As fake memory cards have now proliferated throughout the marketplace, it is important to be able to spot a fake. This page includes methods to spot fakes, and examples of fake cards.

Why should you care?

* Inferior quality card - you're not getting what you paid for
* No warranty - when the card fails, you're out of luck
* Fake cards sometimes have invalid partition sizes, making it likely to fail
* It will drive costs of genuine cards up

Spotting a fake
Unfortunately there is no software which will test the card, and ensure that it's genuine. You must manually scrutinise your card, (both visually and by testing it's performance), to get some idea of it's genuinity.

Presentation quality and differences:

Example of fake 1GB Sandisk SD Card



This particular card was also missing a notch, making it quite easy to spot:




Example of fake 2GB Sandisk CF Card




Note the faded red print on the back, and the "TM" next to "CF" at the top right side on the fake:




Note there is no serial on the bottom of the fake (serial blurred on the real one):




Note the fake box has no hologram:




Other example of Sandisk 2GB CF Card; Note the poor print and alignment of label:



Note the poor quality workmanship on edge, print quality and alignment of text:




The SanDisk card manual was different to the real thing as well (note that the manual on the right hand is from a Sandisk Ultra II, wheras the manual on the left is for a 'flash memory card'):




Courtesy : http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/Fake_Memory_Cards

This post has been edited by RiCHBoyZ: Aug 1 2006, 01:31 PM

Fake Sony Pro Duo 2GB. Note that the fake card has poor quality printing and does not have the same various extrusions and intrusions as the genuine card. With the number of lips and dips on the genuine card it isn't difficult to spot the fake.




Klik Here For more Identified on Sony Pro Duo 2GB


More Sony Fake & Real Memory Stick

This post has been edited by RiCHBoyZ: Aug 1 2006, 12:57 PM

others i will post later.... if you got same info please contribute! TQ

thanks .. useful information



*right pic = FAKE



*left pic = FAKE

This post has been edited by yangxi: Aug 1 2006, 01:11 PM

remember to put the source - http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/Fake_Memory_Cards

Fake Memory on Ebay!!

This post has been edited by RiCHBoyZ: Aug 1 2006, 01:43 PM

Good info thanks a lot....

Thanks for sharing...
Good info....

ok..good job..i oso donno..

good job man
nice work
besh besh ..

how about 512MB SanDisk? i suspect mine is fake cos got problems with it

how bout sanddisk 1gb memory stick??

ok,what's the different between buying fake or original if i bought MSPD 1GB for rm110,is it the size? or is it the warranty?
does the original take less memory size than the fake?
i bought one from lelong for rm110.
do tell me , coz i dont want to be cheated.
thank you

have u read the links posted ealier??just a few posts above yours??
fake will a smaller memory size n WILL NOT last long.......according to the website

Any1 got compare the M2 & MicroSD?
I jz worry my M2 & MicroSD is fake 1. Bcos all this has come to my original set hp.

i bought a 1GB MS duo from lelong for RM116. It works great on my cybershot, but throws out access errors when used with an adapter on my clie pda. but good enoughlar can store up 900MB+ for so cheap. my reasoning is by the time this memory card goes kaput even if it's a few months time, i still cover my costs. eg.

today: ori 1GB = RM200, fake 1GB = RM100
by the time the fake one spoils: ori 2GB = RM100...

hahahaha...

Hello, i wanna ask something..i just bought a Sony Highspeed MS Pro Duo 2 GB from a friend. And he said the product was original...but after do alittle of a research i found out that Real MS Highspeed 2GB when read on PSP should be 1910 MB...but mine when read on PSP is 1939 MB..is it fake???? Tell me if you guys need to see the picture of the MS to tell whether it is real or fake..I hope you guys can help me

look like 2 of ur pro duo pic are fake.

see this one. from SONY website.

http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/mediabattery/memorystick/image_pop.cfm?PD=23217&KM=MSX-M256NU/M512NU/M1GNU/M2GNU&PCT=21325

i bought 1 from my friend, only RM100+, same with the pic. lucky

This post has been edited by shadowmaster: Dec 2 2006, 09:21 PM

how abt 512 mb one?
magic gate?

