Some facts about the fraud for flash memory on eBay:

The recent Q2 report from SOSFakeFlash reveals 80 eBay member countries affected:

Scam Report eBay Fake Memory Cards, USB Flash Drives, MP Players – SOSFakeFlash Q2 2011. Did You Buy On eBay?

The problem now in it’s ninth year on eBay.

eBay Flash Memory Fraud Continues. 8 Years later, eBay Continues Cover Up For Fraudulent Asian Sellers. 8GB 16GB 32GB 64GB 128GB 256GB Advertised Capacity = 4GB Real Capacity Or Less

What percentage of eBay listings are for fakes?

SOSFakeFlash – eBay Fraud Flash Memory Upgraded Digitally Altered Capacity. Status Report November 2010. Best eBay Prices For USB Pen sticks, Memory Cards, MP Players. Warning – 95% Of eBay Listings Are For Fake Memory.

A recent eBay victim, renamed ClearFlash revealed his personal insights to SOSFakeFlash based on his own experience of being frauded. Here is what he had to say about his seller(s) and the issue on eBay. It is interesting:

a) Even if a lot of buyers complained, ebay still doesn’t shut down this seller.

b) All together: since ebay doesn’t shut down this seller, the overall result for this fraudulent seller and ebay and paypal still may be positive: First only a maximum 20% notice within 45 days that this USB flash drive is faked / manipulated. Most let a positive feedback. 80% pay, ebay gets its fees and paypal and the seller too.

c) It would be necessary to file a case against ebay and paypal because of supporting fraud _in_not_warning_buyers_ of USB-sticks and memory cards after this since years ongoing frauds to first of all test them with h2testw before leaving a feedback. There are a lot of examples, where ebay warns sellers / buyers in case of problematic items (weapons, autographs, alcohol, tobacco, hard disk drives, drugs and so on).

It should be simple to implement an automatic messaging system or pop up window in case somebody bids or wins a auction in relation with an usb-memory-device that first of all he/she should test it seriously before leaving a feedback. This automated message should contain a link to a place where h2testw can easily be downloaded for free. To test a 256 GB device it takes hours and hours until the test is finished. This should be mentioned. Most buyers just copy “for test” a comparatively small file to the flash drive – and this works of course.

Furthermore ebay should be obliged to email all buyers of such devices as soon as the first fraud was detected, that all buyers till then are strongly advised to test their sticks bought from the same seller. The data-loss is the greatest loss, not the 30 € or so.

Both cases where settled from paypal and I will get my money back – but it took me such an amount of time not only to report the case to ebay and paypal but also to warn other buyers and answer their questions (I can supply a lot of examples) what they should do now that all together it would have been cheaper for me just to do nothing and waste no more time on thinking about the lost money.

About

A) eBay not shutting a seller down

Some times they do, if there are enough complaints but mostly they do not. It depends a lot in which eBay country the seller is located.

B) Buyers not noticing in the 45 day claim window

This is also true, part of the problem is buyers do not test properly, instead they take the quick route and verify what the operating system reports. The operating system often fooled reports the advertised capacity and as a result buyers leave positive feedback. Positive feedback can not be rescinded or taken back. So yes, eBay, Paypal get to keep most of the fees they charge and the seller his sales.

C) Filing a dispute for fake memory items

According to FrankenFlash project sites, filing a dispute is a problem for a lot of buyers, most have never needed to file one before. That is, until they bought fake flash memory products. Originally frauded buyers had to file with PayPal but now with eBay. eBay has put up even more road blocks to filing then PayPal ever did. It takes a very determined person to file a dispute.

So could eBay fix the problem, well as ClearFlash pointed out:

There are a lot of examples, where ebay warns sellers / buyers in case of problematic items (weapons, autographs, alcohol, tobacco, hard disk drives, drugs and so on).

So eBay already does this for some item categories.

Is it simple to implement an automatic messaging system pop window if somebody bids and buys usb flash drives, memory cards or MP Players on eBay?

Yes, any web programmer will tell you it is possible and not difficult. Since they already do it for other categories, they already have a blueprint on how to program it.

But there is one thing….

If you were buying these items on eBay what would your reaction be to receiving a warning pop up informing you to be sure to test the flash memory capacity upon arrival?

Given the accumulated evidence reported by FrankenFlash project sites and others in the internet about 95% of eBay listings in these categories are for fakes and counterfeits, what would happen to all the sales, the fees, the money these listings generate for eBay, PayPal and seller?

Sure the pop up warnings would educate buyers in a hurry and it would easily clean up the fraudulent listings. It would even allow the real sellers of true capacity flash memory to be seen, once the fraudulent ones were removed. Honest flash memory sellers on eBay are frustrated and having trouble staying in business, too much competition from the fakes.

