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USB Flash Drives (TIPS,INFOS, & Avoid flash drive Scams & Counterfeits!)
I want to share this infos to ALL of US! Hindi naman lingid sa kaalaman natin na madami o halos lahat sa atin ay gumagamit na ng mga portable drives o storage devices, lalong-lalo na ang mga usb flash drives! para makapag-save, backup tayo ng mga important files natin sa pang-araw-araw. Pero hindi lang dyan nagtatapos yan! May mga bagay-bagay pa rin tayo na dapat malaman about our flash drives para magamit natin ito ng tama at very effective.
How to Avoid Flash Drive Scams, Rip Offs, and Low Quality Drives
Our Flash Drives are divided into (3) three categories or classes, namely Tier One (Class A), Tier Two (Class B), and Tier Three (Class C).
Tier One (Class A) Flash Drives
These are premium chips with the manufacturer’s name and serial number typically printed on the chips. Hynix, Samsung, Intel and Micron. They are the most expensive chips, but also come with a lifetime warranty, as all flash drives do! If your suppliers offers anything less, hopefully we can help you understand your risk below.
Tier Two (Class B) Flash Drives
Typically these are OEM chips, which basically means they are reliable but are not tested to the same standards as branded chips from the same manufacturers above. We see many of these chips in the low end capacities such as 64MB or 128MB drives. These are still of good quality, but they typically cost about 10% less than Class A chips. These are RARELY seen in any flash drives above 512MB.
Tier Three (Class C) Flash Drives
These are some of the least expensive flash drives on the market. If you see a price give or take 10%, you are usually dealing with a quality supplier. If you see a price give or take 20% or more, you are likely comparing across different flash drive categories. This can be very dangerous. Why? The “recycled” or “reused” chips used to produce these flash drives are leftover portions of original wafers, recycled chips from recycled cell phones, toys and a host of other products. Typically you’ll see 30-40% failure rates on this class of drives and data retention loss beginning in as quickly as 10 cycles (a cycle is a save and delete of a file) as we saw with our tests. They also run very hot, and you can consistently feel that warmth if you leave the drive in a USB port for more than two minutes.
Some folks will say that there are even lower flash drive classifications, but we sure hope not. We have heard of those unscrupulous vendors who use SW to “charge” a flash drive… or make it initially read at a capacity much higher than the drive actually can actually store. We have yet to run across any of these, but we know they are out there.
>>>
How Can You Spot Fake Flash Memory Chips? What Is the Key Factor That Determines If USB Flash Drives Or Memory Cards Are Fake Capacity?
How can you avoid fake flash memory purchases? Do you know what fake capacity is? If you are not careful you could buy memory cards, usb flash drives or MP Players that have reprogrammed chips that lie about their real size. These are dangerous items as they cause people to lose their information!
So what is the easiest way to spot a fake?
See the short video presented by blueloyalpromo.
http://youtu.be/IrxM0RJML3w
then read the rest of this article to learn how you can protect yourself from buying fakes.
blueloyalpromo mentioned a grey market. This market is real. To learn how flash memory chips are graded Please read: Genuine Verses Fake Counterfeit USB Flash Drives – A Guide – USB Flash Chips Used – Grades A B C D . You need to be aware of grading for chips.
As blueloyalpromo mentioned, the strongest indicator of a fake is PRICE! The FrankenFlash Project’s reserach has found this true.
SOSFakeFlash documents fake flash memory products sold on eBay. Their eBay fake flash sellers Lists continues to grow as buyers report in. Sadly many did not know about the true cost of memory chips.
FlashDriveFacts attempts to promote awareness for both potential sellers and buyers. They have an extensive catalogue of brand names that have been counterfeited.
To avoid buying a fake as a consumer, or as a potential reseller, pricing is the most important factor. Prices in 2009 are going up for flash chips used in MP Players, memory cards, and usb flash drives, NOT DOWN!
blueloyalpromo said:
This is what all frauded members on eBay say! It is a difficult lesson to learn.
