Report A Fake 2008-2010 (April)
The Fake flash memory wars are raging. Especially on eBay!
Please report your fake flash memory seller to us – see below for the information we need. We do not have all sellers of counterfeit and false capacity usb flash drives, mpx players and memory cards on file. Your contribution helps everyone.
Addresses of sellers from your mailing envelopes are very helpful. It helps us to spot fraud rings operating on eBay. Use the search box and type in your sellers id, if there is an article make sure to leave a comment and also your progress in dealing with him.
As of June 2009, SOSFakeFlash announced a zero tolerance policy. One confirmation can lead to an alert against an eBay seller. We need to reduce the number of victims, too many being frauded. Regards, From the Fake Flash Angels at SOSFakeFlash
- It is important you test your item to find it’s true capacity. Read: H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives
- Do not assume if you have made a paypal claim and it has been closed that you can not reopen it. Many victims have been forced to do this.
- Do not leave positive feedback in exhange for a refund. You only make the problem worse. It is probably why you bought from the seller in the first place! Read: eBay Victims do not leave positive Feedback or change FB to positive to get refunds! Any seller who tries to make you do this is in violation of eBay rules.
Any company who had been involved directly or indirectly with a transaction involving fake flash memory items is liable and responsible – if they chose not to respond to the situation or take the warnings issued by customers seriously. To ignore the issue is to condone it.
- Reminder eBay see: EBay Ordered to Pay $61 Million in Sale of Counterfeit Goods
- Reminder PayPal: Steele Settlement Website
If you have confirmed that you have a fake (purchased from eBay) and you wanted it entered into the database as evidence so we can post an alert or update counts against a seller we will need the following information from you:
- eBay item number
- eBay Seller id
- Your eBay Buyer id (d0n’t forget this please)
- Your output from H2testw 1.4
- eBay item description title
- Seller address complete if you have it (mailing envelopes, eBay, PayPal). Important to build profile and track multiple id’s
- Seller email address
- A short word of you experience and or thoughts if you like (optional)
Reminder, your eBay Buyer id is NOT published on the internet when you report in to us. eBay fake flash memory seller ids are published on the internet to warn other buyers.
If your seller used private auction listings to hide the listing, or a multiple item buy now listing please send a screen capture of the listing to help us cut down on the investigation time.
To capture your buy now listing is very important if the seller is not on file with us (eBay Fake Memory Seller Lists) , if the seller is suspended you will lose your evidence and so could we.
Send this information directly to sosfakeflashdrive@gmail.com
We will not enter information into the database from a public site without 1-4.
If you are reporting several sellers (it happens) please keep the 1-8 pattern. Easy to understand, the more you save us time the faster we can investigate and enter.
There is no time limit in reporting a seller, you can find a lot of information inside of your paypal account for proof. We have had cases as old as 18 months from purchase being reported. It is why recording in a database is so important.
SOSFakeFlash is very strict about collecting information, data that can be supported and has witnesses to the fake flash memory deed. The alerts and posts we publish – are based on evidence.
The data used used to build the list of fake flash memory sellers on eBay. It is also used to issue summary reports on the problem. Data from victims helped us to produce this report: Global Report – eBay Fake Memory 2008 – 2009 , a two year effort. If anyone wants to dispute with us, we can send them an angry mob of fake flash victims. So if you would like to have your item(s) recorded for the record please send us the information above to: sosfakeflashdrive@gmail.com
It is important to report even if the seller is already on the list or an alert is issued.
It increases the counts and evidence against the seller and for the degree of fraud on eBay too. . We publish the sellers and the current counts in our eBay fake flash sellers list. We also produce statistics and reports from the information you send.
In your feedback please put the calling card of “SOSFakeFlash” + “H2testw“. It helps people to find us and get help. It also unnerves fraudsters as it means their days are now numbered. If you left positive feedback, do a follow up to your original feedback – to let everyone know what you discovered. This makes a difference too. If you have a little time, contact at least 5 other buyers from your fake flash seller to warn them to test. It’s a chain reaction, it helps others, reduces victims and soon brings these fraudulent sellers to the attention of both PayPal and eBay.
SOSFakeFlash 
InspectorTech said
To Ora
C Glueths has been contacted. SOSFakeFlash does not practise censorship with one exception – when a nationality or race is attacked. We are waiting for this person’s response.
We also do not control search engines or robots. They can’t be controlled – by anyone. SOSFakeFlash is in english.
Erasing truth or history is not the in the mandate of the FrankenFlash Project. The Banner at SOSFakeFlash reads: “Toward A Fake Flash Drive Free World – No More Counterfeits – No More Data Loss”. We can’t “unwrite” history or facts that have occured.
From a technical point of view, you do can not erase internet pages, at best they will fade away over time. With caching they can be seen over a lot period of time. There are engines that make it a point to collect snap shots of sites and preserve the information as it existed at the time permenantly too.
It is one of the reasons this site, SOSFakeFlash is so careful in what they publish in terms of alerts or stories. You are very lucky in a sense that C Glueths chose not to have you entered into the database with your id ora9634 and supporting information. There is a strong possibilty of a class action suit brewing if eBay does not clean up it’s act. Every day, the data grows in the database. Victims generally have little sympathy for those who sold them these false capacity items. While the Project understands your situation it is not their call.
We will await the news from C Glueths and the decison(s).
Your quick option that most fake flash sellers have opted for is to change their id’s. While the project does track and trace this and update the fake flash sellers list to reflect the changes, in your case the team leaders have said they will not do this as you are not currently recorded it in.
You are not the first seller to have been caught in the cross hairs to make ebay fake flash free. However they reacted quickly to buyer complaints and as such never had a buyer report them.
