How To Identify Fake USB Flash Drives Before Buying Them (Page 3 of 3)

*Updated* There seem to be some sellers out there who think another one is born every minute.... and so there are even a couple sellers who have jumped to selling 256GB drives.

* Update * There is now a Kingston USB thumb drive available with 256GB

capacity! ( As of July 20, 2009, Kingston has announced they have developed a 256GB UBS Flash drive, the Data Traveler 300.

It is sold in the UK only at this point. ) It is quite distinctive from their other lines of USB flash drive, as can be seen in this picture from the Kingston site. Notice it looks nothing like the fakes shown here.

And for those people who are really unaware of what current technology can do, there are sellers out there lying in wait for you.

512GB USB thumb drives aren't even a gleam in any real manufacturer's eye yet.

If the packaging lists a drive with capacity of anything from 2G to 32G or 64 G, it is a poor fake. USB flash drives give the capacity in GB or MB.

An early victim (2006) of the fake flash drives posted details of what he found wrong about the drive on a forum, and has given me permission to reproduce the information.

He ordered what he thought was a Sony 4GB USB thumb drive from an Amazon Marketplace seller. He wrote:

Sony does not even carry a 4GB Micro Vault in those series only up to 2GB. I did not know this at the time but was suspicious after opening the package. The first thing that caught my eye was that there was no security device inside the package but the insert has a place for it which even said for a security device.

A list of things which [he] found wrong with [his] purported 4GB Sony Micro Vault Classic.

Heres a list of things which [he] found wrong about it.

• No security device inside package
• Missing the CD-ROM and Warranty Card inside package which is mentioned in the instructions
• The package shows English and French however the instructions are in English and Chinese
• The drive shows up as 3936 MB rather than the packages 3992 MB
• The model number on the package (USM4GEV) differs from the instructions (USM4GU2)
• The date on the package is 2004 and the instructions are 2001
• The UPC number (027242645547) is the UPC for the Sony 256MB Micro Vault Classic. The specs differ from the package and instructions (256MB is the maximum size made)
• The serial number on the back of the package and instructions are left blank
• There is no LED indicator on the Flash Drive as mentioned in the Instructions
• The color differs from the images shown online however it is possible it looks darker than they really are
• The strap included does not even bare the Sony name as I would expect. But it is possible there would be no name

While some of these things are only going to be noticeable if you already have purchased a drive and are holding it, others can be additional clues. If the online description says there is a CD packaged with the drive- can you tell if there is space made for the CD in the package. Again, does the package have a serial number, or authentication number? If the drive is supposed to have a LED to show when it is in use- is there a place for the LED drive. Is it in the right spot, according to pictures on the manufacturer's site?

If anything about the drive you see pictured makes you uneasy, find a reputable place to purchase your USB drive. It may cost a few dollars more- but you won't be being cheated with a fake drive, you won't risk loosing information you thought was saved- and you won't be paying money to a dishonest merchant.

Sony does not make a Vaio USB drive or a 128GB drive. Any drive in any size with that as a brand name is faked.

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I would like to thank the site SOSFAKEFLASH.com and the pdf guide they make available, © 2006 Helen M P Rose, for information, confirmation and verification of information, and links to more source material. I'd also like to thank the poster who didn't want his name published, and mtlin, source of the photo from Flickr showing the inside of an altered Kingston USB flash drive.

A number of the screenshots showing faked drives in this article were taken on the site madeinchina. I do not recommend purchasing USB products through them.