Just wondering how to avoid this fake memory.there are thousand memory out there and we know only few.any idea?

really thank you for your info

Any way of telling the difference between the original and fake Sandisk MSPD physically (packaging, appearance, design, etc)?

To ensure getting the original sony memory stick. just buy from sony wings...seriously

Any ideas on the Kingston CF cards? I might about to get some 4GB.

Also, is any of the Lowyatt shop more reputable? Is Cycom considered reputable?

I've determined that original Sandisk is distributed by Photo Marketing (M) Sdn. Bhd. and they have their company name and address sticker on each packaging. Also, there is a Sandisk hologram which depicts a dice with a Sandisk logo if seen directly, and four faces (1, 2, 3 and 4) of a dice when seen from 4 different angles. Reminds me of the original hologram sticker of Disneyland products.

thanks for sharing...
oh no...
i think i bought a fake sony memory stick pro duo
did not know that
later will post my photo here
kindly let me know whether it is fake or real ya
thanks alot

regards,
LittleDiana

i think i bought a fake 2gb mspd from an auction in lelong.com.my at rm84. i used it for my w810i & it worked untill now(3rd week) but 1 think is for sure, its damn slow.....

This post has been edited by pk Tokan: Feb 17 2007, 05:04 PM

i also used fake Sony MSPD 2GB for my SE w900i before. My phone always hang until i changed my card to original Sandisk MSPD 4GB (which have sandisk hologram with serial number) and Photo Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd sticker for warranty purpose on the package. It's working fine now.. really fast mspd i ever use. Got no problem afterall... So buy the original!!

thx for the sharing..its useful to me and til now i only realise that thr r so many fake memory card in the market..

hey guys,wat bout M2?is thr any fake one?

how about using on camera?is it ok?



This post has been edited by kumatmi: Mar 5 2007, 12:24 PM

I recently bought my phone and the seller offered me RM100 for a 2GB MSPD. What do you guys think? could I possibly get a fake one? anyone care to share pics to show the diff between the fake and ori packaging?

can someone post a fake memory stick duo 2gb fake n original front and back pics?

---

Added on March 20, 2007, 10:16 pmMy memory stick at the back of it the 'S' is in italics..

This post has been edited by chilskater: Mar 20 2007, 10:16 PM

rm100 for 2gb? couldnt say 100% fake but high potential to get the fake 1

mine fake one but can use so no complain la

hey, my 2GB mini SD in my N80 is a kingston, i wonder is that a fake..

bought from lowyat..lifetime warranty wo..

but my N80 only register it to be only 1909MB..

is it real or fake?

not really.....

there's a lot of bulk mspd (not in retail packaging) in the market with warranty of 1 year which save u as much as usd20.

regards,

how i know i buying scandisk memory stick pro duo is ori 1?

Hihi,Can anyone know the memory card in the picture is fake or original?




Thanks

can u tell more about the micro Sd or call as trans Flash

---

Added on July 1, 2007, 8:04 pmhey guess what M2 aslo got fake one la!

---

Added on July 1, 2007, 8:09 pmi think u guys must take a look at this :-

COMMON counterfeit brands found

SanDisk - Cruzer Mini (SDCZ2) or Cruzer Micro (SDCZ4).
- Most fake SanDisk display the capacity as 'G' instead of 'GB' on the item and packaging.
FAKE SanDisk Cruzer USB Flash Drives Exposed
FAKE SanDisk Extreme Compact Flash Cards Exposed
FAKE SanDisk Ultra Compact Flash Cards Exposed
FAKE SanDisk Ultra Secure Digital Cards Exposed

Sony - Micro Vault.
- Counterfeit Sony Micro Vault does not bundle with software such as 'Virtual Expander'.
- Most fake Sony display the capacity as 'G' instead of 'GB' on the item and packaging.
- All Sony Vaio USB Flash drives available on eBay are counterfeit as 'Vaio' refers to Sony proprietary branding reserve for Sony notebook series only.
- All Sony 8GB USB Flash drives on eBay are also counterfeit.
FAKE Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo MagicGate Cards Exposed
FAKE Sony Micro Vault USB Flash Drives (Exposing soon!!!)