There have been many outreach campaigns to sellers on eBay to test their merchandise. Unfortunately ebay had a dim view of this and attacked those who tried to be proactive. As a result sellers are no longer contacted and warned to test. You can blame eBay for this, not us. In your case from what we know, you refused and resisted both testing and racing to address the issue. It is unfortunate.
At today’s team meeting it was decided to wait for C Glueths’s response. C Glueths has been advised not to communicate at this site and that the discussion concerning you is to be private. We have presented your request to C Glueths, ultimately it is up to C Glueths.
You might be interested to know, Ora that the Project was cofounded by ebay buyer victims and also by ebay sellers who sold fake flash (victims too). It was decided that if a seller could prove and provide data that every buyer was contacted and refunded, alerts would be removed. No alert was issued by SOSFakeFlash on you. Comments are not covered in this and by your own admission, you sold fake flash. We can’t undo this.
We would like to see a happy ending to this, and await C Glueths. Your situation was discussed and the quick option for you is to change your seller id. If you stay on the straight and narrow, the Project will not pursue.
EkseFinland said
TWO FAKE PLAYER SELLERS:
lovehuangfeifei2008
and the item number:280341042676
“Slim 8GB 1.8″LCD MP3/MP4 Radio FM Player+Gift&Free Ship”
PLayer has samsung chip k9gag08uom identifyed as 2GB. I’ve already fixed the player from its 8GB to true 2GB size.
2nd player from:
hitech2day
item number: 220406982230
1.8″ LCD 16GB 4th Gen Slim MP3 MP4 Media Player FM O
Results from the test are.
The media is likely to be defective.3.8 GByte OK (7984096 sectors)12.1 GByte DATA LOST (25492512 sectors)Details:12.1 GByte overwritten (25492512 sectors)0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)0 KByte corrupted (0 sectors)8 KByte aliased memory (16 sectors)First error at offset: 0x00000000f3a7c000Expected: 0x00000000f3a7c000Found: 0x00000000f3a7a000H2testw version 1.3Writing speed: 1.88 MByte/sReading speed: 5.83 MByte/sH2testw v1.4
I’m in the process of converting this one back into its true size. Not going to return either one, already got partial refund from the first one, disputed the 2nd one just now.
EkseFinland said
Sorry guys seems I left out few details.
Fake #1
item number:280341042676
seller id:lovehuangfeifei2008
my Id:EkseFinland
output from h2test2, I only discovered h2testw after I had fixed the player. I was getting Format error messages on the player on everything over 2GB.
Seller address: TSE CHIT( ?? )
G/F,Block 26,428 Yuen
Kong Tsuen, Yuen Long
Hong Kong
Item #2
Item number: 220406982230
SellerID: hitech2day
myid: Eksefinland
output from h2 test
The media is likely to be defective.3.8 GByte OK (7984096 sectors)12.1 GByte DATA LOST (25492512 sectors)Details:12.1 GByte overwritten (25492512 sectors)0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)0 KByte corrupted (0 sectors)8 KByte aliased memory (16 sectors)First error at offset: 0×00000000f3a7c000Expected: 0×00000000f3a7c000Found: 0×00000000f3a7a000H2testw version 1.3Writing speed: 1.88 MByte/sReading speed: 5.83 MByte/sH2testw v1.4
seller address
Chan Lai man
flat 05 40 /F yuet wah
hse tin yuet est
tin shui wai nt
Hong Kong
Craig said
I purchased a 32GB SD card on eBay from look221112. I tested it with h2testw and found it could only write to less than 9 GB and a majority of the data that was written was found to be corrupted when verified. The Seller had his account suspended for a while prior to my defective SD card arriving in the mail and currently has no active auctions although he’s been reinstated as a eBay member. I have filed a report through PayPal as the Seller doesn’t respond to messages left by me via eBay. From the seller’s recent feedback, others are also reporting defective card.
EkseFinland said
I’ve gotten partial refunds from both, left neutral feedback on other and negative on other with advice to test with H2testW.
Mary said
You should not settle for partial refunds – get every penny back from fraudsters – when you do this it also hits paypal – their fees are gone. Determination is the way to fight this fraud! Do not be blackmailed. Do not change negative feedback. If you read the advice on sosfakeflash about refunds and follow it carefully you can get all your money back and leave the fraudsters a negative comment. I did. You should mention sosfakeflash and h2testw in your negative feedback to help other victims!
Ora said
I did not admit to selling fake flash drives. I did not know they were fake until several months after I bought them and when I found out, I immediately removed them from my listings and refunded several hundred dollars. Also, I was stuck with over $1500 worthless inventory. I was a victim myself. I did not create these fake drives. It’s time for Gueths to admit I refunded her money when I realized her drive was a fake. I assume the purpose of your site is to persecute those who knowingly sell fakes and not the innocent. I am a 76 year old retiree trying to supplement my Social Security, and you are jeopardizing my sales. If you openly persecute the innocent, you are jeopardizing the value of your site.
Ora said
I never refused to test my drives. I didn’t know how to test them until about 3 months ago when I discovered H2testw1.4. My contact with Gueths was back in October of 2008 and I don’t know if that test existed then. If it did, I didn’t know about it. The translation of your comments in German has disappeared, so I assume there is a way to remove unfair comments from Google and I would appreciate it if you would do this immediately. Gueths is vindictive and may never tell you the truth.
EFin said
I didn’t care so much for a full refund of other item 17.5 and other 35usd. Got 7 from the first, might go for the rest 10 later. got 20usd back from the 35usd. the mp3 players work and I would have bought them if they where sold under correct size instead and not complain.
KittyFireFlash said
To Ora
No we did not do anything to the internet or google, translation caching is something that will disappear on it’s own depending on the type of page it was. Static pages are another matter, but they also change as they are refreshed.
Gueths has as yet not responded to the email sent regarding your situation.
