Forged / Fake / Counterfit Micro SD Cards

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PKR

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I had to dig this up for a discussion outside of this board but, since most of us use Micro SD Cards, i thought it would be of interest.

I've never had a forged Micro SD come into my work but, i did get a couple of expensive Sandisk CF Cards that were counterfits. They were purchased from a reputable dealer st full price. In talking with Sandisk, i learned thst, 1/3 of the Sandisk products on the market are counterfit.

I've been reading Bunnie's Blog for years. Andrew, AKA Bunnie, is Chinese American (Detroit) living, and working for American companies, in China. He holds a PhD EE from MIT.

https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?page_id=1022


This is in Italian / with subtitles. The visual is good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyVA_lY4QFI
 
I bought not one but two SanDisk 128gb micro cards for my Samsung tablet...both would lose images even after I knew they loaded and viewed them...upon further investigating the 128gb card was too big for my tablet...
I was able to exchange one of the cards for a 64gb micro and now my tablet works fine...
A few weeks ago I was going to use my Sony a6000 for videoing and used the old 128gb card in its original adapter...even in the Sony it lost images...not sure if its the card or adapter but I don't think I'll ever use it for anything important...I never thought it could be counterfeit because I bought them from legit stores...
I only use regular cards in my electronics that take them, I prefer not to use adapters...
 
I'm using Sandisk, my prefered memory, as an example. Other brands have similar problems. Sandisk is the most popular memory maker and as a result, the most often counterfeited.

I got a list of photo dealers who were on the verified seller list. B&H, my primary vendor, was on it. I was surprised at the dealers who weren't.

Also, buying from The River and, Auction sites and, similar venues is very risky.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archi...counterfeit-sandisk-memory-card/td-p/23986850


Snip
Verifying if a SanDisk product is authentic
How do I check if I have purchased an authentic SanDisk product?

The best way to ensure you are purchasing an authentic SanDisk product is to buy from an authorized SanDisk reseller.

View our distributor/reseller list to locate an authorized SanDisk reseller in your area.

If you are concern about the authenticity of your SanDisk product, you may contact SanDisk's tech support and select the appropriate tech support option for your product.


https://kb-eu.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1953/~/verifying-if-a-sandisk-product-is-authentic

https://www.trustedparts.com/en/manufacturers/sandisk
 
Counterfeiting is an issue for sure. I saw it in the pre-Covid-19 SE Asian markets where, mostly Western tourists, would buy fake 'branded' sportswear stuff on the cheap. It's all about greed. This said, I am mostly concerned with counterfeited medicines. Cheers, OtL
 
PKR said:
The best way to ensure you are purchasing an authentic SanDisk product is to buy from an authorized SanDisk reseller.

View our distributor/reseller list to locate an authorized SanDisk reseller in your area.

If you are concern about the authenticity of your SanDisk product, you may contact SanDisk's tech support and select the appropriate tech support option for your product.
Click to expand...

I wish it were so, but even authorized dealers are known to have distributed fake cards (inadvertently). Just as the producers have distributed "fake" cards like in the Kingston example. The supply chain and production is simply to complex to be 100% certain. The Blackmagic card check is probably the closest you get to assurance.
 
My preferred brand for SD card is Sony, and I will need soon to buy a new expensive card.
Does anybody know if Sony SD cards are counterfeited too?
 
Nitroplait said:
I wish it were so, but even authorized dealers are known to have distributed fake cards (inadvertently). Just as the producers have distributed "fake" cards like in the Kingston example. The supply chain and production is simply to complex to be 100% certain. The Blackmagic card check is probably the closest you get to assurance.
Click to expand...

I wonder about this as, the chain of custody is watched by the manufactures. I've seen instances, with other electronic components, where a purchasing agent is offered a "deal" by a distributor for a "batch" at a reduced price. These items don't come directly from the manufacturer. On questing, my vendor couldn't verify a chain of custody for a chip who's maker was just 20 miles away. My vendor was offered a deal and went for it.
 
Being that there's no SanDisk Official Store across the street, I buy my cards at a Kroger-affiliated store which also sells all sorts of electronic devices such as HD TV's, printers, etc. - should I assume cards sold there could be counterfeit?
 
Pál_K said:
Being that there's no SanDisk Official Store across the street, I buy my cards at a Kroger-affiliated store which also sells all sorts of electronic devices such as HD TV's, printers, etc. - should I assume cards sold there could be counterfeit?
Click to expand...

You might want to check the links in my above post????

I thought, i made the link info clear? I would think, any, other than official dealers of any memory product, might be suspect.


Having had problems once, that cost considerable time to resolve, i'm not interested in hetting a bogus product. But, that's me.
 
PKR said:
You might want to check the links in my above post????

I thought, i made the link info clear? I would think, any, other than official dealers of any memory product, might be suspect.
...
Click to expand...

None of the many large and popular stores in my area, even those being part of a nationwide chain, appeared on the lists given by those links. So, I'll have to assume there's a chance some of the SanDisk products there could sometimes be counterfeit.
 
Pál_K said:
None of the many large and popular stores in my area, even those being part of a nationwide chain, appeared on the lists given by those links. So, I'll have to assume there's a chance some of the SanDisk products there could sometimes be counterfeit.
Click to expand...

Well, the Applications Engineer told me 1/3 of their products, at any given time, are counterfeit. He said, it cost the company (now Kingston) a lot of money to deal with people who bought what they thought was Sandisk Memory. They can't replace a counterfeit product, the cost would put them out of business.

With online shopping and, big sites like The River offering bogus memory at 1/2 retail, people are eager to save money.

What angers me, are the retailers who pronounce the product legit, charge full retail for it, knowing they are selling a knock-off and then, refuse to replace the product with a legit item.

Years back, i bought 3 Nikon F3 HP bodies and 2 MD4 motors from Adorama. I'm a NPS member and, mentioned the purchase to them. They told me, it was so early in production that, no USA cameras were in the stores. I paid full retail for the camera gear. NPS asked me to bring the package and any paperwork to their SF office when i received the shipment.

On receiving the shipment, i delivered the box to Nikon. They ran the serial numbers and told me the gear was all gray market with forged USA warranty cards. They asked me to release the camera gear and paper work to them. In about two weeks, i got a call from NPS. They replaced the cameras with US warranted gear. I was told that, Adorama almost lost their dealership over selling bogus US cameras. I don't know how many people they screwed. Likely, a lot. I was lucky, in that, i talked to Nikon about my purchase before my gear went in for it's yearly cleaning and adjustment.
 
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