Yes eBay should be obliged to send out automatic warning messages to all buyers when a fake flash memory seller is caught. Sometimes they do, but mostly they do not. If they do send a warning message it is almost always for an eBay seller registered in Asia. eBay is cautious, it is safer to go after fraudulent sellers in Asia as the sellers are unable to complain back.

So the answer to the original question:

Can eBay Stop The Sale Of Fake And Counterfeit Memory?

YES!

It means eBay listings for mp players, memory cards and usb flash drives are going to shrink down to 5% of what they are now.

Do you think eBay can live with that?

It means honest sellers will start to do well and have a decent income selling flash memory on eBay. It means brand name manufacturers will not have to continue threatening eBay with legal action. It means less people who buy flash memory will lose their important information. They might even make eBay the regular purchase source for flash memory products.

The easiest and most cost effective way for eBay to reduce and stop the sale of fake flash memory is by introducing the pop up windows. They do it for other product categories sold on eBay. So why don’t they really live up to the “Buyer Protection” they promote and do the same thing here?

Is it the easy money?

Dear Sosfakeflash,

I would like to share my experience with a counterfeit MP3 reader.

I ordered it on Ebay, as follows:

Item number: XXXXXXXXXX (confidential)
Ebay seller id: hubert4605
My id: (confidential)

Output from H2testw 1.4:

The media is likely to be defective.
1.8 GByte OK (3930025 sectors)
2.0 GByte DATA LOST (12783703 sectors)
Details:2.0 GByte overwritten (12783616 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
43.5 KByte corrupted (87 sectors)
1 MByte aliased memory (2048 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x0000000007f43028
Expected: 0x882cfb879888e1f1
Found: 0x882cfb879880e1f1
Writing speed: 1.65 MByte/s
Reading speed: 2.0 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

Item description: 1.8″ LCD Shakable MP3 MP4 FM 4th Gen Player 4GB w/Ebook

Seller address:

Name:Yan Zou
First name: Yan
last name: Zou
street: Room 307,
DingXin Building (W), XiLi
Towncity: Shenzhen
province: Guangdong
country: China
zip code: 518000
phone number: +86 159 1417 1281

Seller email: ghubert0240@att.net

Seller name: Gary HUBERT

I have received the item directly from Germany, from mr. Hubert, the shipping back address was in any case in China.

I opened a file on Paypal and received an answer to ship the item back with registered mail. Since from Italy this is very expansive (about 8 EUR), I called Paypal explaining my problem and got the authorisation to ship back the item by standard, non registered mail (4 EUR), since the value of the item was less than 25 EUR.

I did that and put on Paypal “Priority mail” in the registration number field.

After a couple of days, I got a full refund from Paypal!.

By the way, I was able to fix the reader partitioning the memory to 2 GB. To do that, I used the “Windows Enabler” utility, that even with a removable disk, allows to delete the original 4GB partition and to create a smaller, safe 2 GB partition.

I hope my experience is useful for other fake MP3 reader buyers.

Best regards

LukeDoctorFlash

Additional Reading:

MP Players On Ebay – Current Prices For Cheap Fake 2GB 4GB 8GB 16GB 32 GB SOSFakeFlash’s Report

Fixing Fake Memory:

FixFakeFlash

Repairing Counterfeit Fake MP Players

Recently FlashDriveFacts published this report and recommendation:

Changing Trends In The Sale Of Fake Memory On eBay For USB Flash Drives, Memory Cards And MP Players. SOSFakeFlash Advises Do Not Buy From eBay Sellers With Low FeedBack Scores. Avoid Sellers with Scores Under 300+ To Protect Yourself From Potential Fraud. Learn Why.

The information comes two sites most actively engaged in exposing eBay flash memory fraud. It is hard to keep up with their alerts and warning to protect buyers. Is it doing any good?

For leather usb flash drive fakes, fraudulent sellers are selling from ids registered in other countries. They have started to hide listings in categories eBay does not routinely check. It’s taking the flash memory war on eBay to a brand new level. Hide and Go Seek? The sellers hide, the naive buyers seek.

One of the most recent and glaring examples is eBay seller jeanrob89 registered in France. Over 1,000 buyers have purchased fake memory from him. As we publish, there is no feedback for the flash memory items being sold. This seller leaves feedback in French except for a recent item whern he used English? Is this a clue?

You would think it obvious you can not buy a real capacity 64GB flash drive for only $8.89 AU, but so far 544 buyers have bought one. They believe you can.

It is possible to buy a 128GB capacity flash drive for $14.99 AU? It seems 339 buyers thought they could get one so cheap.

