-!!BEWARE!!- of fake memory cards on ebay

[Ciqala]

**EDIT** more on this Here


unfortunately i hadnt seen the existing discussions on here until i'd already won and paid my money for a sandisk ultra II 2gb compactflash card.

card arrived today and it's definately fake based on the comparisons shown on this site ...

http://martybugs.net/articles/fakesandisk.cgi

i was thinking it may be worth making a sticky to warn people of the inherent dangers of buying memory off of ebay. i know all purchases on ebay should be carefully considered before bidding and i'm certain plenty of people will post in this thread about how they 'never buy from ebay', but for those who do use ebay its near impossible to tell before you buy if the product you receive will be genuine or not and as such are not as easy to spot as your typical scam and can even catch savvy users such as myself off-guard if not aware of the scale of counterfeiting going on.

the info in the other threads is also rather scattered so perhaps we can use this thread as a central place to put any information on how to go about getting your money back if you already fell foul of this scam and also how to tell if the cards you use are genuine.

[nation]

Thanks for th warning. Whose the seller by the way we know for the future?

There's a sticky in the market watch section where you can add your dodgy seller. Just be descriptive yet clear on the facts before posting

[Ephemeral]

Did you see how many positive responses the seller had before you bought the card?

I bought my Sandisk Ultra II 2Gb from ebay. It was shipped from Hongkong. The seller had over 3000 responses, with 99% positive. I'm not saying responses can't be faked, but it helps.

[Ciqala]

they had over 500 positive feedback responses. but if people who buy from them dont realise it's fake and aren't the technical type (to do things like verify its performance) and just take it at face value who's to say they wouldnt be happy with their purchase and give positive feedback. i only knew to even think about checking it's authenticity following posts i saw on the forum (which led me to dig deeper).

since i found out i sent the seller a message stating i wanted a full refund and for no negative feedback to be left or i would be contacting ebay/paypal and sandisk to report him.

his reply was

I just buyn and sell. I buy the memory from Taiwan and they said is real. If you don't accept the card please return to me and get a fully refund. As soon as I received the card I also can return to the factory for refund. So please return it to me that is what i can do.

Billy

now i dont believe a single word of this as this is almost word for word the response posted by many other people who also received fake memory cards that i found from google. so he wants me to send him the fake item back and then he will refund me.

this of course means that the burden of risk remains with me as he may not refund me once he gets the item and i lose any proof that it was in fact counterfeit. i'm also fairly sure the law in the uk says that if i return an item i know to be counterfeit then i'd be breaking the law by aiding them in their venture (much in the same way shops are not meant to give you back your money if they find out it's fake).

i'm waiting on a call back from consumer direct to find out where i stand legally on handling counterfeit goods but ultimately i want my money back and for ebay to stop this guy selling fake goods to anyone else without him tarnishing my own feedback with an unwarranted negative rating.

i'll keep this thread updated with any updates.

[bigtallguy]

Some pics of the fake Ultra II i purchased off a UK based seller with 100% feedback... fake on the right...

[MegaHurtz]

I ended up with 3 of the fake 2gb cards

I've still got them, I'm currently trying to file a dispute with PayPal

!

I'm really just thinking about keeping them and using them when I am in apinch. Not that that is going to happen, as I have 3 legit 2gb Ultra II cards, a 2gb Elite Pro, and a 1gb standard Sandisk. Having 15gb of CF does have a nice ring to it too

[blonde]

another reason why i do not use flea bay anymore. this has been going on for some time now and these people still have tons of listings up while many hard working people are getting fake cards...

