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Fake SSDs With Great Reviews Are Still Popping Up on Amazon (theverge.com) 93

Posted by msmash from the "customer-obsession" dept.
An anonymous reader writes: If you've searched for external SSDs on Amazon.com recently, you may have noticed something weird: mixed in with the 1TB and 2TB drives from brands like Samsung and SanDisk are a bunch of listings for 16TB SSDs, mostly around $100, and with surprisingly high user ratings. Every single one is a scam, even if they're shipped by Amazon. Josh Hendrickson -- Editor-in-Chief of Review Geek -- bought one of the "16TB SSDs" and tore it down to reveal a generic 64GB microSD card on a USB 2.0 card reader. Adrian Kingsley-Huges, writing for ZDNet in May 2022, found the exact same thing. Different packaging and different case colors, but the same trick.

The Verge confirmed that several fake 16TB drives showed up on the first page of results for "external SSD," and over half the results for "16TB SSD" were fakes -- the rest were either 16TB enterprise hard drives, multi-drive enclosures, and one actual 16TB external drive, which costs $2,400 and contains two 8TB SSDs. While the top fake had a 3.6-star rating, the next two were 4.8 and 4.2, respectively. How are such obvious fakes getting such high ratings? It's the scam Hendrickson calls "review merging," and Consumer Reports calls "review hijacking." As Hendrickson explains, some third-party sellers take old listings and replace them with new items, leaving the reviews but changing everything else. A quick scan of one fake 16TB drive listing showed five-star reviews for laptop chargers, basketball backpacks, stickers, screen protectors, Mardi Gras beads, and mousepads. The sellers gather good reviews for cheap generic products, swap in a more expensive fake, and then take it down when bad reviews start piling up.
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Fake SSDs With Great Reviews Are Still Popping Up on Amazon More

Fake SSDs With Great Reviews Are Still Popping Up on Amazon

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  • .. problem solved.

    If you buggered up the pictures, description, etc. Oops.. too bad, so sad, sucks to be you. The old listing is revoked and a new one gets instanced - that gets new reviews, new entries, etc.

  • IANAL, but it seems to me there is, or at least certainly should be, a legal requirement that reviews for an item actually are for the named item.

    • I would imagine suing Amazon to force them to act responsibly would be beyond the means of most people.
      Which presumably is why they're not in a rush to fix it.
      • The hard part would be showing harm, since amazon freely allows returns and pays return shipping.

        • In this case the loss of data could be substantial harm, since many of these scams have nowhere near the stated amount of storage, so some of them just overwrite the existing data when they get full.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by ebh ( 116526 )

            Not only that, they futz with the circuitry so that when you max out the tiny actual drive, subsequent writes still look successful.

      • Neither TFS nor TFA indicate that Amazon *doesn't* take responsibility. They issue refunds.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by TWX ( 665546 )

      It's already fraud.

      And we shouldn't let Amazon get away with enabling it.

      • It's not fraud on Amazon's part. They're not the ones creating the listings and selling the product in a way that'd make them liable. Much like Slashdot isn't liable for something like say, a user posting a threat here.

        • Re:at what point does this become 'fraud'? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by larryjoe ( 135075 ) on Tuesday January 17, 2023 @06:43PM (#63218134)

          It's not fraud on Amazon's part. They're not the ones creating the listings and selling the product in a way that'd make them liable. Much like Slashdot isn't liable for something like say, a user posting a threat here.

          Amazon may not be the ones originating the fraud. However, if they are alerted to a specific seller that has historically perpetuated fraudulent transactions or should have known about that history and continue to allow that seller to do business, then couldn't Amazon be held legally liable due to negligence or indifference? In these cases, Amazon is not just an observing bystander or even a conduit but a necessary facilitator that profits from the transaction and has the power and arguably knowledge to stop the fraud.

          Instead of Section 230 protections, shouldn't Amazon be subjected to DCMA-like takedowns (where we are concerned with fraud instead of copyright infractions)?

          • It is also Amazon profiting massively from the fraud.

            The fraud brings in lots of money and burnishes their reputation for being cheap.

            • I don't see how Amazon is profiting from this at all. Fake items eventually get returned and refunds demanded. The only way this type of fraud would work is if it isn't discovered for years.

            • I've shifted a lot of my buying away from Amazon because of the fraud. When I order an item, it's because I need it and when I order a specific item, it's because I need that specific item.

              It's also best not to buy brands you've never heard of. Rather pay more for a legit brand then take a chance on the unknown and likely bad stuff.

              So really, this is hurting Amazon because now I check other sites first and often times they give me free shipping and the same time frame. Amazon isn't special. They are one of

          • Instead of Section 230 protections

            Section 230 has zero to do with this. You should look to applicable consumer protection and product legislation, and no something akin to DCMA takedowns is not the answer.