The 32GB capacity is less popular for a flash memory drive these days. Everyone wants a BIG flash drive cheap. Still, over 232 eBay buyers so far believe they can get real capacity 32 GB flash drive for only $6.76 AU!

The hot capacity everyone wants is the 256GB flash drive and so far 121 buyers believe they are going to receive one, for only $24.99 AU.

There are even people who believe you can get a genuine 16GB SANDISK M2 PRO DUO MEMORY STICK 16 GB PS for only $6.89 AU. You might not fall for it, but you would be surprised just how many people do.

If potential buyers read

Flash Memory Chips – Prices

perhaps they would be less eager to buy flash memory on eBay. Wiser?

People buying from jeanrob89 will be lucky if they receive anything at all. eBay will probably shut down this id as soon as the listings are spotted and leave buyers in the dark. Possibility without the opportunity to reclaim their funds. It happens just too often on eBay. You can expect eBay to sweep fraudulent fake memory listings under the carpet as soon as they find them, they don’t want internet proof or the negative press. According to KittyFireFlash at SOSFakeFlash, eBay protects the sellers to protect themselves.

jeanrob89 isn’t selling on eBay to loose money. It means only one thing…

The images used by jeanrob89 according to SOSFakeFlash and FakeMemorySentinel are painfully deja vu. Their investigators see them over and over and over again on eBay. Fake memory sellers are not creative or imaginative in their stock photos. Their objective is to list in volume with “Buy It Now” and deregister from eBay as soon as they can, close their PayPal accounts too. They intend to keep the money. eBay and PayPal can’t keep up with their new strategy.

The scam of selling fake memory on eBay is evolving.

It is not decreasing. It is simply getting sneakier. If you see lists like these available on eBay…..

STOP! Do not bid for them. Do not buy them.

Genuine 16GB SAN DISK M2 PRO DUO MEMORY STICK 16 GB PSP
64GB USB Leather Pen Thumb Memory Flash Stick Drive
128GB USB Leather Pen Thumb Memory Flash Stick Drive
32GB USB Leather Pen Thumb Memory Flash Stick Drive
256GB USB Leather Pen Thumb Memory Flash Stick Drive

If you do bid and buy, you will become another statistic of eBay flash memory fraud. If you make the mistake, visit SOSFakeFlash immediately. You can report your seller with their “Report A Fake” tab on the main menu.

If you have bid but not yet paid, don’t. Instead report the listing to eBay and “DEMAND” eBay cancel your transaction, immediately. Do not go through with the transaction for a fraudulent flash memory seller on eBay.

jeanrob89 demonstrates what you should not buy flash memory on eBay. eBay can’t stop scamming sellers or does not want to. The leather usb flash drive is the oldest fake still being sold on eBay. It was sold in fake capacity over 9 years ago. This flash drive can easily be reprogrammed with low level software to report any size to operating systems.

The usb controller chips in the leather usb flash drives have a flaw, easily exploited to change the real capacity of the flash storage chip. It why it is the OLDEST surviving FAKE SOLD on eBay.

Additional Reading:

How Can You Spot Fake Flash Memory Chips? What Is the Key Factor That Determines If MP3 MP4 Players, USB Flash Drives Or Memory Cards Are Fake Capacity?

USB Leather Pen Thumb Memory Flash Stick Drive Made In Japan. This Title Description On eBay Is For Fake Flash Memory. If You Buy You Will Receive A Fake Guaranteed. Beware Of Advertised Capacity Of 16GB 32GB 64GB 128GB Or 256GB. Singapore eBay pillxs eBay Flash Memory Seller Is Only One Of Many Sellers Waiting To Fraud You. Test Immediately To Verfiy Advertised Capacity. Please Avoid Fake Memory Products! Fälschung?

rickysell819 Ebay Fake Flash Seller – Canada – Case Of Ricky The Tricky

USA helptony20 eBay Seller Claims 128GB USB Pen Flash Drive Tested. Advertises As Unused Unopened For Sale At Only $29.99 US Can You Buy A Leather USB Flash Drive 128 GB So Cheap?

seafish80 Ebay Fake Flash Memory Seller Alert – Singapore. More USB Flash Drive Fraud. Beware Of eBay Listings That Say “Made In Japan” For Flash Memory – You Are Asking To Be Frauded! This Seller Sells Counterfeit Kingston Flash Memory Too

In interviewing KittyFireFlash at SOSFakeFlash, it was revealed that eBay is afraid of this id. They don’t know why. They sent us amazing detailed information Safe2Star. Negative feedback is starting to increase for Safe2Star and they report the seller is preparing for a hibernation.