[Ciqala]

got a callback from consumer direct (uk consumer advice line) just now and i must have got a woman who was suffering from the monthlys because she was as rude as can be.

the gist of the conversation is, she can forward the sellers details to trading standards to file a criminal prosecution, she then got incredibly rude when i said i was at work and the item was at home "well how do you expect me to help you if you cant even give me the details" err hello, i called yesterday when i had the item in front of me, how was i to know you would be calling me right now. basically she got so annoyed she didnt offer me any advice on what to do in terms of getting a refund and instead tried to terminate the case there and then, i asked if i could call back when i have the item with me, she spat out a case number and hung up on me. in short, it wasnt a productive call.

i'll try again later with the info to hand and hopefully i'll get someone a little more personable on the other end this time. will post what advice they give if i get any.

i cant go through ebay dispute process just yet either as they say you must wait 10 days.

[Ciqala]

almost forgot, i contacted sandisk as well just to get proper confirmation my card was fake (didnt think trading standards would accept "a website told me it was")

heres the ticket i raised...

Your Question/Problem:
I have just purchased what i thought to be a brand new sandisk ultra II compactflash card from a retailer on ebay but since receiving it, i now have my doubts as to it's authenticity.

the serial number printed on the side of the card is...
ASS0606DH

could you please let me know if there is any way to be certain that the card i have is genuine.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SanDisk Response: (06/21/2006 07:47)
Hello,

Thank you for contacting SanDisk Technical Support.

Based on the information provided in your email, We regret to inform you that you purchased a counterfeit item.

The serial number you provided does not match the capacity of your product. This is typical for (unfortunately) many of the counterfeit items sold on the internet. Another typical indication of a counterfeit item is the immediate failure (normally within a week). I hope you can obtain a refund/return from the seller. Any troubleshooting of this non-Sandisk device is useless. I apologize but because of this, we will not be able to provide you with any kind of support.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this e-mail or contact our technical support department at one of the numbers below.

Sincerely,
Ingo L.
Sandisk Technical support
US +1 (866) 726 3475
NL +31 (202) 015 029
UK +44 (207) 3654 193

[nanodog]

EBAY has a system for all of this.. go to the faqs and follow them.
Don't file a Neg until you have a resolution, it keeps the seller in the game by trying to keep the Neg from happening.
Also do not withdraw your complaint until it is resolved, you only have one shot at that.
If you ship the item back to him you should get a delivery reciept electronically. Use that to file the claim with PayPal if you don't get reimbursed.

Also another good way to check on EBAY sellers is toolhaus.org. They track all negs and neutrals, even the ones that have been mutally withdrawn.

Good luck.

[Jesper]

There are people everywhere who try to make money by scamming others...

I found this: Fake Sandisk Ultra II CF cards

Have you heard about this before?

You'd better buy your memory cards (and other equipment...) from a reputable store, you see how you get scammed if you try to save a few $...

[AF_is_for_sissies]

I remember reading something about fake CF cards either on here or another board a while back. It doesn't suprise me at all, especially considering how much fake stuff is sold via Ebay. Most of it comes from China and can look startlingly real. Tiffany & Co. actaully sued Ebay last year in an attempt to stop users from selling fake jewlery. The crazy thing is, according to the story I read, the fakes were so good, that the silver jewlery was actually the same weight as the Tiffany jewelry and almost identical in every single way. Even if you go on there right now and type in Tiffany, you will still get about 95% fakes (and they even come with fake Tiffany boxes and pouches).

BTW, in case any of you are wondering, I myself do not wear Tiffany, but my girlfriend loves it. Haha. Just wanted to be clear. My girlfriend on the other hand...She loves the stuff. Know if they can only invent a bracelet that doubles as a light meter...

[Dew]

Originally Posted by Jesper

Have you heard about this before?

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=170887

[Andy_T]

Originally Posted by AF_is_for_sissies

BTW, in case any of you are wondering, I myself do not wear Tiffany, but my girlfriend loves it. Haha. Just wanted to be clear. My girlfriend on the other hand...She loves the stuff. Know if they can only invent a bracelet that doubles as a light meter...

Haha, then you can get a nice present for her from eBay

Best regards,
Andy

[chtgrubbs]

Not only do you risk getting a fake, but many sellers are charging $25 to $60 for shipping for an item that can't cost any more than $4 to mail!