            The answer is to treat Amazon as the seller and implement mandatory 2 year warranties, and 30 money back no questions asked policies entirely at the expense of the company itself, as well as holding them accountable for fraud on their website.

            It may mean the end of the American fantasy of getting shit for virtually nothing. But if America

    • At what point you ask?

      I'll ironically let you know when everyone's legal team stops pointing fingers at everyone else's legal team.

      • At what point you ask?

        I'll ironically let you know when everyone's legal team stops pointing fingers at everyone else's legal team.

        Do you have any idea how much money those lawyers are being paid to point fingers at each other. If they paid me that kind of money I'd blame someone, anyone, I don't care. Just give me the money....

        • At what point you ask?

          I'll ironically let you know when everyone's legal team stops pointing fingers at everyone else's legal team.

          Do you have any idea how much money those lawyers are being paid to point fingers at each other. If they paid me that kind of money I'd blame someone, anyone, I don't care. Just give me the money....

          Do you have any idea just how many ignorant citizens it takes to ignore that level of perpetual self-feeding corruption and create the legal system that replaced a justice system long ago?

          Do you have any idea how many more years ignorant citizens will continue to be victimized by that very same system, as all they can ever actually do, is come up with Do you have any idea punchlines?

          Don't bother answering the question. Just give them money.

    • Re:at what point does this become 'fraud'? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by algaeman ( 600564 ) on Tuesday January 17, 2023 @06:38PM (#63218124)
      It becomes fraud when Amazon refuses to take a return of the item. If they give you your money back, there are no grounds for legal action. It is cheaper for them to do 100 returns for a $20 item, and flag an item that gets a lot of returns for "not as described", than to actually police the vendors.

      • Is that not an effective method of policing the vendors?

        Does Amazon eat the loss on those or do they have a way to push it back on the vendors? I don't know how that part works between them and the vendors. But if the end result is some wasted customer time and the listings get pulled and the vendors banned, they look policed to me.

    • Quite probably a good idea. I was buying something on Amazon the other day, but all the reviews were for a mouse mat. It took me a moment, but I guess they used to sell a mouse mat on that particular SKU, and then just changed the title and description to the new product to get the good reviews to follow them.

      Such things should of course be disallowed, but it's probably quite a tricky problem to solve at scale.

  • Don’t buy generic (Score:3)

    by hdyoung ( 5182939 ) on Tuesday January 17, 2023 @05:55PM (#63218012)
    electronic components. It’s that simple. Just don’t.

    • electronic components. It’s that simple. Just don’t.

      So the next question is: where *should* we buy electronic components?

      I purchased an 8TB internal ssd drive listed on Amazon, based on user reviews. After 6 weeks it hadn't been shipped, so I cancelled the purchase.

      I'd still like to get an actual 8TB internal drive, but... from where?

      I know enough not to buy disks on eBay, but I had *thought* the Amazon system would be legit.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by vux984 ( 928602 )

        You don't say where you live.

        I primarily purchase from local computer parts shops (sometimes in store pickup, sometimes online depending if what i want is in stock locally or just in the warehouse) - but I know those aren't everywhere.

        Direct from vendor is a good option too for a lot of stuff. SSDs for example, if you want the samsung 870 QVO 8TB ... you could just buy it directly from samsung.com

      • Newegg used to be my answer but now it's filled with patterns as dark as Hillary's heart. They use ALL the tricks: shipping cost swaps, confirmation emails packed with ads, defaulting to "recommended" items with no way to change the behavior, default check marks for add-ons and even other merchandise.... The sad thing is I keep using them because I can't find an alternative. So if you're willing to put up with a big steaming pile of dark pattern bullshit Newegg might suffice. Otherwise I don't know what to

      • I know enough not to buy disks on eBay, but I had *thought* the Amazon system would be legit.

        There's your mistake. Amazon are as sketchy as ebay, possibly sketchier, but they put a TON of effort into pretending they are a legitimate shop. At least with eBay everyone knows it's not a shop, just a facilitator. I've had good use out of ebay knowing that going in.

        As for where... I seem to remember you're American so my advice (UK shops) would probably be of little use, sorry. Newegg was OK when I was there, but

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Isaac-Lew ( 623 )
          Buy either from Amazon or reputable third-party sellers (Samsung, Western Digital, etc). I've never had any problems.

  • Worse than it sounds (Score:5, Informative)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Tuesday January 17, 2023 @05:58PM (#63218018)

    I saw a YouTube review of one of these, that revealed the very dark secret at work here - even though it had a 64GB USB stick inside, the controller the computer talked to claimed it was 2TB.

    What happened when you wrote more than 64GB of data? Why it would just write over whatever was there before....