Personally I do not disbelieve you at all. I have dealt with a number of eBay sellers who sold fake flash or were just starting to and got them out of the line of fire. Others have as well. In fact, as mentioned, eBay sellers who accidentally sold fake flash are among those who helped to start the project in the first place.
To expidite matters, your case is being submitted to the the senior team to be reviewed. As you do not have an avocate, I am electing myself to represent you.
This site is not about persecution as it is about warning, alerting and not letting fake flash seller go who have intentionally harmed people and in many cases to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, caused massive data loss and harmed 1000’s of people. Sellers like that we will indeed chase into the bowels of hell and beyond if need be. You do not fit this profile at all.
Removing comments will not be possible. However, I am recommending that they be edited – to remove your eBayer id and all personal identifying information. If they agree, you will be asked to chose a fake id and and a fake name to replace your true identity. The comments then serve as education only. This is fair and just in my opinion. It also in within the spirit of the FrankenFlash’s original founding mandate. I would like to to see a happy and positive ending.
It will take up to a week or longer to have the required responses from the senior members – we are global, in different time zones and continents.
You will be contacted by email once they have responded.
KittyFireFlash said
To Everyone
We would like to remind you that some eBay sellers are victims, just like you. The difficult part is determining which ones are victims and which ones are not.
You can often tell who is a victim seller by the following things:
1) They refund you immediately
2) They remove all listings immediately
3) They contact their buyers to warn them and explain what happened along with a refund.
In doing these things, they suffer financial loss. They do it because it is THE RIGHT THING TO DO. They do not continue listing the items and they do not try to absolve themselves by blaming their suppliers. They suck it up. They take the pain and you can bet they them go after their suppliers with more determination than we do.
Sellers who demonstrate this behavior are not the ones SOSFakeflash is interested in pursueing, we are after the real sharks, not the tadpoles.
Early on we published this article which we think all should read:
August 29, 2008 – eBay Sellers Can Be Victims – How Does This Happen? https://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/ebay-sellers-can-be-victims-how-does-this-happen/
I have chosen to represent Ora to the senior team.
David Nguyen said
To Everyone
I would like to comment on a product sold to me via eBay by ebay seller olds0416. It is a (supposedly fake) Kingston 64 GB Dat Traveller Flash Drive. There is no need to test its genuine status via software because USB stick can’t be as dodgy as the one I have recieved. Such cheap plastic etc. Anyway when I first plugged it into my computer, I find that it does not even format. So I search around the internet and found a FAT32Formatter and formatted it. It worked but when I went to transfer file to it; only a few minutes later i recieved a error message saying that the drive is damaged/corrupted. After cancelling the operation I went back into the flash drive and fould that it needs to be formatted again. I don’t know how many times I have repeated this procedure, but it has come to a point that it can no longer be read by my computer nor others.
Description of purchase below:
1. eBay item number: 260406858322
2. eBay Seller id: olds0416
3. Your eBay Buyer id: dave_todai
4. Don’t need
5. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260406858322&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com.au%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp3907.m38.l1313%26_nkw%3D260406858322%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1
6. R.D.
20 Marion Street
Bankstown NSW 2200
kittyfireflash said
To Dave
These kingston DT150 64GB datatraveler flash drives are really starting to bug us. They are popping up all over the place on ebay. There is a new article that will be released shortly on ebay seller fufu$$. In it is important information to help people detect these fakes with physical description information on them.
Dave when it is released in about 5 hours from now, please read it and compare it with your drive. Leave a comment on that article with your description. It looks like we will have to do a special article soon just devoted to Kingston DT150 counterfeits.
I personally know the feeling of what you have been going through. Not with a kingston fake but a generic. It almost drove me insane.
Did you keep the packaging that came with the drive? Did you have have a serial number on the back. Your geograhical location is being hit hard with these fakes.
Kingston in your country has been contacted about the issue. We are currently waiting for news and an update.
It looks like we are not going to get much rest in the near future, day jobs will have us groggy. Keep us posted and we are behind in data entry and investigating at the moment….
To Everyone
If you have a kingston fake, please use the report a fake tab to report in to us. Do not buy any Kingston DT150 usb flash drives on eBay. Period! Stay away from the 32gb and the 64gb drive. Pass the word along.
We have no idea how it has happened, but somehow counterfeits have been able to make a lot of fakes for these models. It takes time to create them and then to begin distribution. We do not know how they managed to do this or how they got a hold of the necessary materials to make sorry imitations. We do know this is very bad for Kingston Technologies. They need every bit of help they can get. The markets are not good and this really hurts them. Report to Kingston in your country and identify the source of your counterfeit acquistion!
It looks like a new plague in fake flash is being unleashed. We have no idea just how big the problem is at the moment. Do not feel sorry for any ebay seller who has listed these counterfeits. They are poison to data. We need everyones help! Report your information quickly.
To eBay sellers caught with counterfeit DT150 Datatraveler usb flash drives
You need to step up to the plate and accept responsibility. If you feel you are a victim, too – then contact KIngston Technologies and provide them with information on where you bought the counterfeit flash drives from. Do not try to hide in the shadows or foolishly make your feedback private. Refund your buyers and seek legal action against the source of your purchases.
To Ebay sellers listing DT150 DataTraveler Usb flash drives
Immediately test your merchandise with H2testw. If your merchandise does not pass:
1) cancel your listing immediately
2) Contact Kingston Technologies
3) contact your buyers and refund them immediately in full and explain what happened.
4) seek legal action against your supplier
If you can confirm that you have genuine kingston DT150 flash drives, change your listings to advise that you have inspected with H2testw and confirm that they are genuine at true advertised capacity and that you guarantee it!
andrew said
i recently purchased an mp34 player from ewin100 on ebay. upon receipt of item i tested it it wouldnt test on h2testw so i downloaded music on to it then had to format device as bad sectors appeared. finally got music onto it an charged device .ued it in work after a full charge it only lasted 1.5 hours then battery went dead. £16 badly spent. china should be taken off ebay traders.
