Fake Chinese SD Card Scam!

[nicklmg]

 

Yes, you can actually buy a "Linus Brand" USB Drive TODAY (well... you can pre-order it today and actually receive it in a few months ). Linus brand is the only scam brand that is up-front about just how much of a scam it is - with an advertised capacity of 1TB, and a real capacity of 32GB, this fully functional USB drive is the perfect gift to yourself if you really really want a fun little collectible piece of Linus Tech Tips history.

 

Pre-order yours today on the Linus Tech Tips store at https://www.lttstore.com/

Warning to anyone outside of North America - it's going to be a lot for shipping on this. We're working on getting those costs down, but for now, it's something that we cannot get around. Sorry about that!

[Master Disaster]

Only a few weeks ago someone was selling 1050tis on eBay UK for £40.

[Mackan90096]

Creating fake SD cards is as easy as creating fake USB drives which is as simple enough for a 5 year old to do, just see this guide that was made two years ago: https://youtu.be/pHQxB7Ve2wQ

[Guest]

Anthony needs a raise. Lots of little things being paid attention. 

[xnamkcor]

Micro SD is waterproof by spec.

[Radium_Angel]

Is the absolute shit camera work part of the "charm" of LTT videos? Because as much money as Linus has, he should get some professional videographer.

[corrado33]

16 minute video for something that could be explained in 30 seconds. 

 

"See, there's this file on the microcontroller that reports the version, serial number, size, etc, to the device it's plugged into and if you can change this file to say something different, then the device believes it. If you try to copy more than what storage is actually there, the data simply gets overwritten, but the file names remain because the "file" keeping track of where everything is on the device (aka the filesystem) still thinks a file is there."

[TechyBen]

My father got a load of SD/USB/etc cards off, who knows where (I did find the invoices for £10 each, but could not be bothered to read them)... and as far as I can tell, they were all fake. He has some real cards/usbs, I got a couple of nice 128GB SD, and a 256 Crucial USB stick... but I think he got those from legit shops/direct sales (so paid a little less than RRP) on Amazon.

 

It took a LONG time to check the fake 1TB stick, mainly because it's read/write speeds were 8kps... not even in mbps. 

 

It's just not worth it.

 

PS, TBH I'd get a LTT *branded* memory stick to support you... but wow, your "LTT feel" is basically crayons at this point (Your Video content is much much better, not worries there)...But I can draw a Linus on my own USB... [Makes not to start project in the morning...  ].

[Egg-Roll]

Who the hell trusts Ali Express? Ebay? Ok. Amazon? Ok, but Ali Express? Hell to the No!

 

I only buy memory cards from Amazon directly (no 3rd party sellers even ones sold threw amazon) or in store. My data is worth more than saving a few bucks.

 

However I did buy one of these guys because "why not"

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/16GB-32GB-Novelty-Ravage-Transformers-Cheetah-Dog-USB-Flash-Drive-Memory-Stick/222660588015

[TechyBen]

1 minute ago, Egg-Roll said:

Who the hell trusts Ali Express? Ebay? Ok. Amazon? Ok, but Ali Express? Hell to the No!

 

I only buy memory cards from Amazon directly (no 3rd party sellers even ones sold threw amazon) or in store. My data is worth more than saving a few bucks.

 

However I did buy one of these guys because "why not"

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/16GB-32GB-Novelty-Ravage-Transformers-Cheetah-Dog-USB-Flash-Drive-Memory-Stick/222660588015

Ohhh... Nice. I've already printed a novelty USB stick desk tidy... I could do a whole key chain/toy line now!

 

Though, I think I'll stick to my fist plan... A Space X Falcon, which I can dismantle stages for the backup/archive USBs.

[Egg-Roll]

2 minutes ago, TechyBen said:

Ohhh... Nice. I've already printed a novelty USB stick desk tidy... I could do a whole key chain/toy line now!

 

Though, I think I'll stick to my fist plan... A Space X Falcon, which I can dismantle stages for the backup/archive USBs.

Just make sure it all comes back in one piece tho

 

I stored school assignments when I bought it (yes that design is very old) on that little thing no issues, I knew it was prob a 1GB internal or something

[Albashka]

Hi.

So why you claiming that you cant make true capacity of card ?