Kingston - Data Traveller I & II.
- Counterfeit Kingston does not bundle with software such as 'Migo'.
- A well-known counterfeit Kingston Data Traveller with an identical serial number appearing across all 4GB (white body with black handle) and 8GB (white body with orange handle) versions at the back of its retail packaging, SN: TCO7773-00156959, LK: A510M1D-5380562U. On the side of the item it may have some small printing showing 'DTI', 'KF08 1 9 0 5 5V' and '5262-014.AOOLF CHINA'.
- All Kingston 8GB USB Flash drives on eBay are counterfeit.

Imation - Swivel & Mini.
- Counterfeit Imation does not bundle with software such as 'Imation Flash Manager'.

BenQ, Dane-Elec, Hyundai, Laser, LG, Toshiba, Transcend, TwinMOS.

No Name or Unpopular Brand.
A very high percentage of the counterfeit flash memories are using Hyperstone and iCreate memory controllers, instead of the original manufacturer's own memory controller!

and one more!!
The fake will deceive you by displaying the 'false/oversize' capacity when you connect it to your PC, however they will NOT be able to store the data to the stated capacity.
So you MUST perform data test by writing a BIG (1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB) file to the usb drive, then READ back the same file from the usb drive to another location on your PC to compare. The READ back process is the only proven way to uncover its 'REAL' capacity.
A genuine USB flash drive will complete data transfer of a single 1GB file anywhere from 50 to 180 seconds writing to. Usually the writing time is twice as long as the reading time.
The fake will take an excessively long time (1 to 7 hours) only 'pretending' writing but the data was not actually being written. Hence when you try to read it back, it will claim data as being CORRUPT. Many have reported that many strange files/folders eg. 00000.000 will appear and you cannot delete them.
The fake flash drives are usually shipped out from ASIA especially from China, Hong Kong, Korea or Singapore, and they are also listed on Australian, UK, USA and European's eBay.
The counterfeit model cannot be located or matched with any genuine models on the manufacturer's web site.
Counterfeit 'USB Flash Drive / Compact Flash / Secure Digital / Memory Stick' are flooding the eBay market at very low Buy-It-Now (too good to be true) price to make you think is an absolute BARGAIN.





This post has been edited by johnkor: Jul 1 2007, 08:09 PM

i bought one MSPD card last year. it comes in a pack together with the MS adapter. the photoshop claimed, it was an original one.
had been using it for the past few months on my K750i. so far no problem but after going thru this tread, now, i suspect my MSPD was a fake one!
any idea about how much was the actual space on original 1GB MSPD capacity?

thank you.

hi, the first post details methods of identifying fake MSPD (hi speed). What about the normal Sony MSPD (non hi speed)? Are there counterfeits too? Or maybe there isn't any non hi-speed at all?

http://reviews.ebay.ca/FAKE-Sony-Memory-St...000000001236041

This post has been edited by yewjhin: Aug 11 2007, 02:31 AM

how to spot fake M2?? pls help

i recently bought a canon digital camera from low yat and i checked the original SD card bundled together with it. I think it's fake. I believe alot of SD cards on the market nowadays are fake.





The one on the right is the one i think is fake based on the guidelines in this thread. Can anyone verify this?

Are there any fake Kingston DataTraveler DT100... the one where the USB connector slides into the main housing?

for sony m2 always look for this label

any idea on sandisk M2?

for Scandisk look for Vector Digital hologram sticker as Vector Digital Sdn. Bhd. is Scandisk authorized distributor

hi,
heard that there r some fake toshiba SD mem out there..anyone can share how to differenciate it?

u mean for camera?so far i dont think got fake 1 la.for hand phone,most of them will not use toshiba sd card.only camera will mostly use toshiba sd card.

yes....for camera...info is from a fren who work in camera shop~

are these fake stuff in LYP also? or mostly just in ebay?

which type of memory card u mean?