Randy said
Ebay seller upcomingtrend — suspicious seller.
Private actions with some Feedback Public. Interesting tactic.
Feedback contains significant number of Stylus being sold, with free shipping, for less than $1.
Looks like a seller wanting to build credibility by giving away items. How long can you stay in business selling less than your shipping costs?
Michael said
1. eBay item number: 270391049165
2. eBay Seller id: lilyalv
3. Your eBay Buyer id: cnymike
4. Your output from H2testw 1.4
The media is likely to be defective.
235.9 MByte OK (483200 sectors)
31.0 GByte DATA LOST (65020032 sectors)
Details:4.3 GByte overwritten (9074784 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
26.6 GByte corrupted (55945248 sectors)
3 KByte aliased memory (6 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000000ebf0000
Expected: 0x000000000ebf0000
Found: 0x00000000aa55aa55
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 9.05 MByte/s
Reading speed: 7.66 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
5. eBay item description if the listing has been removed
Item Specifics – Item Condition
Condition: New
Interface : USB 2.0
Type : USB Flash Drive
Brand : Kingston DataTraveler
Storage Capacity : 32GB
Features:
# High capacity data storage: 32GB
# Compliant: Designed to Hi-Speed USB 2.0 specifications
# Convenient: Pocket-sized for easy transportability
# Simple: Just plug and play into a USB port
# Practical: Stores cap securely on end of device to prevent loss of cap
Technical Information:
# Type: Flash Drive
# Memory Size: 32GB
# Operating Temperatures: 32 F to 140 F (0 C to 60 C)
# Storage Temperatures: -4 F to 185 F (-20 C to 85 C)
# Dimensions: 3.06" x 0.9" x 0.47" (77.9 mm x 22 mm x 12.05 mm)
6. Seller address (complete) if you have it. Important to build profile and track multiple id’s
Edna Hurtado
PO Box 835021
Miami, FL 33283
7. A short word of you experience and or thoughts if you like (optional)
I called Kingston Technology on May 26, 2009 and the technician I spoke to told me that legitimate Kingston USB flash drives have a laser etched identification on the USB plug. This flash drive did not. Also, as confirmed by the H2testw v1.4 program, the memory on this flash drive is not 32GB as advertised but nly 235.9MB.
It is clearly a fake, or counterfeit. The seller has sent only one reply to my emails and asked me to reformat the drive. I had already done that and as we all know, reformatting the drive did nothing because the flash drive is a fake and does not have the advertised memory capacity.
John said
On 10 May I won at Ebay a Kingston Data Traveller 150 64Gb drive, which was fake. The seller is based in Tarzana, CA, USA called ‘sariba818′ (no longer a registered user). The item was described as ’64gb flash drive,High quality,new,sealed’. It arrived quickly and looked genuine. But upon testing, it soon became apparent that this is a poor counterfeit (i.e. it copied files very slowly, and when exceeded 5Gb, the files didn’t copy correctly). I tried to verify it with Kingston website; it reported that the ID was already registered by someone else. So it was a counterfeit after all. I disputed with the seller at PayPal’s dispute, and received the refund. I am astonished that the quality of counterfeit is so good now. We cannot use ebay to buy these goods any more.
kittyfireflash said
Groan! It’s happening again
We need people to start contacting anybody who bought a usb flash drive from ebay seller upcomingtrend and ask them to test. Contact the positivers! The positive feedback should be rolling in shortly.
You caught this one Randy!
It is the typical pattern and he is gearing up. 80 listings for those drives right now. It is going to be around the clock for a few weeks or as long as the seller can get away with it – then he will stop listing and go back to selling the cheap stuff.
Help out people. Start handing out life jackets before people find their data files drowning! Contact the buyers and ask them to test!
If they have false capacity to zap with immediate negative and drag the seller kicking and screaming to the paypal dispute console. Unless we get proof, our hands are tied. Get them to report in using the “report a fake tab” It’s not a very fair fight, we have rules, they don’t.
It’s up to you the victims of fake flash to contact buyers. eBay limits to 5 messages a day, so a lot of people are needed to make up for the limitation quota. That is the problem, for example with 80 listings, how many people are needed at 5 messages? If a seller is selling false capacity, once proof comes in, the internet can help out and victims can find the truth on a seller here.
Randy said
Regarding Michaels post #42 about laser etched serial numbers on Kingston Flash drives. This is a one indication if the drive is a a counterfeit.
Ebay has a policy about serial numbers ..extract from
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/stolen.html
eBay forbids its members from listing goods that have altered or removed serial numbers.
If you have purchased a counterfeit Kingston drive on EBay you can complain to EBay about it being a counterfeit, if they say they don’t believe you then you can tell them, if they think it is genuine then it must have had its serial number removed and thereby is against there serial number policy. Ask them to pick one, either it is a counterfeit or a orginal with a removed serial number. Both are against EBay policy.
Michael said
I called PayPal and eBay and got little satisfaction. I explained that if I send the flash drive back to the seller, I no longer have any evidence of the couterfeit. The seller has told me that they have refunded my money but PayPal won’t release the money to me until I send them proof that I have sent the drive back to the seller. It’s a Catch-22.
I am reallly pissed and feel like I”m stuck. Should I just buckle and send the drive back to the seller and then get my refund? PayPal has said the they have looked at the case and will refund my money.
What to do?
kittyfireflash said
To Michael
It looks like both ebay and paypal are selecting you for special torture treatment. You had the misfortune to buy a
Kingston Data Traveler 150 USB 2 Flash Drive 32 GB
from lilyalv. Randy left you a comment about serial numbers that should be etched (May 29, 2009 at 2:33) and ebay policy. Have a look at his reference info.