Sections:

1. Mailing addresses on file for Safe2Star at SOSFakeFlash
2. Email address
3. eBay Counterfeit Ring Association
4. eBay Seller Id’s in counterfeit rings with Safe2Star
5. Internet Articles On Safe2Star
6. Checking Safe2Star current negative feedback score
7. Recent Articles On Fighting eBay Flash Memory Fraud

Mailing addresses on file for Safe2Star at SOSFakeFlash:

New! CHAK PUN SZETO

ROOM 2309, 23/F,
HENG YUET HOUSE,
HENG ON ESATE,
MA ON SHAN ,
SHATIN, HONG KONG

Halim Agus Ekein

Room 1921, Heng Fung House,
Heng On Estate,
Shatin, Hong Kong

Lee Man Fung (SF)

Room 1402, Block 4,
Bian Jian Da Yuan pharse 2,
Yan He Nan Lu,
Luo Hu District
Shenzhen
518013
China

PANG YEE FUNG ( s f )

Room 2506
Block A
GuoJiMingYuan
JiangBeiLu, Luohu District
ShenZhen 518000
China

PANG YEE FUNG ( s f )

Room 23B
Block A
Elegant Residence
ChunFeng Road, Luohu District
ShenZhen 518000
China

Email address:

safe2star@gmail.com

eBay Counterfeit Ring Association:

• Lei Sio Hong
• Lee Man Fung
• Pang Yee Fung

eBay Seller Id’s in counterfeit rings with Safe2Star:

Lei Sio Hong

1. hjstore
2. johnsonmall
3. lingpao
4. ppgo2sell
5. safe2star
6. silviajune
7. takeme2home
8. tronicguard
9. upcomingtrend

Lee Man Fung

1. aluckywinson
2. best2all8888
3. beststore778
4. emma_sun_wu
5. safe2star
6. take.tohome
7. tenda09
8. worldbase608
9. yingstar22

Pang Yee Fung

1. checkmeout88
2. safe2star

Most Popular:

• safe2star Ebay Fake Flash Seller Alert Devious – Hong Kong
• safe2star Scam Fraud On Ebay – Seller Continues To Evade Buyers. eBay Does Not Step In To Suspend Seller For Fake Memory MP Players and Memory Cards
• safe2star Violates eBay FeedBack Policies – Seller Of Fake Flash Memory Products – Massive Fraud
• safe2star eBay Fake Flash Memory Powerseller

Additional Articles with information on Safe2Star:

• October 2009 – Ebay Fake Flash Seller Hot List
• Report eBay Sellers Using Private Auctions On eBay To Fraud Members – August 6 2009
• MP Players eBay Stop Buying 8GB 16GB MP3 MP4 At Cut Rate Bargain Prices SOSFakeFlash Advises.
• eBay Private Auctions. Fraud. Flash Memory. 199 eBay Sellers Involved

Checking Safe2Star current negative feedback score:

See the current status on negative feedback for-> Safe2Star Be patient it is long!

For the short list-> Safe2Star recent

Recent Articles On Fighting eBay Flash Memory Fraud:

eBay Discussion Board And Forums For Fake Flash Memory. eBay Does Not Promote Transparency. There Is No Such Thing As Honest Dialogue With eBay!

EBay Fake Usb Flash Memory – SOSFakeFlash Special Report. Fake Flash Memory Inspector 101 on eBay Course. eBay Fake Flash Memory Sellers Make Hugh Profits Selling Upgraded Flash Memory And Counterfeits On eBay. If eBay Suspends A Seller Just Uses A New Id To Continue To Fraud Buyers. Do You Think eBay Is Innocent? If You Believe In eBay Buyer Protection For Flash Memory Prepare To Be Frauded. Need Convincing?

SOSSFakeFlash Announces Phase III For Operation Fake Flash Storm Against eBay. Toward A Fake Flash Drive Free World – No More Counterfeits – No More Data Loss! Using Social Media To Fight Fake Memory. Do You Have A Facebook Account?

Our Favorite! 32B, XiaoFeng Building Address Fake Flash Memory Selling On eBay. On Site Visit To The Don Of Fake Flash In The Orient.

How Can You Spot Fake Flash Memory Chips? What Is the Key Factor That Determines If MP3 MP4 Players, USB Flash Drives Or Memory Cards Are Fake Capacity?

Buying MP Players, USB Flash Drives And Memory Cards On eBay During Holiday Season – Warning! You Might Be Giving Fake Flash Memory As A Gift! Data Loss Is Not A Gift! Do Not Buy Sony, Kingston or Sandisk On eBay! The Nightmare Of Holiday Giving For Upgraded Flash Memory. Fake Memory Hurts!