In many cases as a result of searching for a bargain at unrealistic prices, people lose something far more important than money. They lose their data files, many forever. They did a “move” operation instead of a “copy” to the devices. Once the true capacity is exceeded on a flash memory chip that has been reprogrammed, only information about the file is copied, not the data. Sometimes even files that were copied to existing storage area are lost, it depends on how the flash memory was reprogrammed.
So how do you protect yourself?
1) Do not search for unrealistic prices.
2) Do your homework as to the cost of flash memory chips. blueloyalpromo pointed out that 80% of the cost of the item is the flash nand storage chip. Use the information from the articles to guide you.
3) Test any flash memory usb item you buy. Read the article: H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives to learn about a free software for testing, how to use it and the download links to get the software.
H2testw is one of the best software to test and determine if your MP Player, memory card or usb flash drive is safe to use. H2testw has proven itself. Just see the poll in the article.
Best of all, H2testw is free! It is a stand alone programme and does not install all sorts of files. Buyers and sellers use it all the time.
If there is anything wrong the memory storage capacity reported to an operating system with your MP Player, memory card or usb flash drive, H2testw will tell you. It will also tell you about the quality of the memory chip. For example if you bought an item advertised as 4GB you should expect to have the program report 3.9 GB capacity (a result of the formatting overhead). If the program tells you that only 3.7GB is available or less, then you have an item with an inferior flash memory chip. You can expect the item to have a shorter life span.
blueloyalpromo says that:
This is no idle claim. The FrankenFlash Project believes that they are underestimating, it is probably much higher! Unfortunately both resellers and buyers are so ill informed, they dive to snatch up the cheapest priced products. The end result? Frauded buyers and sellers hounded by victims who lost both money and information.
This is not a subject that gets a lot of exposure. It is a horrible secret. If you want to buy an MP Player, memory card or usb flash drive on the internet, be careful!
If you bought an item on eBay and it turns out to be a fake, please report to SOSFakeFlash immediately using the Report A Fake Tab.
To avoid a fake, understanding the true costs of flash memory chips is key!
>>>
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.
Counterfeiters of Kingston Technologie’s USB flash drives are now more sophisticated. How can you detect and validate if you have a genuine item? FakeMemorySentinel has some important information to help you.
Forgers can duplicate packaging almost to perfection. It is suspected that in some cases, real packaging is used too. The outside shell casings for usb flash drives look real. The packaging back has UPS bar codes and even serial numbers.
Most would have difficultly telling the difference between a genuine Kingston DataTraveler usb flash drive and a fake, by the packaging alone. Sealed, the only way people will discover the awful true is after they buy.
The Kingston brand is well known. In the early days of fakes, the first generation DataTraveler was counterfeited. FlashDriveFacts has an online catalogue of Kingstone fakes.
When Kingston launchs new usb flash drive products, the counterfeiters are quick to follow. The fakes start appearing only a few months after product launch.
To fight back, Kingston started engraving the silver usb connector tip. This is your most important evidence . On a genuine Kingston usb flash drive, you should see information similar to this:
Note: The image above is an example. Each model has different serial information.
If you do not have serial engraving information, you probably have a counterfeit! This is especially true for DataTraveler usb flash drives in the DT150, DT200, DT300, DT310, DT400 series. Engraving the usb flash drive connector is expected to continue for newer models.
The FrankenFlash project finds Kingston Technologies is helpful to consumers.
You can contact them at your local Kingston website in your country or region, under support. They will answer your emails.
Additional Information:
Kingston Technologies Flash Memory Validation Tool
This tool allows you to validate all Kingston flash memory products and memory modules. It uses the serial number on the back of retail packaging or product labels.
Counterfeits Kingston category at FlashDriveFacts Website.
This site also has a breakdown on their left menu bar of documented fakes for Kingston. It covers memory cards as well.
Testing advertised capacity of usb flash memory products. Read : H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives. It explains why H2testw is such a great tool and includes links to obtain the free software.
Reporting fakes to SOSFakeFlash. SOSFakeFlash routinely releases alerts on the internet to protect consumers. They focus heavily on eBay, as this is the place most buyers acquire Kingston Counterfeits. You can report in to them using the Report A Fake Tab. They will investigate the seller, document and issue an alert to warn the public. They also publish black lists of sellers with accumulate counts against the eBay seller.