Both ebay and paypal know better and also just how many 32GB fakes for that model have been reported here. No it should not go back to the seller. It could go to Kingston, though for them to examine as to counterfeiting. Some times people really have to fight with both ebay and paypal, it often seems as if nobody is home. In this case it is paypal trying to hang on to the money, not ebay. PayPal is extremely flawed and they have serious problems with their dispute console website and it’s options. They seem too cheap and unwilling to fix their design issues regarding counterfeit and fake merchandise.
We do know that people who keep after them, get money back. In this case even lilyalv is willing to return your money. What does that say?
Also Michael, we have done some research on lilyalv. This ebay seller does not fit the profile and in examining history appears to have stumbled into the fake flash ebay wars. We have not issued an internet alert on the seller as yet, and the seller hasn’t sold a lot. What did the seller say about the counterfeit when you confronted? Is lilyalv willing to contact buyers, warn them and refund? It may be a financial hardship, but it is the correct thing to do. Also to go after the supplier of the items and also report to Kingston.
If lilyalv has transferred the money back to you, paypal has no business holding the funds. If you have any written communications from Paypal refusing to release the money to you and the seller shows they have sent you the funds, we would be very pleased to publish it for everyone to see. It will not be the first time and it will not be the last either. It does shake things up a bit.
We don’t advise buckling under. The evidence is very important. If you have a digital camera, can you take pictures of it? See this one: https://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/ebay-counterfeit-kingston-dt150-64gb-datatraveler-usb-flash-drives-revealed-case-of-ebay-seller-fufu/ we don’t have the 32 GB documented like the 64GB.
You might have to escalate with PayPal and show your teeth, otherwise they will walk over you and also other fake flash victims. Just how would PayPal like it if you use a large envelope and clearly mark you are returning counterfeit illegal merchandise by order of PayPal? With a tracking number of course (photograph as you are handing it in at the postal counter)? Some might consider this a stunt – but the fact is, enough is enough. PayPal knows better and should behave responsibily. It you are interested in this option and send in the information and evidence of being forced to do this, we will publish. Having it on record for the global community to see. Victims are tired of their behavior. Some get immediate refunds, others will a little struggle but others still seem selected for the twilight zone. It appears that “buyer protection” is false advertising and a con.
When you bid on a Kingston Data Traveler 150 USB 2 Flash Drive 32 GB on ebay, Michael you never expected this and you are not alone…
Grant said
I just looked at lilyalv’s sales. It seems that 14 DataTraveler 150 flash drives were purchased. So far only two buyers have left feedback, though sales go as far back as 14th May. I think the fact that buyer IDs were hidden at the end of the auctions looks a bit fishy. Isn’t it usually deliberate fraudsters that do this? I wonder if the earlier buyers discovered they were fake, got a refunded and just didn’t leave feedback or what?
I think the way paypal are acting is disguisting – if the seller is willing to refund without getting the drive back then what are they up to? Getting the evidence off the streets to make it more difficult for buyers to mount a class action against ebay/paypal perhaps?? Or am I overly cynical?
Michael said
How do I upload photos of my counterfeit 32GB Kingston DataTraveler drive?
Where do I do that? I can’t seem to attach them or include them in a “reply”.
Michael
Michael said
Regarding my post #42…
I emailed my seller and asked if she’d be willing to give me her phone number so we could talk. She agreed to that and I have just gotten off the phone with my seller.
I now have come to believe that she is totally innocent and was duped by her Chinese supplier. I have circumvented the PayPal resolution center by and requested that my seller refund my money directly to my PayPal account which she did while I was on the phone with her.
I then cancelled the dispute with PayPal and will be calling PayPal again today to give them a piece of my mind.
I am going to go out of my way to discontinue using PayPal for anything. They are not interested in pursuing good customer relations. I have also sent you a series of photos of my counterfeit drive. I hope these are helpful to all who see this post.
KittyFireFlash said
To Michael and Everyone
See https://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/quick-detection-genuine-or-counterfeit-kingston-dt150-32gb-datatraveler-michaels-guide/
We’ve named the guide after you! Thank you Michael for your time, effort and wonderful contribution.
Gordon Ellis said
HAIFTER
HAIFTER
HAIFTER
Haifter’s listings on ebay are near identical to opdoam’s. I have had one reply back from a buyer who is having trouble with his usb drive. Fingers crossed he leaves follow-up feedback and buyers start noticing. At the monent haifter is listing one drive every half hour and seems to be drifting away from the 8gb mp3 players.
TAOLINE2
I noticed this seller is from China but claims goods posted from UK address. If you then look at listings, it becomes clearer that not all goods are from UK. Not sure if dodgy or not yet.
Chad said
Kingston Data Traveler 150/64GB, bought off the Amazon.com Marketplace.
Error writing file ‘G:\1.h2w’, offset 0x1f600000.
It is still possible to verify the test data written up to this point.
(The semaphore timeout period has expired. Code 121)
Warning: Only 65196 of 65197 MByte tested.
Writing speed: 1.88 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
A bare 1/128th of the advertised size.
Send this email to the seller (through Amazon):
The Seller (Cmon ) has already replied:
Hello Patch,
Some units might
have compatibility issues because of Size, This time it
seems like you have a defective unit. You can
return this Item back to us, our Address is.
Cosmic
Vision
PO Box 475
Fishkill NY,12524
Once
we recive the item back, we will give you a refund of
your Order. Let us know once you mailed the item back. We apreciate your business
Thank You
Cmat
Some advice… what should I do here? This is not eBay, and not PayPal, but I am apparently covered by Amazon.com’s A-to-Z Guarantee.
I can stall for time by asking how the refund will come, since I paid in part with an Amazon.com Gift Certificate, and part with a direct bank transfer, but am looking for some direction.