    • I saw a YouTube review of one of these, that revealed the very dark secret at work here - even though it had a 64GB USB stick inside, the controller the computer talked to claimed it was 2TB.

      What happened when you wrote more than 64GB of data? Why it would just write over whatever was there before....

      When I buy a storage device, whether from B & H Photo Video, Newegg, Amazon or e-bay, I always test it before putting it into production. I fill the device with random data, then read it all back to be sure it hasn't changed. So far I have been lucky: everything has passed the test. If one didn't, I would return it as defective.

      In my experience, even bottom-of-the-barrel used storage devices from e-bay will run well for several years.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Part of the problem is that there are legitimate cheap SSDs on the market. On AliExpress you can get a 2TB one for 50 quid. It's a real 2TB drive too, you can open it and check the flash memory chips, do a write test on it. Yes, it's incredibly low end, low endurance, no DRAM cache etc. But it does work, it does store your data, and read speeds are >300MB/sec. Not a bad option for a low power bulk storage device that doesn't get a lot of writes, e.g. a media drive or Steam game archive.

      £50 se

      • Which brand[s] of cheap SSD are you referring to? Do they have a factory store on aliexpress or do I still have to figure out which listings are real?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          I can't find it now, it was pink from memory. Not a brand I remember. There are reviews on Reddit of some of them, with photos of them disassembled.

    • I assume it works similar to the fake "giant 1,2tb flash drives" which are sold for below 20 bucks in Wish.

      Once you exceed the actual capacity of the flash chip, it just /dev/null all the other stuff you are writing into the drive, although it shows the file names and supposed capacities of stuff you are writing into the drive.

  • Best fake review ever, everyone knows it. It's a really terrific non-product that everyone is raving about, and come from all over the world just to catch a glimpse, believe me! They'd rather touch this gizmo than touch the Pope, and I know Pope touching! Who needs real products when fake ones are better, faker, riggier, covfefeir, and look great in tall leather boots, a 9++ even!

  • Couldn't be re-partitioned so I returned it for another.
    It did the same thing and I returned that one too
    Took nearly a month for the refund

    • 'I got an 11T SSD' - Actually no you did not. And with that low of a UID how did you fall for something like this?
      • Fall for what? They bought the product, inspected it, and returned it. Buying from Amazon is low-risk because you can get refunds.

  • Yep, this is really old news. The products might have changed but the astro-turfing of reviews has been going on for years. Some come from review factories which 'order' a product hundreds of times and leave great reviews despite receiving nothing except a few kickbacks. Others come from selling cheap crap then changing the description and pictures.

    This kind of rubbish was going on a century before the advent of the internet, and I'll be surprised if it isn't still going on a century from now.

  • More than one product change. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by nicolaiplum ( 169077 ) on Tuesday January 17, 2023 @06:25PM (#63218086)

    Check out this product and read the reviews: https://www.amazon.com/WIOTA-E... [amazon.com]

    The product has been changed several times.

    In 2023, it is an implausibly cheap 16TB SSD drive.

    In 2022, it was a portrait of something.

    In 2020, it was a webcam or similar.

    In 2019, it was a slap bracelet (stiff bracelet, slap it against your wrist or ankle and it wraps around and stays on).

    Another product: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Dr... [amazon.com]

    In 2023, it's a fake SSD with bad reviews

    In 2021, it's a mask of some sort.

    In 2020 it's a keyring.

    In 2019 it's a metal sign of some sort.

    In 2016 it's something else.

    • Yep that’s how these garbage products have decent review averages. You sell 10,000 cheap slap bracelets and get a solid rating. Edit the existing listing to be a fake ssd. Sell 1000 without tanking the average. Profit.

    • What you say?

      According to Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School, is is:

      Great Drive from a company with a reputation for excellent products. 16 terabytes and no issues so far.

      Great and easy to use.

      That sounds completely legitimate to me!

    • When an entire webpage can be auto-cobbled together, complete with a Q&A area providing any further clarification (every answer clarified this was a scam), all under the nose of Amazon who appear to be very supportive of publishing 100% bullshit scam products, it tends to scream into the wallets of shareholders.

      Ironically, even more Hype and Bullshit will be sold by a bought-and-paid-for mainstream media to maintain an equally full-of-shit Amazon stock price.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Is this not costing Amazon money? I guess they have ensured that they don't lose out somehow, maybe by holding back payment of funds to the vendor in case the buyer decides to return the item.

      Returns most be quite expensive. I recently returned a fake UV device, and it was picked up by a courier. The damn thing was only a fiver to start with and I'd be surprised if the courier charged less than that, even for big corporate customers. Pick up from a residence is not a cheap option.