Some Counterfeits Flash Drives!
Counterfeit DT300/128GB Kingston DataTraveler Fake USB Flash Drive
Beware Kingston DataTraveler model DT300 advertised as 128GB with this packaging and drive markings of 128GB is a counterfeit – fake! Kingston did not produce these. The DT300 usb flash drive was manufactured in only one capacity, 256GB. They are sold mainly on wholesaler internet sites in China and Hong Kong. You will also find them listed on eBay by sellers who do not research the DT300 model and demonstrate both negligence and ignorance. You can find them on other internet sites too. In some cases, listings will advertise them as “upgraded” – there is no such thing. This is a polite term for false capacity.
Avoid being frauded or scammed. Do not buy this usb flash drive in the packaging shown, you risk data loss. Do not sell this usb flash drive!
To see what the real Kingston DT300 usb DataTraveler looks:
Counterfeit DT310/512GB Kingston DataTraveler USB Flash Drive – It Is A Fake! DT310 512 GB Never Manufactured
This DT310 is a fake.
Beware Kingston DataTraveler model DT310 advertised as 512GB, it is a counterfeit, fake capacity. Kingston did not produce them. There is no such thing as a capacity of 512 GB for a DT310 DataTraveler. It was manufactured at a capacity of 256GB only. They are appearing at internet wholesaler internet sites in China., Hong Kong. You can find them on other internet sites too. In some cases, listings will advertise them as “upgraded” – there is no such thing. This is a polite term for false capacity.
Avoid being frauded or scammed. Do not buy this usb flash drive at an advertised capacity of 512GB, you risk data loss. Do not sell this usb flash drive, if you do you will engage in fraud and be subject to legal prosecution in your country.
To see the REAL Model:
AND many many more!!! update ko na lang to kapag merun ako makita para aware tayo sa mga binibili natin na mga flash drives.
Next Episode: How Long Does a Flash Drive Last?
Leave
na lang po or hit REPUTE if this thread benefits you.
I want to share this infos to ALL of US! Hindi naman lingid sa kaalaman natin na madami o halos lahat sa atin ay gumagamit na ng mga portable drives o storage devices, lalong-lalo na ang mga usb flash drives! para makapag-save, backup tayo ng mga important files natin sa pang-araw-araw. Pero hindi lang dyan nagtatapos yan! May mga bagay-bagay pa rin tayo na dapat malaman about our flash drives para magamit natin ito ng tama at very effective.
How to Avoid Flash Drive Scams, Rip Offs, and Low Quality Drives
Our Flash Drives are divided into (3) three categories or classes, namely Tier One (Class A), Tier Two (Class B), and Tier Three (Class C).
Tier One (Class A) Flash Drives
These are premium chips with the manufacturer’s name and serial number typically printed on the chips. Hynix, Samsung, Intel and Micron. They are the most expensive chips, but also come with a lifetime warranty, as all flash drives do! If your suppliers offers anything less, hopefully we can help you understand your risk below.
Tier Two (Class B) Flash Drives
Typically these are OEM chips, which basically means they are reliable but are not tested to the same standards as branded chips from the same manufacturers above. We see many of these chips in the low end capacities such as 64MB or 128MB drives. These are still of good quality, but they typically cost about 10% less than Class A chips. These are RARELY seen in any flash drives above 512MB.
Tier Three (Class C) Flash Drives
These are some of the least expensive flash drives on the market. If you see a price give or take 10%, you are usually dealing with a quality supplier. If you see a price give or take 20% or more, you are likely comparing across different flash drive categories. This can be very dangerous. Why? The “recycled” or “reused” chips used to produce these flash drives are leftover portions of original wafers, recycled chips from recycled cell phones, toys and a host of other products. Typically you’ll see 30-40% failure rates on this class of drives and data retention loss beginning in as quickly as 10 cycles (a cycle is a save and delete of a file) as we saw with our tests. They also run very hot, and you can consistently feel that warmth if you leave the drive in a USB port for more than two minutes.
