ELECTRONICS: Beware of Fake SanDisk Ultra MicroSD Card From Online Sellers

Beware of fake SanDisk Ultra MicroSD Card
From online sellers!

22 May 2021

Buyers please beware of buying fake SanDisk memory cards! Weeks ago, I unwittingly ordered this fake SanDisk Ultra 256GB MicroSD Card online. It was supposed to be used to store my music collection. This item ships from abroad (China) and takes about a week to arrive.

The darn thing is that these sellers are shameless liars and claim to be getting direct from factory, original and authentic, etc. I trusted them and took their word for it. The card seemed to work fine when adding files. After a certain amount of files, it began to have hiccups and the card disappears from the list of drives in My Computer. That is one sign.

After restarting the phone, your files will all disappear and needs to be reformatted. Some valuable files were lost. I found out that these shady makers put chips or programs into their card so that the device could fake its capacity (eg. 256GB), but is actually only 3GB. The error and corruption happens when you exceed its actual capacity (in my case 3.3GB) and the files begin to overwrite the existing ones, thus creating the corruption.

After using an app called "True SD Card Capacity & Speed Test", it showed that only 3.3GB had no error, which is the actual capacity, the speed was only around 5MB not 100MB. I tested the card again by putting in files less than 3GB, and they had no errors even when restarting. Only after more than 3GB did the errors happen again. The card was truly counterfeit.

It's hard to tell when buying online. One of the signs is when they are selling it too cheap. Probably a second sign is when they sell from abroad and coming from China. Even local sellers could be selling these. Try to look for local sellers that have a good reputation, like the big name electronics stores. Chances are they have the authentic ones.

Some other signs... the SD card adapter had deformed and loose contact pins, the microSD card did not have a serial number at the back, and the cardboard packaging was not glued properly so that the two sheets separated and popped open. Quality issues are the signs.

I originally used my CD-R King 16GB MicroSD Card for music storage since 2012 and wanted to upgrade. That card has always been very reliable and never gave me problems, not even once throughout the years. Made in Taiwan.

Having felt betrayed and furious for the scam (another shit product bought online!), I soon filed for a refund. Their shamelessness knows no end... they even offered to refund only half the amount after knowingly selling counterfeit and deceiving customers. The dispute was resolved and given a total refund. In the past, some of those sellers abroad were aggressive, demanding that I remove the negative review and give them positive review for their counterfeit products. Shameless to the core!

(TIP: When buying online and receiving your products at the door, make sure you do not click on the item received button yet. You need to test the product and make sure it works before doing so. The system will not allow you to file for refund once you click on the received item button.)