Just want to share with you guys on how the new SanDisk 4/8 GB, Extreme III Secure Digital (SDHC) Memory Card with MicroMate SD/SDHC compatible, high-speed USB 2.0 Reader! should look like.

This is guaranteed genuine as I bought from a reputable online dealer in USA and not ebay.



Pack is sealed completely


Heat sealed to prevent tampering


These items are standard packaging


Notice the sd card holder is different from all those ordinary holders. This is much slimmer and small.

can someone check if this is genuine or not?...

....

fast reply better =)

thanks!

imitation mem card selling everywhere la Bro..so it's better to know how to check before buying..afraid we are paying an ORI price for fake card

Thanks bro! Is there any guide to identify real M2 cards? I found some of them priced at RM42 for 2GB unit, thus I wonder if they were fake so I didn't get it.

yahoo!!! the one im selling is ORIGINAL!!

TQ to share

Just bought some SDHC 16G from eBay... Ada sikit sikit takut la... Anyway, its insured by PayPal if I can prove its fake item...

i am planning to buy SD card on ebay. is it fake? omg...

fark...i think i bought a fake 4.0gb of sandisk cruzer...
no perbundled software init...when dload n try to install u3 software..it isnt compatible..
fark..ive been cheated rm39.bought at the LG level at Queensbay shopping mall...

then...
do u think this is rally genuine??
http://cgi.ebay.com/8GB-Memory-Stick-PRO-D...#ht_2403wt_1165

i'm planning to get a sandisk memory stick pro duo-HG 32gb; there're some people selling it here in lowyat.net forum.. can anyone clarify whether the one they're selling is ORI or not? if the seller is reading this, how can i be sure that the product u guys are selling is ORI? i've had experience being fooled into purchasing a fake sony mmspd-hg which cannot be used to record hd vids.. the packaging even has the "hologram" sticker.. damn cheaters!

some of them r sellin fake. juz bought one meself...f***

hi

hope my info would u all.
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1427078

thanks

Nowadays I see almost all shops sell sandisk card in the simple, very simple red package. Looks like some stuff that I buy from Tesco only. Hmmm....

I wonder if those are fake one??




Attached image(s)

To ensure a memory stick pro duo (magicgate) is original / genuine, put it on a PSP, and on the information, it should say MagicGate Supported.




If it says Unknown like below...



Then you know its not genuine.

This post has been edited by jtdc: Feb 18 2011, 06:46 PM

An effective way of determining if your flash storage is genuine, is by running H2testw.

It will test the thing enough to ensure all the claimed space is usable, and will provide speed report as well.

This is a sample output of a real 4GB media which seems possibly a Class 6 speed (definitely a Class 4).



This is an example of a really unmistakably shameless fake media : A 32GB capacity with only 8GB usable, and painfully slow speeds.




Here's the speed guide on what Class means.

http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a...valRsS1cxbms%3D

Basically, a Class 4 media should have a minimum write performance of 4 megaybtes per second before it can be qualified as such.

Beware of Fake Kingston Memory Module
Fake Kingston Memory Module is identify by the sticker of the ram, no matter which angle you look from it, colour will be the same.
But for Genuine Kingston Memory Module is no matter which angle you look from it, colour will not be the same.







Above attach picture is the fake module that have been rejected by kingston taiwan.
Mainly fake module on DDR1 400 is 512MB only, so beware of it.
Hope this helps

guys,is this fake or real?

http://www.mudah.my/Kingston+micro+sd+32gb...+6-10860595.htm

Hmm..if it is fake but the performance & price is value for money..I still buy it
Anyway..thanks for the guide

i think i bought fake kingston usb thumb drive 64gb
inside there was not any kingston software, and it contains some 86MB oldies chinese mp3 files

no wonder it is cheap

This post has been edited by ssl: Sep 20 2013, 09:24 PM

I only buy any memory products from the well known and established shops at Low Yat or PJ IT Mall..period! I don't mind paying market price (after due research) and no hassle if anything defect or suspect. I will not buy online for obvious reasons. Last year at Shenzhen China. Tons of memory products seen..from tray to look similar to legit.. I just dunno..rather buy locally as said above.