Kingston DT310 eBay Beware! Fraud Continues For Counterfeits And Fake Capacity. Learn Become A Smart Consumer. There Are No Cheap Prices For DT 310 At Real Flash Memory Capacity

SOSFakeFlash – eBay Fraud Flash Memory Upgraded Digitally Altered Capacity. Status Report November 2010. Best eBay Prices For USB Pen sticks, Memory Cards, MP Players. Warning – 95% Of eBay Listings Are For Fake Memory

How Are People Fighting Against Fake Memory MP Players, USB Flash Drives And Memory Cards? eBay And The Internet

eBay Flash Memory Fraud Continues. 8 Years later, eBay Continues Cover Up For Fraudulent Asian Sellers. 8GB 16GB 32GB 64GB 128GB 256GB Advertised Capacity = 4GB Real Capacity Or Less

Testing with h2testw reveals the real capacity of flash memory chips. If the storage chip is sound, h2testw gives a good report – the flash storage memory is good to use. If there are issues, this programme detects them. If the capacity is not the advertised size, it will report it’s real size.

Kingston Technologies, uses a number of different methods to protect their products against counterfeiting. Two of the most important are engraving usb connector tips for usb flash drives and serial numbers on all their products.

Kingston Technologies is a highly respected brand name for flash memory products with a long reputation for quality and durability of their flash memory products. They put flash memory chips through many quality tests. It is a successive cut, if chips do not pass the first test, they are discarded. If they don’t pass the second test they are discarded. Only the best chips make it through the quality process. This is important. These flash memory chips will store your files, data or photos – things that are important to you.

The quality that makes Kingston flash memory so famous is also the reason this brand name is counterfeited.

In the last two years it has become the major target for counterfeiters. The FrankenFlash project is not aware of any Kingston “counterfeit” delivering the advertised capacity, not one. So far every counterfeit reported has used upgraded flash memory. Upgrading flash memory means a special software programme is used to digitally alter the reported size to operating systems and cameras. Upgraded memory lies. Most counterfeits of Kingston usb flash drives or memory cards pay attention to appearance, little is given to the flash memory chips used – most are Grade D, the worst kind of all.

Kingston DT150, DT200, DT300 and DT310 usb flash drives and almost all SDHC Secure Digital Memory Cards are currently being counterfeited. The source of acquisition for resellers? Internet wholesaling sites in China. The majority of buyers acquire them through eBay purchases.

Kingston continues to pressure eBay to remove fraudulent listings. Sites such as FakeMemorySentinel, SOSFakeFlash and FakeFlashNews continue to expose fraudulent sellers for Kingston flash memory. Along with FlashDriveFacts they try to educate consumers and potential resellers to avoid buying counterfeit Kingston products.

Once an eBay buyer discovers they have accidentally purchased a fake Kingston memory card or usb flash drive on eBay they file a claim to get a refund. Sometimes eBay refunds them immediately but most often they do not. Instead they insist the buyer prove they have a Kingston counterfeit – first. This used to be very difficult to do, but since FrankenFlash project sites began providing information, consumers are contacting Kingston technical support for help.

Kingston USB Flash Drives. How To Check You Have A Genuine One And Not A Counterfeit – Easy Guide. Kingston Technologies Fighting To Protect Consumers And Itself From Counterfeits.

Often both SOSFakeFlash and FakeMemorySentinel publish an information package of articles victims can read on their alerts. It helps educate consumers in a hurry.

Kingston Technical support sites around the world are receiving calls from buyers frauded with Kingston counterfeits.

Victims report Kingston’s technical staff is helpful and sympathetic. Kingston’s automated validation tool sends emails to buyers confirming if they bought a counterfeit item based on serial number and product. Recently, given how difficult eBay is making it for buyers to claim against fraudulent Kingston items listed, Kingston Technical support has offered to send a letter to the eBay member.

Yes, Kingston has been stepping in, to be the third party validator about items being counterfeit.

Here is an interesting story about one eBay Victim’s recent purchase of a Kingston Class 6 SDHC Memory Card advertised as 100% Real 32GB Memory.

Hi, I recently purchased a Kingston 32gb SDHC on eBay.

When I received the item, I found it did not work properly.

I eventually found the “h2testw” software on the internet and ran a diagnostic. The results showed the item was defective.

Warning: Only 29922 of 31970 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
900.6 MByte OK (1844551 sectors)
28.3 GByte DATA LOST (59435705 sectors)
Details:512 KByte overwritten (1024 sectors)
13.5 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 27 sectors)
28.3 GByte corrupted (59434654 sectors)
512 KByte aliased memory (1024 sectors)
First error at offset: 0×0000000000000000
Expected: 0×0000000000000000
Found: 0×3030303030303030
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 3.89 MByte/s
Reading speed: 3.34 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

I was suspicious of the SDHC card, so I called Kingston directly and they confirmed that the serial number (or lack thereof) indicated the card appears to be counterfeit.

