Big Fake Hard Drive Bust in Malaysia
A new raid on a store place near Kuala Lumpur has found a big plot making fake hard drives. Teams from Seagate, with help from local folks in Malaysia, found a spot that was wrongly selling old hard drives from top names like Seagate, Western Digital, and Kioxia as fresh goods.
The Scam Details
This plot was not easy; it was a smooth system built to trick buyers. The start to protect yourself is to get how they work.
- Where the Drives Came From: Seagate thinks these old drives came from big crypto mining work (like Chia) in China. Once the crypto rush was done, these old drives came out a lot.
- The "Making New" Steps: The crew at the spot reset the drives' SMART data, which keeps check of work hours and health, to make them look new. They cleaned them, stuck on fake tags, and packed them up again.
- Fake "Upgrades": To up their worth, some drives got new tags as costly types, like turning a plain Seagate Barracuda into a fancy IronWolf or SkyHawk NAS drive.
- How They Sold: The fake drives were sold at low costs on big web shops like Shopee and Lazada.
This Issue is Big
The raid got about 700 drives, big up to 18TB, but this might be just a small show of the big scene. It's thought that over a million of these used Chia mining drives are out there in the world, and it's not clear how many got sold again as fake. The find of fake Western Digital and Kioxia drives shows this is a big problem, not just for one brand.
How to Stop Buying a Fake Hard Drive
Your info is too key to trust on a fake drive that could break any time. Here are key steps to take when getting a new hard drive:
- Follow Your Feel on Price: The fakes were found as their prices were too low. If a deal looks way too good, it likely is.
- Buy from Good Sellers: The best pick is always to buy right from the maker or from big, well-known shops (like Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, etc. as the main seller, not from others on their sites). Stay away from unknown others on sites like eBay or Lazada.
- Look at the Box: When your drive comes in, check for any tampering. Look for broken seals, bad packing, or tags that look cheap or not right.
- Check the Serial Number: Before you set it up, head to the maker's real site. They all have a tool to check warranty or serial numbers. Put in the number from your drive's tag to see if it's a real product.
- Check SMART Data Right Away: Once you connect the drive, use a tool like CrystalDiskInfo (for Windows) to check the SMART data. If the work hours or other info look wrong for a "new" drive, send it back at once.
Seagate's Fix
After this thing, Seagate is making its partner program tighter, making partners get drives only from allowed sellers. They're also starting a world check setup to look at suppliers better. While these are good moves, watching out yourself is still the best way to stay safe.