 

In CIS region only lazy one or just who afraid of lose data coz its obviously rejected sdcards after bad production.

This guide 4 years old or more..

 

1. Checking empty sd card with h2testw. (Selecting removable drive. ->  Data valume: all available space -> Write+Verify)

2. If log report shows sdcars is devective, copy log and go dispute to get money back.

3. Note number of good sectors:

4.Download chinisium program:MyDiskFix.zip

5.

A - select sd card

B - choose 2nd 

C - paste here number of Good sectors from h2testw report

D - click on this button

 

6. After ckicking it will ask to confirm:

 

7. Then it will show an error message:

 

8: Click OK and program start working. You will see something like that

 

9. After finish will popup windows format sevice with true capacity, click format. Enjoy your free chinisium sd card.

 

CHEERS COMRADES

 

 

[thepimanx]

1 hour ago, Mackan90096 said:

Creating fake SD cards is as easy as creating fake USB drives which is as simple enough for a 5 year old to do, just see this guide that was made two years ago: https://youtu.be/pHQxB7Ve2wQ

basically the same in the dos days. we would use Norton Disk Edit to directly modify the sectors!

[Wh0_Am_1]

If SDHC does not set off any alarms then I don't know what will, as the SDHC spec maxes out at 32GB.

[imxlnt2net-TheAlShow]

i think they created the fake to trick a specific country. may or may not be us, but we are supposed to be teaming up with china so it makes no sense! i hate politics, but its always politics!

[corrado33]

4 hours ago, thepimanx said:

basically the same in the dos days. we would use Norton Disk Edit to directly modify the sectors!

Remember when Norton wasn't a virus? Yeah.... the good ol' days.

 

My old Mac OS 9 disk includes norton stock. How funny is that? Like freaking OS 9 would be targeted for viruses. 

[RejZoR]

Heh, it feels like 2013 all over again when they were selling 1GB cards as 32GB...

https://rejzor.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/how-to-spot-fake-memory-cards-or-usb-drives/

 

Every time I buy anything off eBay I test it with H2testw. So far everything I bought was ok. But I was buying stuff from Sandisk mostly and with prices that were cheaper, but somewhat reasonable for the size. Not like 30 bucks for a 1TB micoSD card which is total nonsense. If only all people would do this and scammers wouldn't be able to do it anymore coz they'd get tons of negatives instantly.

 

Btw, in most cases, you can't reprogram the microprocessor on the card because they are most likely a disposable single write type. These chips are so cheap it's cheaper to just throw it away when you make a mistake or there is a fault than having one that is rewritable and write to it again. You just toss it away and use a new one. A lot of cheap devices from China use these but they are also common on "western" devices.

[NelizMastr]

This is such old news. This has been a thing for many years and never went away. So is the writing staff out of ideas?  

[shadowst3p]

You guys let me down, I’m armed forces overseas and I can’t order one :( I cri everytim 

[Nicnac]

at 30 seconds into the video he already does his weird little mic adjustment in his pocket move 

[Velcade]

14 hours ago, nicklmg said:

Pre-order yours today on the Linus Tech Tips store at https://www.lttstore.com/

Warning to anyone outside of North America - it's going to be a lot for shipping on this. We're working on getting those costs down, but for now, it's something that we cannot get around. Sorry about that!

Are these USB 3.0 drives?

[williamcll]

13 hours ago, Albashka said:

Hi.

So why you claiming that you cant make true capacity of card ?

 

In CIS region only lazy one or just who afraid of lose data coz its obviously rejected sdcards after bad production.

This guide 4 years old or more..

 

1. Checking empty sd card with h2testw. (Selecting removable drive. ->  Data valume: all available space -> Write+Verify)

2. If log report shows sdcars is devective, copy log and go dispute to get money back.

3. Note number of good sectors:

4.Download chinisium program:MyDiskFix.zip

5.

A - select sd card

B - choose 2nd 

C - paste here number of Good sectors from h2testw report

D - click on this button

 

6. After ckicking it will ask to confirm:

 

7. Then it will show an error message:

 

8: Click OK and program start working. You will see something like that

 

9. After finish will popup windows format sevice with true capacity, click format. Enjoy your free chinisium sd card.

 

CHEERS COMRADES

 

 

I was about make a post about this.

