittyFire, thanks for your reply also…the first 2 flashes i had no idea, but the last 2 i checked their feedback…some had over 1000 positive feedbacks so thought they were ‘real’ sellers….and everyday, ebay sends a ‘saved search results’ and I getr more and more fakes for sale…
Kari
kari said
JohnSmith—the last flash I just got is from Kansas….I ordered a 16GB…opened a complaint with ebay, and he just sent me another thats 32GB…thats the results I just posted….
Kari
kari said
Oh, one more thing (sorry for all the posts) I went to Kingston to validate the one flash, and they emailed back saying the flash had already been registered by someone else…
KittyFireFlash said
Kari,
The test results reveal you have a dud. You mentioned it was a Kingson flash drive.
If anyone on the teams looked at the results the first thing they would suspect is a couterfeit Kingston usb flash drive. Emphasis is on making them “look like” Kingston flash drives, packaging, casing. There is little effort on using a real or decent flash memory chip (a little one reprogrammed).
A lot of cheap Kingston fakes are showing test results like yours. The only good news, if you can call it good news is that they fail very early on. Hopefully minimizing the impact of data loss.
You don’t mention the model. DT150? DT200?
People need to read:
Did your flash drive have a serial on the usb connector tip?
kari said
KittyFireFlash…first let me say, i have no idea how this(or any) forum works? I got an email with your reply, but on this ‘contact’ page all I see are posts from 2009….anyways, I dont see a serial on the 2 larger flashes..theere IS something on the other one (16gig) datatraveler, but its in the computer being checked by H2test….thers also a little ‘sheild’ shaped sticker on it…Its the vague color of the eral 16gb Kingston, but you can see its not the same.
I dont need to be told its a fake ..just want to know how much memory IS on it….This person is trying to do right and sent me a larger GB one…He also got scammed buying and selling these…so if I can ‘fix’ or get a decent amount of storage out of these 2, i won’t bother the guy with the open case in Ebay
The other ones from before (China) all sent me my money back
thanks
and again, on one of them, Kingston told me it was already registered?
kari said
oh, both DT150 one is orange and one red
adam said
I understand people’s upset regarding fake flash. I have purchased 4 mp4 players for no more than £3 each. I am fully aware that my 32GB is not going to be genuine, but i also am aware that a mp4 player which will turn out to be only around 2GB for only £3 with free posatge is still a bargain!!!
I applause you in your campain to educate other ebay users of the fraud, and i hope that ebay users are not trapped by this scam. Myself, however, am happy to continue to purchase these products, owing to the fact that they are still a bargain – and if it doesn’t work, they will refund you!!
Gerald Hester said
Don’t fall for these on this web site there fake. http://www.hkdigitalhot.com/index.php?main_page=products_all
Slighter said
http://www.4shared.com/dir/hrpNgner/fakedFlash.html
Hi
I gathered most of Useful tools for reprograming Faked flash memories (or normal flash memories) in this folder :
http://www.4shared.com/dir/hrpNgner/fakedFlash.html
They are ready to download (free). you can test your flash memory by ChipGenius and then download the related tools from my uploaded folder in this address:
http://www.4shared.com/dir/hrpNgner/fakedFlash.html
bye
Genki said
Hi,
I bid on the following ebay item: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/128GB-USB-Flash-Drive-BRAND-NEW-128-GB-Made-JAPAN-/190418919672?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_USB_Flash_Drives&hash=item2c55da20f8
Unfortunately I only found your site AFTER bidding. I thought I’d be safer buying from Australia than Singapore or China.
But, it looks suspiciously like this fake: http://fakeflashnews.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/battery-king888-did-you-buy-any-flash-based-memory-products-from-this-seller/
Is there anyway for me to tell before I buy it or will I have to wait and test it with the program you recommend?
Does anyone know Australian places that sell genuine larger flash drives?
Thank you.
KittyFireFlash said
Genki,
You just bought the oldest classic fake there is. The leather metal usb flash drive is at most 4GB real capacity. Almost always it is only 2GB.
Mostly these classic fakes have stickers with the “advertised size” on the casing – a bit unprofessional. They also come in snap packaging – so easy to open.
A 128GB flash drive that is genuine will be super sealed in tamper proof packaging. It will also NOT be cheap.
The model you bought/bid on has been found all over the world for many years – local eBay sellers in many countries have sold them. Most knew/know nothing about the technology they are selling or the fair market cost for them. All they see is a cost of $10 US with a potential sale of $40 ~ $100 US. Big profit.
Genki, the real profit for usb flash drives is small, modest. Over 80% of the cost is for the flash memory chip(s).
We used to know an internet seller in Australia who sold genuine usb flash drives. Unfortunately he was forced to close shop, the competition for fakes drove him out of business. Too many people thought his prices were to “High”.
Do you live in a rural area Genki, or in a major Australian city?
Not sure if you are a Kingston Technologies fan, but please see this:
http://www.kingstonmemory.net.au/Kingston-DataTraveler-C28/
the prices are fairly realistic for prices in your region. The best price point against size right now is 32GB.
Then visit this American internet site that has an excellent reputation for honesty and cut rate prices. It is called newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007960%20600000482&IsNodeId=1&name=128GB
If you take into consideration that the Australian dollar is less then the US dollar you will see that Kingston in your country is offering the 128GB DT200 usb flash drive at a very fair price.
You will probably be on the floor and need smelling salts when you see the real prices for 128GB! This unfortuantely is what most people didn’t know or realize when they bid on eBay. We were among them at one time, so don’t feel bad!
128GB is a lot of storage and depending on your computer, perhaps a little too much for it, unless it is a fairly recent model.
You are probably better off buying 2 32GB usb flash drives from Kingston, or a 64GB in Australia. If you live in a big city, you can use the info from Kingston and Newegg to help you shop for a decent price. Make sure though, it is from a store with a good reputation and return policy if there is something fishy with the flash drive.
Hope this information helps. Better to save and get a genuine item for your files. If money is tight, Genki, consider buying a small mini usb portable traditional hard disk drive. They are very cheap now, offer bigger size per dollar and also have more recovery possibilities if there is an issue ie crash. If a usb flash drive is ever corrupted, there is almost no recovery possible.
Genki said
Thank you, KittyFireFlash. You confirmed what I had suspected. I only wish I had known about all of this before I bid!
I will contact ebay Customer Support to see if I can retract my bid before the auction closes. I will also contact the seller. If he’s willing to remove my bid, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t know himself. As you said, he may have just thought it was a quick way to make a profit without knowing they weren’t what they’re advertised to be.
If neither of those options works, I’ll just have to hope that Paypal protection will cover me.
Like many others here, I really appreciate the advice that you give. If only we could share it with more people and completely stop this happening on websites like ebay.
I think I better stick with smaller flash drives or get an external hard drive, as you’ve suggested. Thank you for the website links you sent through.
Thanks again.
Sara said
hi all,
I received an email from another ebayer after I purchased a “32gb micro sd card” from “Crystalpalace1987” advising me that it may be a fake 😦 I wish Id know about the store earlier. Is there anyway to check a micro card as I am using it in my mobile phone and have found it has deleted alot of my photos 😦
Shuan Burrows said
After trying to fix the flash to report the correct volume with no luck and finding a way to partition a usb drive (for a completely different reason, to make half of it into a bootable linux, done the same before) I had an idea. Just delete the partition and create a new one the real size of the drive and leave the rest unformatted (windows will only detect the first partition on removable drives anyway).
I did it using the info here:
http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?t=502790