    • Which begs the question why does Amazon allow such drastic product changes. They should implement a simple rule: change more than 1 word in the title, change more than 5% of the body text, automatically purge the reviews because clearly the product isn't the same anymore.

    • Not only does Amazon know about this problem, they actively ignore it.

      As a Prime member who sustains the terrible Amazon ecosystem, I contact customer support frequently. Once, when I asked a CS representative how to report a product listing that contained fake reviews, the CS representative asked me, "May I ask why you want to report this product page?" I explained, "If Amazon is not going to keep me safe from fraudulent product listings, let me know right now, and I'll cancel my Prime subscription." It

  • What kind of people commits these types of scams? I just don't understand what motivates someone to commit a fraud like this. It is not like selling a used car where you might exaggerate the qualities of the car since it is not black and white whether something is "almost as new". In this case it is black and white: the drive is not an SSD and it is not 16 TB. Do these people ever get caught?
    • Greedy ones. And they probably don't get caught because they are somewhere overseas and move the money quickly. It is not worth anyone's while to make the effort to hunt them down and extradite them.

  • Stupidly easy to fix (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mhotchin ( 791085 ) <slashdot@NOSPam.hotchin.net> on Tuesday January 17, 2023 @07:43PM (#63218278)

    The stupidest thing about this is just how incredibly easy it would be to fix.

    Here's the fix:
    Vendors can change anything they want about the listing (just like today!) *except* for the title.

    That's it. That's all that needs to happen.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by pjt33 ( 739471 )

      That would help but it wouldn't entirely fix the problem. People would still be able to sell genuine products at genuine prices and then pull the switcheroo. It would require up-front commitment to what product to rip off, and it would probably take longer to get enough good reviews.

    • Or have the reviews showing that they were before / after edits to the product description.

      Maybe even make it abit obvious by having slightly different background to the review.

    • Or, editing the title resets the star ratings.

  • A Brick and Mortor Shopkeep Would Be Arrested (Score:4, Insightful)

    by BrendaEM ( 871664 ) on Tuesday January 17, 2023 @07:55PM (#63218314) Homepage
    ...So why not anyone at Amazon?

    • ...So why not anyone at Amazon?

      In a concept that highlights the politics of it all?

      Too Big To Fuck With.

  • This is why (Score:4, Insightful)

    by RitchCraft ( 6454710 ) on Tuesday January 17, 2023 @08:01PM (#63218334)
    This is why I stopped purchasing anything of value on Amazon. Too many fakes, too many scams, too many Chinese companies. Bezos has screwed the pooch.
    • I only buy if Amazon is the seller, which clears out almost all the crap products. Unless it is commingled.. (sigh)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      Bezos has screwed the pooch.

      And it was really a cat in a dog suit.

    • This is why I stopped purchasing anything of value on Amazon. Too many fakes, too many scams, too many Chinese companies. Bezos has screwed the pooch.

      Good luck with that. I held the same mentality, frustrated enough to buy directly from the manufacturers website to avoid the problem of fakes altogether. It was a good idea...right up to the point that the manufacturer sales page turned into nothing more than a redirect to their fucking Amazon storefront.

      This is also why Amazon has a hell of a lot bigger problem than they assume. Doesn't take long to completely destroy Trust.

  • One must be a complete idiot to believe that 16TB SSD can be sold for $69. If one looks at 16TB HDD from any brand manufacturer the prices start from $270 and go up from there. If you look for SSD prices you can quickly see that 1TB ssd from Samsung is about $80 but some cheaper brands can be had for around $50.
    If a person can't make a fair price determination from this data, that person should not be shopping on Amazon or Ebay or any other online store. I would say that fair price for 16TB ssd would be $1

    • People have to learn the hard way because there is always a large group of people who ignore advice & reason, and need to find out themselves that when something sound to good to be true, it probably is.

      As the great & wise GWB one said, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me....can't get fooled again"

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Indeed. But there are a _lot_ of complete idiots around. And many have disposable income or are allowed to vote.

  • Use Fakespot (Score:4, Informative)

    by Bodhammer ( 559311 ) on Tuesday January 17, 2023 @10:22PM (#63218568)
    https://www.fakespot.com/ [fakespot.com]

    I don't buy anything on Amazon without checking ratings on Fakespot. There is a plugin for Chrome(s).

  • I know that may sound very shocking to some of you, but they are. Essentially at best they were written by people who have no idea of the subject matter at hand. At worst you have reviews that were made in review farms.

  • Just what the hell does the Federal Trade Commission do all day, while this is happening? Why hasn't states sued Amazon?
  • It is painful shopping at Amazon sometimes, but if you get something you don't like they always take it back for a refund. I always get data storage from Best Buy or directly from manufacturer though, too many stories like this. They're hoping you install it and fail to notice until after the return period is over.

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