Some folks will say that there are even lower flash drive classifications, but we sure hope not. We have heard of those unscrupulous vendors who use SW to “charge” a flash drive… or make it initially read at a capacity much higher than the drive actually can actually store. We have yet to run across any of these, but we know they are out there.
>>>
How Can You Spot Fake Flash Memory Chips? What Is the Key Factor That Determines If USB Flash Drives Or Memory Cards Are Fake Capacity?
How can you avoid fake flash memory purchases? Do you know what fake capacity is? If you are not careful you could buy memory cards, usb flash drives or MP Players that have reprogrammed chips that lie about their real size. These are dangerous items as they cause people to lose their information!
So what is the easiest way to spot a fake?
See the short video presented by blueloyalpromo.
http://youtu.be/IrxM0RJML3w
then read the rest of this article to learn how you can protect yourself from buying fakes.
blueloyalpromo mentioned a grey market. This market is real. To learn how flash memory chips are graded Please read: Genuine Verses Fake Counterfeit USB Flash Drives – A Guide – USB Flash Chips Used – Grades A B C D . You need to be aware of grading for chips.
As blueloyalpromo mentioned, the strongest indicator of a fake is PRICE! The FrankenFlash Project’s reserach has found this true.
SOSFakeFlash documents fake flash memory products sold on eBay. Their eBay fake flash sellers Lists continues to grow as buyers report in. Sadly many did not know about the true cost of memory chips.
FlashDriveFacts attempts to promote awareness for both potential sellers and buyers. They have an extensive catalogue of brand names that have been counterfeited.
To avoid buying a fake as a consumer, or as a potential reseller, pricing is the most important factor. Prices in 2009 are going up for flash chips used in MP Players, memory cards, and usb flash drives, NOT DOWN!
blueloyalpromo said:
"If it is too good to be true it usually is."
This is what all frauded members on eBay say! It is a difficult lesson to learn.
In many cases as a result of searching for a bargain at unrealistic prices, people lose something far more important than money. They lose their data files, many forever. They did a “move” operation instead of a “copy” to the devices. Once the true capacity is exceeded on a flash memory chip that has been reprogrammed, only information about the file is copied, not the data. Sometimes even files that were copied to existing storage area are lost, it depends on how the flash memory was reprogrammed.
So how do you protect yourself?
1) Do not search for unrealistic prices.
2) Do your homework as to the cost of flash memory chips. blueloyalpromo pointed out that 80% of the cost of the item is the flash nand storage chip. Use the information from the articles to guide you.
3) Test any flash memory usb item you buy. Read the article: H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives to learn about a free software for testing, how to use it and the download links to get the software.
H2testw is one of the best software to test and determine if your MP Player, memory card or usb flash drive is safe to use. H2testw has proven itself. Just see the poll in the article.
Best of all, H2testw is free! It is a stand alone programme and does not install all sorts of files. Buyers and sellers use it all the time.
If there is anything wrong the memory storage capacity reported to an operating system with your MP Player, memory card or usb flash drive, H2testw will tell you. It will also tell you about the quality of the memory chip. For example if you bought an item advertised as 4GB you should expect to have the program report 3.9 GB capacity (a result of the formatting overhead). If the program tells you that only 3.7GB is available or less, then you have an item with an inferior flash memory chip. You can expect the item to have a shorter life span.
blueloyalpromo says that:
“over a million fake usb flash drives are sold every month”.
This is no idle claim. The FrankenFlash Project believes that they are underestimating, it is probably much higher! Unfortunately both resellers and buyers are so ill informed, they dive to snatch up the cheapest priced products. The end result? Frauded buyers and sellers hounded by victims who lost both money and information.
This is not a subject that gets a lot of exposure. It is a horrible secret. If you want to buy an MP Player, memory card or usb flash drive on the internet, be careful!
If you bought an item on eBay and it turns out to be a fake, please report to SOSFakeFlash immediately using the Report A Fake Tab.
To avoid a fake, understanding the true costs of flash memory chips is key!
>>>
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.
Counterfeiters of Kingston Technologie’s USB flash drives are now more sophisticated. How can you detect and validate if you have a genuine item? FakeMemorySentinel has some important information to help you.
