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Fake Samsung 990 Pro passes basic checks but runs slower than a USB 2.0 drive — counterfeit SSDs proliferate as NAND shortage creates the perfect storm for bogus deals
There are two golden rules during a NAND shortage. Don’t buy SSDs at ridiculous prices, and don’t fall for deals that are too good to be true to avoid being scammed. Unfortunately, one Redditor learned this the hard way with a counterfeit Samsung 990 Pro, which still reigns as one of the best SSDs on the market.
According to the Reddit post, the deception ran deep from the start. Windows, which isn't always the best judge of character, detected the SSD with the right product name and 2TB capacity. CrystalDiskInfo, a popular SSD diagnostic and information tool, seemed to confirm the drive's authenticity. According to the report, the drive was seemingly running firmware version 0B2QJXD7, which, while outdated, is the original firmware that came with the Samsung 990 Pro. Every detail appeared to check out perfectly until CrystalDiskInfo highlighted that the installed drive is running at PCIe 3.0, even though the Samsung 990 Pro is a PCIe 4.0 SSD.
The inconsistencies began to unravel as file transfer tests exhibited painfully slow performance. CrystalDiskMark corroborated the low numbers and exhibited that the fake Samsung 990 Pro barely managed sequential read and write speeds of 20 MB/s and 10 MB/s, respectively. The clone's performance is slower than that of an old USB 2.0 pen drive. The final nail in the coffin came when Samsung Magician flagged the drive as a counterfeit clone.
We've heard countless SSD clone stories over the years, but this particular Samsung 990 Pro 2TB case stands out for the frighteningly sophisticated level of counterfeiting behind its creation. The label usually tells you whether a drive is legitimate. You can spot many telltale signs, such as incorrect model names, misaligned text, or poor print quality, thatare more than sufficient to give the imposter away. But not this counterfeit Samsung 990 Pro.
The Samsung 990 Pro clone appears to contain all the correct information, with flawless text and logo design, likely fooling even the most experienced enthusiasts. It's evident that the scammer meticulously replicated the label to the last detail and the fake firmware to trick Windows into thinking the drive is real. What's unsettling is that the Redditor didn't buy the drive from an online retailer or a second-hand marketplace, but instead bought it brand new from a local distributor in India. Then again, it's not surprising, since a couple of years ago, there was a wave of counterfeit Samsung SSDs that flooded e-tailers overseas.
The Redditor bought the Samsung 990 Pro 2TB for around $205. If you're conscious of the SSD market, the price alone is a big red flag. The drive launched with a $309.99 MSRP three years ago, and despite the NAND shortage, it retails for $299.99. And while the SSD has dropped to a historic low of $159.99, there was no way you could buy the Samsung 990 Pro 2TB for 32% below its street price, especially in today's market.
Our best advice for buying SSDs during these challenging times is to refrain from making any purchases and wait until prices return to normal levels. If push comes to shove, buy your SSDs at a reputable retailer and film your unboxing. If you're picking up a drive that includes software for authentication, such as a Samsung drive, run it immediately after installation to verify you're receiving a legitimate product. If not, you know what to do.
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Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.
You can roughly divide the world's population into three groups:
1 - the sheep. most people fit this category. they are innocent, they have a hard time conceiving of the idea that some people aren't like them and will take advantage of them if they can. ergo, they are easily fooled and/or manipulated.
2 - wolves. there's a small minority that know how to prey on the sheep. how to manipulate their innocence and take advantage of them. some are genuine psychopaths. others are "mini psychopaths".
3 - sheep dogs. these are those as smart of the wolves, but use their knowledge to protect and help the sheep. we need more of these!
this is not my original idea, and I don't know who to credit it to, but I think it describes the situation well.
These days, the repurposing industry & market in India is massive. They’ll strip down any broken items including SSDs into parts, remove everything down to the stickers and sell them to scammers who then tape these original stickers onto fake drives to be sold to unsuspecting customers. That explains why these stickers are perfect replicas cause they are the original stickers except the drive itself.
I bought a 4TB Fanxiang ssd for 120€ 6 weeks ago.
it was real, i tested it in an external enclosure and copied like 400Gb of data and all was of max speed.
I know my comments might be classed as a bit off topic but their is one thing about fakers that really annoy me.
They make clothes that are not fire retardant , electrical goods that are not safe and in the case of things like storage devices you are not getting the capacity you think your getting.
A counterfeit product is made for one purpose and that is to steal sales from the makers of the genuine items , whilst i dont condone counterfeiter's i would argue that if they are clever enough to make the items in the first place why dont they produce things that are safe to use..
A few years ago apple purchased so called " apple accessories from a well know site and on examination apple said we dont actually have a lot of these items in our product lines .... FAKE .