Chad said
Further to my comment (#55) above, I’m not entirely confident that my drive will end up in the right place: Searching for Cosmic Vision in the New York Business Register gives me this (the closest match in terms of address):
COSMIC VISION TECHNOLOGIES, INC is listed in the Haitian Times and the Southern Dutchess News with the same address and a telephone number of 845-896-0106. According to Google Phone Book, this number and address match up with
Anitha Parayil (845) 896-0106 89 Watch Hill Dr,Fishkill, NY 12524
Not sure if this is a new resident at an old address or not… Since I live in Australia, calling them up just to ask is a bit of a hassle.
kittyfireflash said
Hi Chad
Buying on Amazon rings a bill with me. Someone else did as well. We are going to try and get in touch with the person. There are a lot of victims to try and remember.
Fake flash sellers as a rule and especially in the USA tend to use wrong addresses or very strange ones. Their favourite addresses tend to be restaurants. Perhaps selling fake flash makes them hungry, not sure. Could you bring up mapquest.com in the usa and type in the address as if you wish to go there? You can expand it to see the location.
In the mean time we will try to find and get in touch with the other person for information and advice. There is a possibility however remote…that the seller is the same? That might be interesting. Keep an eye on the site for news on your situation (subscribe to the comments on the rss feed if you haven’t done this yet).
Rebecca Scudder said
To Chad, in comment # 55.
This is the Amazon listing for the fake 64 GB drive I discovered. The seller is listed as Kingston Technology. http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Traveler-64GB-Flash-Drive/dp/B001OR8HMQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top Interestingly enough, clicking on it brings you to other legitimate Kingston Technology products on Amazon, and doesn’t seem to hook up with a marketplace seller. It also sounds, since the capacity of the drive you received was so low, that it was not faked from the 2 GB drive shown in that picture. What color and design was the drive you received? If you go to http://www.kingston.com, and look at their product section, can you identify the drive you have as one they show? Their drives are all color coded by capacity, and if you go through the links, you can see both pictures of all their drives and the color to capacity match up. White with lime green, as shown in that Amazon listing, is a 2 GB drive. (Which, from email correspondence in May 2009 from Kingston, they have stopped producing.) I did not actually purchase this drive from Amazon- and the listing has said out of stock for over a month. I was doing research on how large capacity drives were available for an article, and found both this listing, and another for a 128GB drive from Kingston- which does not exist. I sent the research I had gotten here from SOSFAKEFLASH.com, and the information from http://www.kingston.com to Amazon, as they require two pieces of proof to remove a suspect item from their listings, and Amazon removed the listing for the 128GB drive. You can do the same thing by forwarding the information you gathered from Kingston and this site, and Amazon will investigate and have the product removed from the Amazon Marketplace.
I do not think that you should bear the cost of shipping a defective (fake) product back to Cosmic Vision. Finding out how the refund will be done is an excellent idea. Ask Amazon what you are to do so you will be able to prove the product was returned, to make sure you will be compensated for shipping.
I ended up writing two articles- one about currently available USB flash drives, and another article about fakes. The article on fakes I wrote was published at http://www.brighthub.com, http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/33110.aspx and I am gathering information for another article on how to spot likely fakes without actually purchasing them. If you could either post information describing the drive you bought, or contact me with the information through the message system at Bright Hub, I will add the description to the article. You send a message by clicking on the writer’s name at the top of the article, which will take you to a page where you can send me a message. If you want to send a picture, contact me that way and I will send you an email to use to send a copy of the picture. Information which would be extremely helpful includes a description or picture of the faked drive which allows color or shape matching to the original capacity of the drive.
If anyone else wants to send information or pictures showing faked information that would help others determine a drive is fake, you can also contact me that way, and I will see if the information can be used in the article. For me to use a picture in the article, you will need to give me permission to use the picture or a way to credit you as the source of the picture. That does not need to be a name that would identify you. This also applies to anything I could directly quote about faked items. Otherwise I will just incorporate the information in general terms as coming from users at the SOSFAKEFLASH.com site.
I hope that this proactive behavior with Amazon will prevent faked drives becoming a problem there as they have at eBay. Amazon has certainly shown a willingness to remove product listings if they are given two or more sources proving the item listing is wrong.
Rebecca
Chad said
Hi Kitty,
I would… but it hard to look up a physical location for a PO Box. 😦 The other address is something I turned up by searching for businesses with that name in Fishkill, NY. Even then, the only thing I found was a company that dissolved in 2004. A whole bunch of things could at work here: the company could have moved or vacated the old address when it dissolved, for example.
The long and short of it is that I can’t do a check on a PO Box without staking it out in person…
ApacheChick said
I ordered the Kingston DataTraveler 150 32GB on May 10 and it arrived in timely fashion (free shipping from CHina to boot, d’oh!). I just got around to using it the other night and lost some sentimental data. I copied several folders to the drive, and while they did ‘show up’ on the flash drive, the folders contents were not there. They appeared to be, but when attempting to open them, it was a bunch of computer code stuff. No pics, nothing. I contacted Kingston the next day and was informed this product was counterfeit. I had already deleted them from the other memory stick.. (in the process of trying to recover them now)
I purchased from an online site I found through a search. I have contacted them twice and am awaiting a response (I know, moot point I’m sure).. I have also contacted the CC used for payment and Paypal abotu a chargeback.
I’m not sure what will come of this, but one things for sure. I will no longer purchase computer accessories from anyone but Dell or the actual manufacturer. If it’s something I want bad enough, I will pay the higher price!
If the price seems to good to be true, I learned it, it truly is..
ApacheChick said
Ps.. I didn’t order from Ebay, but http://kingstonusbcf.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=130_137&products_id=224
This is the actual message after attempting to contact them via their site tonight:
电子邮件错误: Could not instantiate mail function. Please check Admin->Configuration->Email Options->Email Transport.
Imagine that.. Can’t even get through to them via email..
TechChips said
This is the second report!
This is the second report to come in concerning:
http://kingstonusbcf.com
In the first, Kingston in China was contacted and it seems that they said this site does indeed sell counterfeits.
The prices are also extremely low. If anybody else has bought from this site and you find you have a counterfeit, please report in to sosfakeflashdrive@gmail.com quickly! See the report a fake tab at this site. Because this seller is not on ebay, certain info is not needed.
If anyone can, do send the test results and any photos of the drives if you take them apart for inspection. We would really like to see the internals. The flash controller chip (little square one) and the flash storage chip – the long black chip. The serial information on both chips as well.
Emerson said
I bought an 16GB USB Flash AData which is false:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260394153712&ssPageName=ADME:B:BCA:US:1123
I had not noticed the packaging, but packing is to repair stuck only two push-buttons, is not fully welded to the original.
You can only write 256MB, the software chipgenius confirmed to be a fake item.
So take care with this seller on Ebay: Aztec-1
Dan said
Bought a month ago on eBay from seller cybertown_network. It has on board only 4GB of real memory, but showing to windows 32GB. So when I overwrite 4GB limit, file system become corrupted and I have to reformat it.
Dan
Jaz4 said
I have purchased 5 SD cards from ebay and So far 4 received (all from HK) have been a fake, waiting for one from the USA, but this has yet to arrive and feed back from others and paypal account is again in HK.
1) 16GB class 6 but only a 139.9MB class 2 seller i24hours4you 99.3% feedback
Reading speed: 3.13 MByte/s
Looked like a transcend SD without the words. He refunded after a few emails and a couple of bribes. He was selling around 7 a day currently has nothing for sale.
2) 16GB class 4 but only a 303 MB class 2 seller grandtechdigital 99.1% feedback
Writing speed: 2.57 MByte/s
Reading speed: 3.10 MByte/s
Unsure of the make. He did refund after I stupidly sent it back and scanned a copy of the postal recipt. He has items for sale but no memory, and he private so cant see what he sold before. He is already on the wanted list.
3) 16Bg class 4 but only a 96MB yes the lowest thing I have ever seen by suhongstore 99.6%
Writing speed: 2.14 MByte/s
Reading speed: 6.50 MByte/s
Similar to above. Has over 74 for sale in the next 24hrs, so flooding the market with them. I had to start a paypal dispute as they would not refund or resend until old one sent. The did refund quickly after the dispute.
4) 32GB class 6 but only a 8GB class 2. from zjlee08 98.5%
Writing speed: 914 KByte/s
Reading speed: 1.43 MByte/s
Looks again like the transcend SD cards, he even has transcend disks listed
Sent a few emails but no responce as yet, will start a paypal claim.
Has over 70 per day and over 196 listed including
5) 32GB class 6 from adiandian3 96.3% feedback. Looks like a scandisk ultra but without the scandisk.
He said he was from the USA but paypal account is HK. He sold over 50 per day over a few days (thats based on feedback not the actual which would have been more). Still awaiting, but the latter feedback all suggesting FAKE.
So it looks like 5 out of 5 purchases on ebay are all FAKE. Like most before I found that the units work ok at start, look the real deal and as such leave 5X positive feed back until you overfill them and get corrupted data find this site and test, that you find you have been conned.
I can t beleive that ebay and paypal has yet to clamp down on this, I can see over 300 units that are most likely fake form the sellers I have purchased from just for today so this is a massive racket going on, and I would love to pull my feedback, I have yet to leave for the latter 2, and it will not be pretty, but like the last, he looks like he has dumped them and moved on.
Dubhbairn said
I bought a fake 16GB thumb drive from Ebay user: haha1218ai88
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270398552698
The thumb drive turned out to be a 500MB drive. (32 times smaller than claimed!)
H2testw tested:
====================
The media is likely to be defective.
485.1 MByte OK (993536 sectors)
15.4 GByte DATA LOST (32397056 sectors)
Details:15.4 GByte overwritten (32397056 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
0 KByte corrupted (0 sectors)
64 KByte aliased memory (128 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x000000001e500000
Expected: 0x000000001e500000
Found: 0x00000003faff0000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 4.13 MByte/s
Reading speed: 4.94 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
====================
I found another report on haha1218ai88 describing him as a fraudulent Ebay seller at:
He did not return any of my email or messages and I filed a claim with Paypal.
jaz4 said
Update,
the 5th SD card was also a fake, only 111MB and the ebay account has been closed.
Got refund for No 4 disk, had to put in a paypal claim, but got a refund the same day.
Started a paypal claim with No 5 but paypal this time want me to send the fake unit back. Only available input was to add a tracking number and comments, so I said I was unwilling to send counterfeit items through post on the returns comment form.
I wont send the unit back.
Terry Tipton said
PayPal is well aware that it is illegal to send counterfeit items through the USPS. They stated so themselves when they instructed me to destroy my flash drive instead of sending it to them.
I eventually got my refund but it was a long hard fight. Do not give up.
Randy said
esraelonline Selling 128GB Flash Drives
http://myworld.ebay.ca/esraelonline/
Vendor contacted and indicate the drives are based on Sony technology and not fakes as they pass HDtach testing. Have indicated to seller that HDtach is not a valid test and should use H2TestW.
Sellers has 10 for sale under this listing.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/128-GB-HIGH-SPEED-USB-FLASH-MEMORY-DRIVE-128GB_W0QQitemZ380131435899QQihZ025QQcategoryZ51071QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
RockDoctor said
1. eBay item number
230351019847
2. eBay Seller id
ronaldkibuuka ( 4 )
3. Your eBay Buyer id
akarley4u0n
4. Your output from H2testw 1.4
The device is currently under test. ETA 44h43m for a result, and I’m away from the Web for the weekend.