Forgers can duplicate packaging almost to perfection. It is suspected that in some cases, real packaging is used too. The outside shell casings for usb flash drives look real. The packaging back has UPS bar codes and even serial numbers.
Most would have difficultly telling the difference between a genuine Kingston DataTraveler usb flash drive and a fake, by the packaging alone. Sealed, the only way people will discover the awful true is after they buy.
The Kingston brand is well known. In the early days of fakes, the first generation DataTraveler was counterfeited. FlashDriveFacts has an online catalogue of Kingstone fakes.
When Kingston launchs new usb flash drive products, the counterfeiters are quick to follow. The fakes start appearing only a few months after product launch.
To fight back, Kingston started engraving the silver usb connector tip. This is your most important evidence . On a genuine Kingston usb flash drive, you should see information similar to this:
Note: The image above is an example. Each model has different serial information.
If you do not have serial engraving information, you probably have a counterfeit! This is especially true for DataTraveler usb flash drives in the DT150, DT200, DT300, DT310, DT400 series. Engraving the usb flash drive connector is expected to continue for newer models.
The FrankenFlash project finds Kingston Technologies is helpful to consumers.
You can contact them at your local Kingston website in your country or region, under support. They will answer your emails.
Additional Information:
Kingston Technologies Flash Memory Validation Tool
This tool allows you to validate all Kingston flash memory products and memory modules. It uses the serial number on the back of retail packaging or product labels.
Counterfeits Kingston category at FlashDriveFacts Website.
This site also has a breakdown on their left menu bar of documented fakes for Kingston. It covers memory cards as well.
Testing advertised capacity of usb flash memory products. Read : H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives. It explains why H2testw is such a great tool and includes links to obtain the free software.
Reporting fakes to SOSFakeFlash. SOSFakeFlash routinely releases alerts on the internet to protect consumers. They focus heavily on eBay, as this is the place most buyers acquire Kingston Counterfeits. You can report in to them using the Report A Fake Tab. They will investigate the seller, document and issue an alert to warn the public. They also publish black lists of sellers with accumulate counts against the eBay seller.
Some Counterfeits Flash Drives!
Counterfeit DT300/128GB Kingston DataTraveler Fake USB Flash Drive
Beware Kingston DataTraveler model DT300 advertised as 128GB with this packaging and drive markings of 128GB is a counterfeit – fake! Kingston did not produce these. The DT300 usb flash drive was manufactured in only one capacity, 256GB. They are sold mainly on wholesaler internet sites in China and Hong Kong. You will also find them listed on eBay by sellers who do not research the DT300 model and demonstrate both negligence and ignorance. You can find them on other internet sites too. In some cases, listings will advertise them as “upgraded” – there is no such thing. This is a polite term for false capacity.
Avoid being frauded or scammed. Do not buy this usb flash drive in the packaging shown, you risk data loss. Do not sell this usb flash drive!
To see what the real Kingston DT300 usb DataTraveler looks:
Counterfeit DT310/512GB Kingston DataTraveler USB Flash Drive – It Is A Fake! DT310 512 GB Never Manufactured
This DT310 is a fake.
Beware Kingston DataTraveler model DT310 advertised as 512GB, it is a counterfeit, fake capacity. Kingston did not produce them. There is no such thing as a capacity of 512 GB for a DT310 DataTraveler. It was manufactured at a capacity of 256GB only. They are appearing at internet wholesaler internet sites in China., Hong Kong. You can find them on other internet sites too. In some cases, listings will advertise them as “upgraded” – there is no such thing. This is a polite term for false capacity.
Avoid being frauded or scammed. Do not buy this usb flash drive at an advertised capacity of 512GB, you risk data loss. Do not sell this usb flash drive, if you do you will engage in fraud and be subject to legal prosecution in your country.
To see the REAL Model:
AND many many more!!! update ko na lang to kapag merun ako makita para aware tayo sa mga binibili natin na mga flash drives.
Next Episode: How Long Does a Flash Drive Last?
Leave
na lang po or hit REPUTE if this thread benefits you.Attachments
Last edited:
