Sometimes, good deals on the Internet hide real scams. One Internet user recently experienced this bitterly after discovering that his external hard drive was a crude sham, made up to look legitimate.
A fake “HDD”… filled with glue and cheap components
The user thought he had purchased a 1 TB external hard drive three years ago. Quiet, apparently functional, it seemed perfectly normal – until the day the device broke down. Intrigued, he decided to take the case apart. Inside, he was in for a big surprise: no magnetic platter, no drive arm – the hallmarks of a real hard drive.
Instead, he finds a low-grade Flash memory chip, glued in place with hot glue, and loosely connected to the USB port. As the icing on the cake, a metal weight had been added to mimic the mass of a real hard disk. This was no manufacturing defect or factory error. This was a well-honed scam, and unfortunately not an isolated case.
A known fraud method… but difficult to spot
Several users on Reddit have shared that they have fallen victim to similar schemes, particularly when purchasing via online sales platforms such as Amazon. In some cases, scammers order genuine disks, replace the internal components with dummy hardware, then return the product for a refund. The platform does not check the integrity of the returned hardware, and puts the item back on sale – unbeknownst to the next buyer.
This type of fraud cannot be detected by the naked eye. You need to use benchmark tools such as CrystalDiskInfo or Blackmagic Disk Speed Test to test a disk’s actual performance. In general, these counterfeits offer much lower storage capacity than advertised, and ridiculously low read/write speeds.
Be wary of online tech purchases
This story is yet another reminder of the importance of immediately testing all new computer equipment, even if it seems to be working properly. And above all, to give preference to trustworthy sellers, even if it means paying a little more, rather than falling into the trap of the overly tempting bargain.
If you’ve recently bought a cheap external hard drive, or any other piece of hardware, take a few minutes to check its performance. This could save you, like this unlucky gambler, from discovering – too late – that your precious backup is resting on a piece of plastic and a bit of hot glue.