The seller offered an immediate refund if I return the item to him, and it appears that he may not have known the item was counterfeit.

Upon receipt of the item, I was immediately suspicious because the auction detail specified the condition as “new” which means unopened, but the package clearly was opened. Also, there were no serial numbers as one would expect. My own troubleshooting failed to reveal a properly-functioning product, and then I found the diagnostic software H2testw, which confirmed that the card was defective. When I reported to the seller that the item was defective, he immediately offered to give a refund if I send the item back.

Before I sent it back, I did more research and found that the item appeared to be counterfeit. I called Kingston directly and they confirmed that the item appeared to be counterfeit and they offered to have a tech write a letter if I needed it to get a refund. I filed a claim with eBay, identifying that the item was counterfeit. The seller again agreed to provide a refund if I send the item back. His response also indicated that he may be an unwitting participant at the hands of a third party who sold him the alleged counterfeit item. His response indicated he had no knowledge that the item was counterfeit:

“Hello, I am so sorry to heard that. I bought these cards from a overseas distributor and now I found that some of these are not authentic. I going to open a case thru Paypal against the distributor and I need the card to send it back to him for a refund. Please send the card back to us thru regular mail in its original package and after receive it we will be happy to issue you a full refund of your money. My apologies. My best regards.”

SOSFakeFlash researched the listing:

The seller advertised the memory card as 100% Real 32GB Memory Kingston Class 6 SDHC Memory Card. He also states that each card is tested before shipping. If each card was tested as mentioned in the listing, then the seller would have found out the cards did not deliver the advertised capacity.

But there is more, before sending the item back, the buyer photographed everything.

Back of packaging

This item is not made in Class 6 and only up to a capacity of 8GB, not 32GB. The real Kingston 8GB Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC) Flash Card Model SD4/8GB in class 4.

The fake.

This is the fake.

The serial information is missing.

The genuine 32GB Secure Digital High Capacity Ultimate – Class 6 – Part Number: SD6/32GB-U looks like this:

Additional Reading:

Global Report – eBay Fake Memory 2008 – 2009

Crises on Ebay For Fake Flash Memory Products Sold In 32GB 64GB 128GB 256GB – SOSFakeFlash Reports

Kingston read:

Kingston USB Flash Drives. How To Check You Have A Genuine One And Not A Counterfeit – Easy Guide. Kingston Technologies Fighting To Protect Consumers And Itself From Counterfeits.

Kingston DataTraveler 310 DT310/256GB Fake USB Flash Drives Flooding eBay! Fraud Warning.

Kingston DT310/256 Counterfeits Sold On eBay!

256GB Kingston DataTraveler Leather USB 2.0 256 GB – The Most Famous Counterfeit Fake Sold

DT200 256GB – New Capacity Offered By Kingston Technologies. DT200 Now Comes in 256 GB Or Does it?

Kingston DT200 Offers New Capacity – 1TB USB Flash Memory Stick. The Biggest Capacity For A USB Flash Drive Is Available From aliexpress.com. Wholesale Cost For DT200 Is Not Expensive, It Is Cheap. Profit From Selling Upgraded Flash Memory.

eBay Erasing Evidence Of Fraud – Protection Of Fake Memory Sellers Increasing. DT200/128GB Kingston DataTraveler Fakes Continue To Be Sold On eBay.

Warning KINGSTON DT200 DATA TRAVELER 128 GB USB FLASH DRIVE eBay Fakes – A Guide

Kingston Technologies Under Attack From Fake Flash Memory Seller Piranhas In The Orient. DT200 Counterfeits 8GB 16GB 32GB Flood Global Market.

Current Prices For Genuine Kingston DataTraveler 200 128GB USB2.0 Flash Drives DT200/128GB And For Fakes – A Guide

Buying A Kingston DataTraveler DT200 128GB Flash Drive On eBay? What You See Might Not Be What You Receive. Have a look.

The prices were incredibly cheap on eBay and of course required immediate on the spot payment from the buyer. If you bid, you buy – NOW! No chance to reconsider, or reflect on the purchase, no chance for common sense to start nagging you about whether the price was just too good to be true.

The Sentinel site, in conjunction with free lance FakeFlashCommando’s managed to decrease listings during the spring and early summer of 2010. eBay raced to suspend sellers from Asia to Europe. Kingston Technologies had pressured eBay effectively.