[hojnikb]

18 hours ago, Albashka said:

Hi.

So why you claiming that you cant make true capacity of card ?

 

In CIS region only lazy one or just who afraid of lose data coz its obviously rejected sdcards after bad production.

This guide 4 years old or more..

 

1. Checking empty sd card with h2testw. (Selecting removable drive. ->  Data valume: all available space -> Write+Verify)

2. If log report shows sdcars is devective, copy log and go dispute to get money back.

3. Note number of good sectors:

4.Download chinisium program:MyDiskFix.zip

5.

A - select sd card

B - choose 2nd 

C - paste here number of Good sectors from h2testw report

D - click on this button

 

6. After ckicking it will ask to confirm:

 

7. Then it will show an error message:

 

8: Click OK and program start working. You will see something like that

 

9. After finish will popup windows format sevice with true capacity, click format. Enjoy your free chinisium sd card.

 

CHEERS COMRADES

 

 

There is a huge problem with this method; You don't actually know how  controller treats the data coming from host.

 

While you can limit the partition size to the amount flash device can actually take, you can never be too sure, if controller is smart (or dumb) enough to actually write that data to usable flash sectors instead of just randomly sending bits to /dev/null

 

For all we know, controller could be programmed to think it actually has a 1TB flash device attached to it; which means it will perform wear levelling using all 1TB worth of sectors, not just 8GB, which is the real size of the flash memory.

[hojnikb]

10 hours ago, RejZoR said:

Heh, it feels like 2013 all over again when they were selling 1GB cards as 32GB...

https://rejzor.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/how-to-spot-fake-memory-cards-or-usb-drives/

 

Every time I buy anything off eBay I test it with H2testw. So far everything I bought was ok. But I was buying stuff from Sandisk mostly and with prices that were cheaper, but somewhat reasonable for the size. Not like 30 bucks for a 1TB micoSD card which is total nonsense. If only all people would do this and scammers wouldn't be able to do it anymore coz they'd get tons of negatives instantly.

 

Btw, in most cases, you can't reprogram the microprocessor on the card because they are most likely a disposable single write type. These chips are so cheap it's cheaper to just throw it away when you make a mistake or there is a fault than having one that is rewritable and write to it again. You just toss it away and use a new one. A lot of cheap devices from China use these but they are also common on "western" devices.

 

Thats not true at all. Most if not all NAND controllers used (in sd cards mostly appotech or phison) parameters are "easily" modifiable multiple times. The issue here is that sd cards require a special interface to modify such parameters. That interface is specific to each controller manufacturer and uses reserved SD commands, that are not usually exposed.

 

It's much easier with usb drive, since they don't require special tools, just plug them into usb port and fire up an appropriate MPTool

[hojnikb]

I would also like to add something to this topic;

 

Unlike SD cards, where you need specialized tools (for each controller manufacturer) to edit any kind of controller parameters, USB flash drives are very easy to convert back to real capacity. There are tons of MPTools (programs used by the factories to program initial parameters) available for each controller, just a matter of identifying the right controller (chipgenius is an easy way to do that).

 

Added benefit of modifying parameters yourself is that you can also change device name reported to OS, ECC intensity (amount of error correction applied by the controller) and hidden partitions or permanent ISO mounts acting as a cd drive. On some drives you can also tweak stuff to make the drive faster at the expense of reliability and usable space.

 

Another benefit of obviousy fake usb drives from ebay is that you can "scam" the seller back. Buy an obviously fake drive, report it as incorrect/fake capacity, request refund, program back to real capacity = free usb drive.

 

The usual way of going about this is head over to usbdev.ru (russian site, but has a huge resources dedicated to this, just use google translate) and firstly download a fresh copy of chipgenius. This tool will identify the flash controller and type of flash. 

 

Now that you properly indetified the controller and flash type (it works 98% of the time) you can also tell what the real capacity is.

 

Now that out of the way, we can see that example uses Appotech controller. We head over the appotech subsite and find the appropriate MPTool (or Ctool).

With the correct version of MPtool (different controller models need different versions usually) it's just a matter of reflashing the drive to use the correct capacity. This is specific to each controller manufacturer, so some googling or forum searching is required for a first timer