Buyers beware. Micro SD card scams.

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So I decided to grab a Samsung Evo plus 128GB Micro SDXC U3 card from a well known Auction site.
Paying about the same price as anywhere else, you wouldn't expect it to be a fake.

Turns out after it arrived today, it all look very authentic, but something wasn't right when I opened the package, and saw "Made in Taiwan" yet on the packaging it states "Made in Korea" So after some googling, I came across other people who had fake cards.

Samsung only manufacture Storage in Korea or the Philippines.

As it turns out, I decided to use a utility called H2testw - This is when I realised that the card was actually only 8GB (7.3GB formatted) Yet in Windows it states it has 124GB (Which made me raise an eyebrow, as I know 128GB formatted is actually 119GB usable).

Anyway, I've reported this to the auction site, and also took the sellers details and forwarded a complaint form to trading standards.

UG7lGMd.jpg

Also from looking at other SD cards, it appears that Taiwan uses the same 8GB throughout a lot of counterfeiting, labelling them as other brands.

So check to see if you have an 8 in the serial, as H2testw will give you your worst nightmare and confirm it to be a 8GB card from these scumbags.

qrpUFCV.jpg

Other ways to check on a package without opening, is to look at the barcode, and next to the model no. You will see which region the product is distributed too, in my case it shows CN (China) instead of EU...

0GGmbGH.jpg
 
Man of Honour
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So far I just buy the Kingston ones from 1-2 well known retailers and not had any fakes or problems - so many people I know end up with fakes when buying the top brands like Samsung and Sandisk even sometimes from relatively well known places (including a long established high street store).
 
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It's wrong that they've sold so many, that people will be unaware that it's fake, as it will show up as a larger capacity storage drive than it actually is...

Anyway, this is being dealt with by Trading Standards. So hopefully I will get refunded, and the seller will get prosecuted. :)
 
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Yes I did, and I'm yet to received a response. So I filled out the online form on CAB, who then got in touch to forward my info on to Trading standards. :)
 
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Associate
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I got a refund today, and the guy sent me this message.

Hi, I am sorry that you have received a counterfeit card. Thank you for showing me the difference between a real and a fake card. I did not realize it. I also checked the card with the program you recommended. You were right. I contacted the seller from whom I purchased these cards for the refund of money. I removed the remaining cards from my sales list. Could you ask eBay to remove the negative feedback you gave me. I will give you your money back. The reason why I am asking you to delete is that I did not realize that these cards are false. I have been on eBay for a few years and I am honest with buyers and sellers, this situation happened to me for the first time. I hope that we can successfully resolve this unfortunate situation. Please, let me know if you contact eBay regarding negative feedback. I will be grateful. thank you Tom

Do you think he's being genuine here, and do as he asked?
 
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Wow is it that easy for a scammer to get a buyer to take his comments back? :p

LOL. Well he's resolved it due to my evidence - But to others that are not so tech savvy would still be scammed?

He's not a power seller either with only 255 feedback in 15yrs. So that's why I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.
 
Soldato
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LOL. Well he's resolved it due to my evidence - But to others that are not so tech savvy would still be scammed?

He's not a power seller either with only 255 feedback in 15yrs. So that's why I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I'm not saying this is the case, however you need to at least consider that you might not be the first person to report a fake and be given that spiel by the seller. I mean think about it, look how quickly he turned you around.

Again, that may not actually be the case but..
 
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