Things grew quiet, listings for DT200 fakes were less common, then suddenly out of now where an avalanche of fake DT310 usb flash drives appeared! It began escalating in the summer of 2010 and continues to increase – daily!

It has become worse. DT200, DT300 and DT310 are appearing daily on eBay for sellers around the world, not just those based in Asia. Most use the Buy Now listing, others use a single listing offering many units.

Do a lot of people become victims on eBay for flash memory? Yes. Especially when they bid and buy Kingston USB Flash drives.

Why do they become victims? eBay buyers just don’t research the prices for flash memory. Consider this recent listing:

Just looking at the buy now price, should warn people to stay away. Instead, for just this one listing, so far 586 eBay members have purchased one.

You would think they knew better, but the sad truth is they don’t and that is exactly what an eBay fake flash memory seller is counting on.

You see, a lot of people compare usb flash memory pen sticks to external usb hard disks. We all know that external usb hard disks are becoming cheaper all the time. You can buy bigger capacity for less money each month. So many assume this is also true with flash memory. Big mistake!

The technology to miniaturize capacity in a thumb drive is expensive! Very expensive for high capacity such as 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. Most use 16GB chips. It is one of the reasons these flash drives are thick, a lot of chips are stacked. Think in terms of a RAM stick you buy for your computer with a long row of flash chips, double sided and then consider several PCB boards inside your flash drive. Good profile images are available at TechChip’s site. See the Genuine Kingston catgory.

While SOSFakeFlash and FakeMemorySentinel are doing their best to try and protect eBay members from fake flash memory sellers, new listings appear every day.

It’s clear that a lot of people are not getting the message until it is too late! When eBay members start reporting the seller, eBay just pulls the plug on the seller. Kapoof! The listings disappear and so other people who bought from the seller can no longer access the item they bought. Clever isn’t it?

Mind you, both SOSFakeFlash and FakeMemorySentinel do their best to capture the listings. It’s part of documenting the fraud on eBay:

eBay Flash Memory Fraud Continues. 8 Years later, eBay Continues Cover Up For Fraudulent Asian Sellers. 8GB 16GB 32GB 64GB 128GB 256GB Advertised Capacity = 4GB Real Capacity Or Less

The truth is, if you want to buy a Kingston USB Flash drive, you should visit the local Kingston site in your country. Look up the model you are interested in. Kingston provides hot links to suggested retailers and you can see the prices they charge.

Okay, so you think they are selling too high, making a BIG profit. No, the mark up is not that high. One of the best sites for reference on usb flash drive pricing at the deepest possible discount for genuine items is a site called Newegg.com. You should look at what they have to offer and the current prices! There is no better or more accurate reference tool for for the average consumer. A quick visit to newegg will reveal in a hurry why you became a victim!

A news site called FakeFlashNews offers a lot of new information on the fake flash memory problem and what brand names are being counterfeited. Did you know some sellers are offering a DT200/256 GB? A model never made? You can even pick the color you like the most! If you think a usb flash drive at 256GB is too small and you want a larger size, no problem, fake flash memory sellers offer the DT200 in 1TB capacity!

One of the biggest challenges to deal with the Kingston usb flash drive counterfeit and fake capacity problem is?

Spreading the word! There is a lot of coverage for the English language, but not for other languages. Over 60% of eBay members frauded for fake usb flash drives on eBay do not readl English! So the problem is not only about understanding prices, it is not knowing there is a fake flash usb flash drive problem in the first place!

If you can write in other languages, you can help spread awareness! You can visit forums and internet sites in your country to warn people about the dangers of buying usb flash drives on eBay. Over 95% of all listings are for fakes. If you were frauded and you have your own site you can document it there. To get search engine traction so people find your article, consider adding linked to the FrankenFlash project sites:

http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/
http://fakememorysentinel.wordpress.com/
http://fakeflashnews.wordpress.com/
http://fixfakeflash.wordpress.com/
http://flashdrivefacts.wordpress.com/
http://flashfakecentral.wordpress.com/
http://flashchiptech.wordpress.com/

If you are a victim and you are wondering how you can help please read:

How Are People Fighting Against Fake Memory MP Players, USB Flash Drives And Memory Cards? eBay And The Internet.

Additional Information:

Global Report – eBay Fake Memory 2008 – 2009

Kingston read:

Kingston USB Flash Drives. How To Check You Have A Genuine One And Not A Counterfeit – Easy Guide. Kingston Technologies Fighting To Protect Consumers And Itself From Counterfeits.

Kingston DataTraveler 310 DT310/256GB Fake USB Flash Drives Flooding eBay! Fraud Warning.

Kingston DT310/256 Counterfeits Sold On eBay!

256GB Kingston DataTraveler Leather USB 2.0 256 GB – The Most Famous Counterfeit Fake Sold

DT200 256GB – New Capacity Offered By Kingston Technologies. DT200 Now Comes in 256 GB Or Does it?

Kingston DT200 Offers New Capacity – 1TB USB Flash Memory Stick. The Biggest Capacity For A USB Flash Drive Is Available From aliexpress.com. Wholesale Cost For DT200 Is Not Expensive, It Is Cheap. Profit From Selling Upgraded Flash Memory.

eBay Erasing Evidence Of Fraud – Protection Of Fake Memory Sellers Increasing. DT200/128GB Kingston DataTraveler Fakes Continue To Be Sold On eBay.

Warning KINGSTON DT200 DATA TRAVELER 128 GB USB FLASH DRIVE eBay Fakes – A Guide

Kingston Technologies Under Attack From Fake Flash Memory Seller Piranhas In The Orient. DT200 Counterfeits 8GB 16GB 32GB Flood Global Market.

Current Prices For Genuine Kingston DataTraveler 200 128GB USB2.0 Flash Drives DT200/128GB And For Fakes – A Guide

Buying A Kingston DataTraveler DT200 128GB Flash Drive On eBay? What You See Might Not Be What You Receive. Have a look.

FakeMemorySentinel issues warnings on eBay sellers who sell flash memory products. Their investigative team is highly trained in spotting false capacity flash memory items. The leader of the team, Dragon Dakel reports that many sellers reported at the site are being suspended by eBay with zero feedback. Metrics being collected indicate that for some listings there are 100~500 purchases. What is happening to buyers? Are they being warned and refunded by eBay? Or are they being silenced?

The battle to end the sale of fake flash memory products on eBay continues to escalate. Sellers mostly registered in Asia continue to start new id’s on a daily basis. They tend to prefer “Buy Now” listings. It requires immediate payment. In using “Buy Now” listings it is also much easier for eBay to remove the listings and hide the trail of fake flash memory sales on eBay.

SOSFakeFlash reports that more buyers are reporting their information being removed on eBay. Many of the FrankenFlash sites have been battling sellers registered in Singapore. Recently all id’s being reported have been suspended, magically, fast! eBay is reading the project sites. They are acting. But…

They are not acting in the interest of their members, instead they are acting to protect themselves and keep the listing fees generated from the sale of fake flash memory products.

Are you a person who found the listing information from your won list disappearing? Did you discover you bought a fake mp player, usb flash drive or memory card and were unable to leave negative feedback because eBay raced to suspend the seller? If this describes you, you can still have the last word. Visit SOSFakeFlash.

Type your seller’s name into the search box. If there is an alert, leave a comment about your experience. If you don’t find your seller:

1) leave a comment on the Report A Fake Tab.

2) Send your information in to SOSFakeFlash for investigation. They will investigate and publish on your seller.

A frequent question many people ask is “How can people actually bid and buy given the low prices offered by fraudulent eBay sellers in Asia”? The FrankenFlash project has been searching for an answer to this question for almost three years.

How many victims were frauded by 2009yanzi on July 31 2010? Have a look at these listings.

2009yanzi sold Over 1475 units by July 31 2010, earning $25895 US.

By the end of this day he was suspended. The final total for EOB was not captured. The actual totals are much higher.

It is impossible to buy a genuine capacity 128 GB DT200 for only $23.00 AU, yet buyers on eBay continue to believe they can. The reason so many people become victims of fraud for mp players and usb flash drives purchased on eBay is because they do not research prices or information on brand names. There is no such thing as a Sony Vaio usb flash drive. Vaio is the branding for laptops, not flash memory from Sony.

You will find additional information on fake memory for Kingston and Sony at these websites:

• SOSFakeFlash
• FakeMemorySentinel
• FakeFlashNews
• FlashDriveFacts
• FlashChipTech

SOSFakeFlash issued an alert in September 2009 against greathkseller and just reissued a new one: greathkseller Frauds On eBay – Fake MP3 MP4 Players. Earns eBay Top Seller Award For Scamming Buyers. Private Auctions A Fraudulent Sellers Best Friend

Listing 260613140690 at 517 units

Listing 260613140690 at 390 Units

Other multiple item listings under private auctions for greathkseller:

dogoyong’s address:

Chen Shaohu

10 E Building C
Guoqi, Nanyuan Rd, Futian
Shenzhen 518028 China

Testing results revealed a capacity of a grade d sub standard 2GB flash memory storage chip. Amazingly eBay buyers continue to bid for these false capacity items. In just a two day period, dogoyong has sold more than 2500. How much money will dogoyong make before eBay suspends him or he closes his id? See the listings for yourself and add up the total.