Fake 30 TB Walmart SSD Scam! - Krazy Ken’s Tech Talk

[@ComputerClan]

Hey! Check out part 1 first! kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYrVZ3aXgNinkNk (or after, if that's how you roll) Also, special thanks to Mike Cobb from DriveSavers, Inc. for helping with this episode! And extra thanks to all the volunteers who helped with the script. I appreciate you all. 🙏

[@wulzyfan59]

ok

[@_lun4r_]

don't pin comments bro

[@brandgrandreal]

I wonder if it's possible "and worth it" to reprogram these drives to have them say it's real storage size.

[@johnnycha]

Thank you, it’s a shame that the first fake SSD from the first video didn’t follow up on the second video…

[@TBaker-xu5is]

Just to give you an update... I checked the Walmart website and discovered a couple of things. 1) The one that you showed is out of stock - whether they were pulled or not, I don't know. However the company shown on the website has none of the SSDs available - in any size. 2) there is another company selling 60TB SSDs for about the same price. Conclusion: Be wary of these drives and check with a reputable seller for comparison and don't jump at the item because of the low price. Also stick with a recognized brand to be surer about your purchase. Granted these are not absolute, but will help you to avoid these scams.

[@AMD7027]

Talk about this "AGAIN"...people need to understand realistic prices and Walmart needs to vet the vendors and how they get on their platform.

[@CinnaBonBun69420]

Walmart doesn't really care tbh. As long as they make a little money, then they'll let anyone sell on their site

[@fennecfoxfanatic]

Money > reputation. I guess they think most people won't notice. Walmart can just shift the blame to the 3rd party vendor if anyone complains.

[@scrappy93]

Well, you can report them or you yourself can check the seller reviews. You can easily tell the fake reviews. Same with Amazon. You don't buy from a low rated ebay, mercari, letgo, or scammy marketplace seller. So buyers kinda do it to themselves. Even the price is a dead giveaway.

[@johnnycha]

12:18 And this is why you don’t buy from off-brand products…

[@Primordial_Radiance]

They do vet them. This is how they find out about them and how they get kicked off the site.

[@RaduTek]

That SD card is most likely a rejected card from a legit manufacturer like SanDisk or Samsung. These cards failed the QC tests at the factory and somehow got smuggled out of the factory for them to be used in shady products such as these. I wouldn't trust it with any sensible data even if it performs fine for the moment.

[@stephaniethebatter7975]

Yes, I feel like Krazy Ken needs to mention this. I'm pretty sure some people would just buy these scam products and either extract the SD card or fix up the controller so it no longer lies about storage capacity. Atomic Shrimp mentioned something similar to this in one of his videos, but you'll probably have to find it and I'm afraid to link it here as it may get autodeleted...

[@munkycoolgaming]

@@stephaniethebatter7975 I’m not sure why someone would knowingly buy a fake ssd just to take a microsd card out of it. I just checked Best Buy’s website and right now I can buy a Samsung 128 gb microsd card for just $20.

[@r.Ry4N.05]

The card being unlabeled should be a clear sign.

[@JJFX-]

@@stephaniethebatter7975 Anyone doing this intentionally would only do it out of a curiously and have enough tech knowledge to know some random SD card in a scam product isn't going to be reliable. Someone who apparently doesn't even know what SD cards cost. Even as a USB-C adapter, that controller makes it worthless. That said, I've had a lot of questionable SD cards over the years and they're typically fine for non-critical use where it's only occasionally writing small files and not in a constant read/write cycle. They die very fast if in something like a raspberry pi or security camera. You do have to be careful leaving them unplugged for long periods of time or it may corrupt data faster than usual but that's something to keep in mind with all SSDs. Anyone leaving even quality SATA drives or thumbsticks in a drawer as a backup will likely be very upset in the future when they actual try opening all their files.

[@stephaniethebatter7975]

@@JJFX- Well, obviously people are doing this if someone like Atomic Shrimp is having to answer questions that are basically "Well, you could still use the SD card/USB/fake storage device, right?"

[@kerethmakura4502]

It's like being offered a new Ferrari for $100, you've got to realise that something is screwy.

[@rayharvey1330]

WALMART, AMAZON etc...need to hire a bunch of dudes like you to test this kinda crap before they allow it on their websites/store.

[@ScottyKirk1]

They'd be losing money due to all of the suckers who have been duped... You can't even trust az reviews anymore!

[@justingurski5155]

Why would they, it cost less to continue what they are doing. Amazon is too big for anyone to care about fake products, they will continue to pump out bulk at the lowest cost.

[@cobaltretrotech]

I once got an SSD from WalMart in person that was priced and presented as new, even behind a locked glass door, and it still was not only used, but still had someone's data on it, AND a bootcamp partition. I'm not surprised that this is happening

[@raven4k998]

has that happened to you your daddy buys you a 30 terabyte ssd?🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@cobaltretrotech]

@@raven4k998 how hold of you to assume that I am not capable of buying my own things. Not everyone is spoon fed by their parents for their entire life

[@h8GW]

It's what happens when you use min-wage employees to process tech returns instead of a dedicated tech refurbishment team.

[@ShaCaro]

​@@cobaltretrotech but very safe to assume you didn't watch the video.

