Beware! Fake MicroSD cards...

[tinynipples]

I know it has been touched on in many other threads (i wish i would have known before ordering) but i am taking a direct approach to possible save others some grief.

Perhaps it is common knowledge or perhaps not. regardless, i was unaware which means at least some people might not know. There are loads of fake Micro SD cards floating around. typically ebay. Basically they take a 2gb or so and manipulate the code a little bit to make your computer/phone see it as a 32gb card. usually.

I ordered a 32gb class 4 Micro SDHC card of a 99.8% positive feedback seller on ebay. i picked it up for $46 plus $4 shipping. seemed pretty reasonable and not too good to be true. currently a Patriot 32gb Class 10 is $109 on frys.com so logic would allow a class 4 to run about $50.

when i received my card, i copied over some files from my old 8gb and popped it into my Dinc. My phone however failed to see it. i attempted to format the card through my phone wondering if that was the problem. my phone appeared to do nothing, so when i popped the card back into my PC it said i needed to format the disk in order to use it. the only size partition i could make was an 8mb. this raised some red flags so i turned to google.

Did i mention it was a Sandisk in the package? but when i scanned the barcode with my lovely little phone it showed the sku was for a sandisk 2gb card priced at about 8 bucks.

perhaps i should have done a bit more research before jumping at a soon closing auction.

long story short:

BEWARE OF PHONY SD CARDS!

i suggest only buying from reputable sites.



just curious, anybody else experience the same scam?

 

[Knewz]

i got scammed. actually in the process right now. Bought a 32G kingston which really only held 3G of actually data. Opened an ebay case up. Seller wants me to pay to ship back for full refund, which really wouldn't be full since i'd be out of the money paid for shipping.

 

[pool_shark]

I have never shopped on Ebay for this very reason.

I'm sure there are plenty of reputable sellers, but I don't want to take any chances.

 

[Knewz]

This was actually the only bad experience i ever had on ebay and i buy there all the time. i bought an 8G weeks before i got my 32 and it works just fine. But this will be the last time i shop outside the U.S

 

[HKM]

When buying mSD one shall never buy it from eBay with all the notorious Chinese fakes. Far as Patriot class 10 card goes go buy that from NewEgg they selling for $99 and I can verify its true and the best mSD for that price, I ordered it soon after they put on listing.

 

[tinynipples]

This has been my first bad situation with ebay as well. And I was pretty confident, the seller was from Mississippi not Hong Kong. The worst part is the seller deleted her ebay account. So I had to open a case against an account that no longer exists. Brilliant.

 

[Knewz]

This has been my first bad situation with ebay as well. And I was pretty confident, the seller was from Mississippi not Hong Kong. The worst part is the seller deleted her ebay account. So I had to open a case against an account that no longer exists. Brilliant.

if you're case was recent it might be the same guy i'm dealing with lol...scammers suck

 

[bbrosen]

This has been my first bad situation with ebay as well. And I was pretty confident, the seller was from Mississippi not Hong Kong. The worst part is the seller deleted her ebay account. So I had to open a case against an account that no longer exists. Brilliant.

yikes, im from Miss, lol, hope you don't think ill of all of us...i too bought a good deal 32gb micro sdhc card that turned out to be a Chinese ripoff, decided it was a stupid tax and wrote it off and only do biz with USA sellers myself.

 

[lordofthereef]

The worst part is the seller deleted her ebay account. So I had to open a case against an account that no longer exists. Brilliant.

Actually that was probably in your favor. I had this happen as well and once the 7 days for the seller to respond were up it was like a "not contest" for eBay. They refunded me no further questions asked. Got two keep the two cards that I bought. One 32gb card held about 8 gigs, the other wasn't even readable.

It really is too bad that places like Best Buy don't sell the 32gb cards. I don't really like ordering things like this online.

 

[HKM]

If you order from people reputable then you don't have to worry. Why do you people buy BS and when you get scammed then you blame it on the web? Buy it from place like NewEgg for example if something goes wrong its covered by RMA and original manufactures warranty. You know as they say if its too good to be true it probably isn't.

 

[CureMS]

I ordered a 32gb class 4 Micro SDHC card of a 99.8% positive feedback seller on ebay.
...

perhaps i should have done a bit more research before jumping at a soon closing auction.

...
i suggest only buying from reputable sites. ...

If you order from people reputable then you don't have to worry. Why do you people buy BS and when you get scammed then you blame it on the web?

"you people"? Says more about you than about the people you're referring to.

Fact is the original poster noted that this seller had 99.8% positive feedback. A bit more research may or may not have helped.

I always check the feedback - less than 99.6, I'm extra careful if I even consider it. And I try to go with "top rated sellers." Also check how long they've been operating - long-term sellers with good feedback are not likely to just disappear.

Check out the seller's ID page also - I saw sd cards supposedly shipped from US but seller's location was China.

Other tips - I only purchase from US sellers because I feel I have more recourse if I run into problems (not to mention the fact that I'm impatient and don't want to wait for international shipping). And I only use AmEx on my PayPal account.l

I had a bad experience (bought software advertised as latest version that turned out to be 2 years old with 2 newer versions out) and neither ebay nor paypal would deal with it. Disputed it with AmEx and got full credit.