5. eBay item description if the listing has been removed
“NEW KINGSTON 64GB FLASH DRIVE”
6. Seller address (complete) if you have it. Important to build profile and track multiple id’s
David Jansen, 144a Queens Road, Sheffield S2 4DH, UNITED KINGDOM.
(The post code and street address are checked against the postal authority.)
7. A short word of you experience and or thoughts if you like (optional)
It looked obviously fake from the price, nature, etc. Will pursue to court. If this is someone on a first foray into fakery, maybe this’ll put him off. Otherwise, it’ll increase his costs.
Worryingly, Googling for this individual suggests that he’s a company director. So one has to suspect a “Joe job” as a possibility. Being a moron is also a possibility too. The same source lists the scammer’s other ID as being a “director” too.
RockDoctor said
Further on David Jansen (aka ronaldkibuuka) and his UK-sold fake drives :
The media is likely to be defective.
358.0 MByte OK (733192 sectors)
62.1 GByte DATA LOST (130308088 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
62.1 GByte corrupted (130308088 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000000000000
Expected: 0x0000000000000000
Found: 0x0000000821480000
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 434 KByte/s
Reading speed: 6.18 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
lol said
haogooding( 15)
Feedback: 94.1 % Positive
selling 2gb drives first then will sell fake 16gb flash drives.
Jeremy said
This guy super_store2009 is F’ed up. Sent me an envelope with nothing in it. DONT BUY!!! From this seller. Trying to get a refund from paypal, but they want me to ship back the empty envelope back to Hong Kong. It’s like $45 dollars to ship. Paypal can go F themselves too. You are going to get screwed with this crap. Go buy a real one from the store. You will waste more money try to buy these off ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250442566913
nextvision victim said
Hi there, I bought a 4GB flash drive from nextvision-uk who said he tested his drives with h2testw. When the flash drive arrived I tested it with the program and it failed the test. I emailed the seller, who said in his listing that his drives are tested with this program. In his reply he said he tests 10% of the drives.
I then replied asking if he would send me a tested replacement if I returned the drive. He said he would send a tested replacement. He didn’t. Instead he refunded me and now I can’t leave feedaback – I get an ebay message saying the item (Item number: 190314189803) doesn’t exist although it is still there and doesn’t end until July 12th. What is going on here??
I noticed a post on the fightflashfraud blog about this seller listing fake capacity 8GB drives before. So much for buyer protection on ebay – more like fraudster protection!
ebay buyer said
fake 8GB pen drive on ebay, real 2GB, solution:
VID 1221
PID 3234
UDiscTools 1.2.0.2(20090302)
Der Datenträger ist wahrscheinlich defekt.
1,9 GByte OK (4112128 Sektoren)
5,8 GByte DATEN VERLOREN (12239104 Sektoren)
Details:
4,3 GByte überschrieben (9179328 Sektoren)
0 KByte leicht verfälscht (< 8 Bit/Sektor, 0 Sektoren)
1,4 GByte mit Datenmüll (3059776 Sektoren)
1,5 KByte mehrfach genutzt (3 Sektoren)
Erster Fehler bei Offset: 0x000000007d7e0000
Soll: 0x000000007d7e0000
Ist: 0x00000000aa55aa55
H2testw Version 1.3
Schreibrate: 9,63 MByte/s
Leserate: 18,5 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
ChipGenius
Device Name: +[F:]+Dispositivo de almacenamiento masivo USB(USB2.0 Flash Disk USB Device)
PnP Device ID: VID = 1221 PID = 3234
Serial Number: 1000000000000638
Revision: 2.50
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
TechChips said
To eBay Buyer:
Vielen Dank für Ihren Beitrag. Geschätzt.
Thank you for your contribution. Appreciated.
RockDoctor said
Seller has refunded me. Seller claims to have another 20 of these drives, so ANYONE BUYING FROM A eBay seller IN Sheffield UK MUST BE TRIPLY CAUTIOUS.
Seller is probably under a false name as “Ronald Kibukka” – his packaging includes “David Jansen” of “144a Queens Road Sheffield S2 4DH” as a return address. Judging from the poor English “Kibukka” may be a real name and “Jansen” a landlord or other bystander. Both “Kibukka” and “Jansen” are listed as directors of UK companies, which should raise red flags for anyone dealing with them too and suggests “Jansen” to be complicit.
Me – I’m off to test the company’s memory sticks now – before we use them for backups.
Old saying from well-burned fingers in the computing world : “Backups don’t save your data ; restores do. Until you’ve COMPLETED a restore, your backup is UTTERLY worthless.”
Or, in this context, COPY data to a backup device and then test the restore on another machine BEFORE you trust it as a backup. Don’t MOVE anything.
I’ll be abroad for a couple of weeks, so I’ll be hitting another UK-fake-seller when I’m ready to return to collect the debris.
Thing said
I’m currently trying to get a refund for an Ebay ‘Phony Capacity USB Flash Drive .
BUT the point I want to make is that while h2testw.exe
which is so recommended here, is indeed a good program BUT like most memory testers is very thorough & VERY slow on larger slow read/write drives.
With nearly all these Fake drives the first part of Memory
will work, its the higher addresses which are dud.
We need a simple test Prog that will just take the claimed capacity & write & verify the section near the top end.
If its OK then in 95% (say) of cases the whole drive will be.
The prog could then test a section around each memory junction 512MB, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 , 32 GB . It would give a
very likely report of the drives true working memory in a very few mins.
h2testw.exe on a 32 GB drive is just impossible long to use @@@@
(\__/)
(=’.’=)
(“)_(“) Luv Thing