This post has been edited by bsl555: Sep 13 2015, 12:22 PM

Just refer to manufacturer website on their cards color and design.

If the card design and color is different from manufacturer website, most likely it is fake.

This post has been edited by bcteh: Sep 14 2015, 12:13 PM

Guy,

Can't find any thread regarding Verbatim USB Flash Drive and not sure where to post.

Anyone know where can I buy the Verbatim USB Flash Drive in Lowyat? Which particular pc shop is selling it? Hope you guy can provide some info regarding this.

Thanks.

This post has been edited by hjh87: Apr 22 2016, 02:40 PM

hii all, this one real or fake?

https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/3756180

hello guys,

anyone purchase this card? is it genuine? coz it's quite cheap

http://www.11street.my/productdetail/sandi...b-64gb-17978653

Linus tech tip just using my post as date reference in his video (9:23) - hahahahha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-D6tYBX8vE

This post has been edited by RiCHBoyZ: Dec 10 2018, 09:04 AM

Just saw this. U is femes!

Just saw the vid too. Good job! Maybe should update first post since all the images are dead already.

haha yeh, i also just saw that

I was like.... why this web so familar

LYN forum in Linus Tech Tips

Just crossed the video too, so familiar.. lol

U were 12 years younger back then.
And time to post #10yearschallenge.

And consider replacing the broken link images too..

Usual loh dealers are crooks their boss only know how to launder dirty money and staff working for themselves.
Dont ever trust them for anything. Always double check what you going to buy before buying.
They make IT business bad taste.

Always ask from the manufacturer be a smart shopper.
Ask for details of the models and also specification before buying.
Confirm the P/N, S/N and also check the packaging too.

dafuq necroed my 9 year old post..haha

But how to tell if it is fake before buying

like i go the samsung sd cardsamsung sd card one and it tuned out to be fake

you always need to buy an sd card which is having good reviews

Good info.

Thanks a lot.

Good reviews doesn't mean is genuine product.

I just got duped by this seller momoy.my at shoppe. Their reviews were looking good. So, I bought 3 cards.

Card seems ok, at first. Win 10 and phone can recognise the storage. Copy files onto it seems ok, even filled up to max 128 GB. Problem comes when you try to retrieve data back from card. Data corruption. And you know what, the trick used to scam you is pretty clever. The data corruption only happens after about 30 GB space. Below that, data seems ok. Then I proceed to test using H2testw and "Fake Device Test" app. And to my disbelief, all 3 SD cards failed both test. Even repeated on different laptops and mobile phones. And reformat the card various times. Between NTFS and exFat.

So, I then proceed to buy one from official store. And the card from the official store passed the H2testw with flying colours. Speed as per claims, read and write speed.

Tell-tale signs that the cards are fake:-
1. Read and write speed are far below claims. In my case, they claimed 100 MB/s speed. In actual, it was only about 12 MB/s.
2. Ori card, speed is actually can meet claim.
3. Fake card, has almost identical packing. Only with close inspection, then you can spot the difference. The fake one looks so real. Unless you have one ori and one fake packing, then it's almost impossible to tell the difference.
4. Do NOT believe whatever reviews in the seller website. The seller removed my rating and review after I reported about them. That kinda explain why their reviews are mostly 5 stars rating.
5. Buy from official store. Your data in SD card is more important than few bucks cheaper from another seller (from overseas).
6. DO NOT accept the packing (release payment to seller) until you have fully tested the card completely! And completely means full write, read and verify of the max storage capacity. Not just write, read and verify few GBs of files.

https://shopee.com.my/momoy.my?categoryId=1...emId=7634147747
https://shopee.com.my/SanDisk-sd-card-memor...4480.7634147747
https://shopee.com.my/Samsung-Evo-Plus-Memo...4480.3737851767

Am sharing this to you folks, so you folks don't get duped by so-call "100% original" SD card.

I assume that this is fake as well?
Cause the price for 512GB is way too cheap I think?
https://shopee.com.my/product/397388009/163...00-1655168013.9

See the reviews, tell tale sign, decide yourself. Kena twice, different seller. Now buy from official online channel at Lazada/Shopee.