You have to vigilant if you buy on ebay but still the scammers can get one over on you. It truly is a buyer beware situation. And actually, if it sounds too good to be true, it is, (not the case based on what the OP said, but good advice)

 

[lordofthereef]

I suppose it is also worth noting that there is also the chance of simply receiving a defective product. If the seller/vendor is willing to exchange it, then no harm no foul. It is one of the inconveniences with buying electronics online. If it is defective you are stuck with having to ship it back. The way I see it, the shipping charge should be the consumers. The local Best Buy won't pay your for your gas/time to come back to the store and exchange the defective product for a working one. Furthermore, you are almost certainly saving far more than what you would have spent in a big box store if you purchase online.

 

[lordofthereef]

If you order from people reputable then you don't have to worry. Why do you people buy BS and when you get scammed then you blame it on the web? Buy it from place like NewEgg for example if something goes wrong its covered by RMA and original manufactures warranty. You know as they say if its too good to be true it probably isn't.

Two things my friend...
1) This isn't a thread of complaint, but rather information. Nobody is BLAMING the web for anything.

2) NEWEGG has burned me before. Know how? I had to send out a serial to get the deadline for my RAM mail in rebate in time. Low and behold, just shy of 30 dyas, one of the ssticks turns up bad. They wouldn't honor an exchange due to the fact that I didn't have the UPC on the box. (I was able to get it swapped by the manufacturer which took longer and more paperwork, but that is beside the point. Newegg simply refused to help me).

Do not confuse this with me complaining about NewEgg, but rather providing you with some information. Most of the time things go well on NewEgg. If the seller in question had a 99%+ rating on eBay, it would seem that MOST OF THE TIME things go well with them too.

 

[tinynipples]

if you're case was recent it might be the same guy i'm dealing with lol...scammers suck

just received it late last week.

Actually that was probably in your favor. I had this happen as well and once the 7 days for the seller to respond were up it was like a "not contest" for eBay. They refunded me no further questions asked.

somehow eBay got a hold of them. the seller offered me a refund if i shipped back the card post-marked by feb 7th. i received the email after business hours on feb 4th. shipping at my expense.

I suppose it is also worth noting that there is also the chance of simply receiving a defective product.

definately not, i scanned the bar code on the box, or rather envelope type sleeve it came in, and it came up as a 2gb card.



so i shipped the card back today, hopefully i'll get refunded. and then it was only a $2.50 mistake. Bottom line, ebay makes me very impulsive, i usually do more researching. but the clock was ticking...

 

[Knewz]

yeah they wanted me to send mine back too but i said no cause i still would stand to lose money shipping it back. If they pay for shipping back then i will send it but i'm not about to be out of 20 bucks and not have any product.

 

[lordofthereef]

definately not, i scanned the bar code on the box, or rather envelope type sleeve it came in, and it came up as a 2gb card.

It's worth clarifying that I wasn't speaking specifically to your case, but to cases on eBay. Many people like to condemn eBay sales. Hell many people also like condemning a product just because they got unlucky and it arrived DOA. I was simply pointing out that it should be ruled out before making accusations. Again, not necessarily YOU, but others.

 

[R_Z]

Just my 2 cents. Never buy anything from China. I got burned on some headphones and an adapter(the adapter worked for a while then quit). The headphones actually shocked me when I was working out. I contacted the seller who asked me to send them back to China which I did. They denied receiving them and then it was too late to open a claim on ebay. Lesson learned. I have purchased many things on ebay with never an issue. But the two times I bought from Hong Kong, I got faulty merchandise. Buyer beware!

 

[tinynipples]

I have had both good and bad luck with ordering from China. I only order things that are inexpensive and always expect them to be garbage. Usually it is cheap, but not always total garbage. For things that don't matter, things I don't have to rely on and novelties that can only be found in the orient. China is fine. But not for electronics.

 

[Rubixious]

Moved post to here, where it was more applicable.
The long and short of it is - read comments, don't believe 'too good to be true' unless it's going to cost you next to nothing. Like everyone else above said, lol.

( http://androidforums.com/android-ac...cement-batterys-good-quality.html#post2276466 )

 

[Knewz]

got full refund without having to ship back... go eBay! boo chinese fakes

 

[collins753]

got mine from amazon. real scandisk 32gg for 49.00

 

[tinynipples]

Really? That's a great deal. Too bad eBay wouldn't give me a refund.

 

[mdevitre]

got mine from amazon. real scandisk 32gg for 49.00

This is truly the best way to go. After going thru about 4 fake cards, I paid the extra $ to get one from Amazon. That first card from Amazon is now in my Droid 2 and packed with 29GB of music!

Learn from my waste of time. Amazon for mem cards.

 

[tinynipples]

Ddid it ship through amazon or was it on amazon through another seller?

 

[DexTyler]

I never knew about this. Good thing I never bought one then, I was actually planning on buying one off eBay next week. Thanks for the heads up. Maybe I'll just stick with a local store.