Watch out for fake Samsung 980 Pro SSDs that are priced too good to be true

Shawn Knight

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In a nutshell: As the saying goes, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is." A bargain-hunter posting on the Baidu Tieba forums recently learned this lesson the hard way. As Tom's Hardware recounts, the user picked up a purported 2TB Samsung 980 Pro SSD for the equivalent of $127.77. The low price should have been the first warning sign that something was amiss but according to the report, the user had been out of the PC hardware game for a while and wasn't up to speed on current technology and pricing.

For reference, Samsung's 2TB 980 Pro is currently priced at $159.99 over on Amazon before a $10 instant discount.

According to the buyer, the drive arrived in official Samsung packaging and had legitimate-looking stickers covering the controller and NAND like you'd find on the real deal. It even had the right firmware which was apparently good enough to fool Samsung's Magician software.

Peel back the sticker, however, and the forgery comes into view. The drive in question is equipped with a Maxio MAP1602A PCIe 4.0 SSD controller and uses YMTC's 128-layer TLC 3D NAND (X2-9060) instead of Samsung's own in-house controller and NAND.

The differences are immediately evident in the benchmarks as well. Whereas Samsung's drive is rated for up to 7,000 MB/s on the sequential read side and up to 5,100 MB/s with sequential writes, the impostor drive falls well short with speeds of around 4,800 MB/s and 4,450 MB/s read and write, respectively, in CrystalDiskMark and 4,200 MB/s / 3,959 MB/s read / write in AS SSD.

This is yet another cautionary tale about the risks of purchasing hardware from sketchy vendors but even if you play it safe, you aren't guaranteed to get what you bargained for.

Last year, a third-party Walmart vendor was found to be selling bogus 30TB external SSDs for around $18 (again, too good to be true). Amazon also made headlines for refusing to refund a buyer who allegedly received a fake graphics card. Only after the story gained widespread publicity did Amazon refund the purchase.

Image credit: Baidu Tieba

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With the real one going for $159.99 and this one going for $127.77 it seems, to me, like the fake one was priced in a gray area where it would be difficult to tell that it was fake before it was bought.

Now that 30TB external SSD for $18, that is just ridiculous, and anyone who fell for that should have known better, IMO..
 
I stopped buying expensive Samsung ssds. I have a mix of Silicon power, WD, and other few other new brands. Non failed so far under moderate use and past 6 years.
SSDs are mazing for computing, and even more amazing is that cheap ones can be almost as good as expensive ones.
 
This is why every company trying to be Amazon is such an awful idea. Pretty soon their reputation is ruined by all the scammers.
 
With the real one going for $159.99 and this one going for $127.77 it seems, to me, like the fake one was priced in a gray area where it would be difficult to tell that it was fake before it was bought.

Now that 30TB external SSD for $18, that is just ridiculous, and anyone who fell for that should have known better, IMO..


The smarts of the scammer - if my travels back in the day - not one black market money changers that were trying to scam people I heard about - made the backpacker work for a good rate - hey psst you want rate plus 20% ( oh yes please - can I change even more says silly tourists ) . Though I was with 2 other tourists in Potosi in Bolivia - and this woman offers us a better than normal rate - I just did $50 - anyway 20 minutes later some plain clothes - with written paper ID police try to arrest us - we told them to F.O - then they came with others assault rifles in uniform - ah good times - think she didn't want her hubby to know she stuff up - we did the transaction in his pharmacy while he was away.
The American and myself were asked to leave the police room - was classic movie - fat Captain at desk - muscular office standing - we heard someone getting thrown around - the rude french tourist? - we went back to stand up for him - it was just judo practice in next room :) - Been interrogated by police/internal security or attempted shakedowns 3 times in Africa , a few times in China - kind of annoying if someone you are with takes a photo of an airport ( Nigeria - I was just chilling with unknown malaria in the vehicle ) - In Ethiopia we were just taking photos of a lake with birds - China tried to get you to pay big fines in illegal areas - never paid - did pay a few after the fact permit fees in some provinces
 
A few weeks ago I saw the 2TB WD_Black SN850X going for just $110, wonder if that was fake too. It was some 3rd party seller on Amazon
 
Between Scamsung, Scamazon and Fleabay, consumers need to be very wary. Never ever buy a Scamsung SD card from Fleabay, they are virtually all counterfeit and neither company gives a toss.

Wouldn't buy a real 980 EVO either. It's been all downhill for Scamsung since the 970 series.
 
With the real one going for $159.99 and this one going for $127.77 it seems, to me, like the fake one was priced in a gray area where it would be difficult to tell that it was fake before it was bought.

Yeah, cheaters are getting smarter. I once bought a very cheap USB memory that was allegedly 32 GB in their online store, costing the same as 8 GB in a normal store. So, when it came from China I immediately started copying files to test it. And guess what - it received full 32 GB of data. I was happy.

Until a few days later, when I made another test, but this time I tested all the files I copied. Turned out the stick could memorize only the last 8 GB you copied to it. Everything before that would be erased.

So, they lied. Its capacity wasn't 32 GB. It was infinite.
 
With the real one going for $159.99 and this one going for $127.77 it seems, to me, like the fake one was priced in a gray area where it would be difficult to tell that it was fake before it was bought.

Now that 30TB external SSD for $18, that is just ridiculous, and anyone who fell for that should have known better, IMO..
I fully agree. Yes, a 30TB SSD for 18 dollars is too good to be true.
 
With the real one going for $159.99 and this one going for $127.77 it seems, to me, like the fake one was priced in a gray area where it would be difficult to tell that it was fake before it was bought.
Funny you should mention the term "gray". Once upon a time, (perhaps still?), You could buy "gray market" cameras and lenses, which were legitimate products from major manufacturers, (Canon, Nikon, etc), but were imported, and not intended for sale in the US.

I think they were about 5% (?) below US stock, but you sacrificed the manufacturer's US warranty.

Newegg for a while, had some drives (SSD?), from unknown makers, with questionably low prices for their capacity. Haven't seen them for awhile, Truth to tell though, I haven't looked in a while either.

Recently, I grabbed a Samsung "Evo Plus", 2 TB NVme pci-e 3.0 for $120.00 It was a "shell shocker" deal. (One that almost lived up to it's hype). Won't I be "shell shocked", if it turns out to be a fake? :rolleyes:

Here's an interesting offer I run into once in awhile. the Cooler Master "Storm Scout". (original model). These cases go for more than retail price on Ebay, well used. (they were discontinued years ago).

Yet, this etailer, "Xoxide", always seems to have one in stock, and on sale. Has anyone ever done business with them?

Meh, if they exist, and they have it, most likely the shipping will be about the same price as the case.
 
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