[@cobaltretrotech]

@@ShaCaro I did. I admit that my experience is at best tangentially related, but this still reminded me of my own less than stellar Walmart experience

[@AidenRKrone]

Back in 2019, I bought one of those SSDs from Walmart's online marketplace, although the one I bought was 500 GB and was branded as "Kootion". Rather than having a spoofed storage capacity, it would outright crash and lock up my entire computer every time I tried to copy any file to it. I contacted the seller to explain the situation, and surprisingly they fully refunded me and paid for me to ship the item back.

[@freedomliberty5525]

Let us hope it was not a trojan SSD, and you shipped them back all kinds of info.

[@builder396]

Even the brand name told you to proceed with caution, I mean, it sounds almost the same.

[@sonnguyen-iv7gv]

3 months after the video was posted, walmart is still selling these "SSD"

[@laurenjones5081]

Yeah, any storage that claims that are writing over 500 MB per second through a USB 3.14. It's a delusional at best but it's easily tested through benchmarking

[@steve_1507]

The reason it is faster directly is because the computer uses SD Mode, whereas the enclosure uses SPI mode, which is slowet but doesn't require a license

[@rudeskalamander]

What does spi mean in this context? I'm only familiar with it meaning ska punk international

[@BZEOfficials]

@@rudeskalamander LMAO WHAT

[@rudeskalamander]

@@BZEOfficials ska punk international is a great music lable

[@I.____.....__...__]

@@rudeskalamander Serial Peripheral Interface is, well, serial, so it can only transfer one stream of data at a time whereas SD mode can transfer up to 4.

[@thesledgehammerblog]

Something tells me whoever is out there churning out scam products like this can easily find some controller that bootlegs the technology, but it's probably 3 cents more expensive per unit so they go with the cheap one.

[@ExtraSauceOnTheSide]

I would also check whether the USB cable included in the product is even USB 3.0 compatible. I've been noticing cables that claim they support USB 3.0 and even color the plugs blue, but are only wired for USB 2.0.

[@KingSchmandmann]

There are only two traces (USB 2.0) between the chip and the USB connector on the board

[@MrAdannor]

@@KingSchmandmann The question is more like did the scammer buy a normal 3rd party USB3 cable to put into the box or did they manufacture a fake cable too.

[@johndododoe1411]

@@MrAdannor There are legitimate USB 2.0 cables with USB-C connectors. They are useful for connecting new devices to USB 2.0 A ports on computers and chargers. But they generally aren't marked with the Blue color code for USB 3 plugs.

[@MrAdannor]

@@johndododoe1411 Yes, of course. But this scamdrive has the blue plastic, so it is either a legit usb3 cable or a fake usb3 cable and it is a bit curious about which.

[@taunteratwill1787]

True!! 😎

[@Thatguy101987]

Ken's credit card company must hate him for all the chargebacks he has to do.

[@SaraMorgan-ym6ue]

wait wait wait how is a 30 TB drive that cheap on a serious matter forgetting about the size how is it that a 10TB drive is over 200 dollars in price and this drive is three times the capacity and only 30 bucks wow sounds like a scam to me🤣

[@spugelo359]

@@SaraMorgan-ym6ue What I'm more baffled by is how is that even legal? That is 100% false advertisement to sell something and lie about the specs.

[@billant2]

@@spugelo359 - It's illegal to misrepresent a product in most countries, yet large online marketplaces seem to look the other way. smh

[@russelldoty2743]

​@@spugelo359Legality doesn't matter if punishments aren't enforced. And considering that a lot of these people are likely located in regions that are hostile to foreign influence, it's likely they'll never be enforced.

[@unifiedhorizons2663]

My 5 terabyte drive was only 30 to 60 dollars and it works great but I bought it from Amazon via a data storage company that sells drives. I think 60 was max I think 30 is more then a black disk drive which is 15 for 200 my blue disk was 90 to 105 but that’s only 15 or 5 can’t remember.

[@runforitman]

I hate this trend of huge retailers letting whoever use their name to sell scam / garbage items It is frustrating

[@ButterFromDiscord]

0:01 yes actually, except it was a 128gb flash drive I bought myself on a random day in the summer that corrupted the data on other external storage devices

[@Eldorriots]

30TB? I don't think we are came that far yet. (Mind the date as I wrote this)

[@ComputerClan]

Yeah… 😅

[@tylern6420]

Even then this seems too small for 30 TB

[@tylern6420]

Like maybe you can squeeze half of that into the case

[@saxman112]

Ugh, the fact that major retailers like Walmart and Amazon are allowing this kind of stuff to happen is beyond infuriating! Simply put if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Sure, the prices of flash storage have come down dramatically in recent years, but giant capacities, like 30 TB and larger, are still going to cost many thousands of dollars for probably the rest of our lifetime…

[@johnlovric]

if we all bought these in volume, and demanded refunds - easy to prove its a scam - I have a feeling walmart & amazon would be forced to vet resellers more or just drop them entirely... of course, there are no enough of us willing to go thru the headache

[@chadd990]

@@johnlovric heck yeah. we need to buy a bunch of these. My affiliate link is in my bio, buy them from there. Buy like 10 of them, that will send a bigger message.

[@MLWJ1993]

They're not even possible yet in such a formfactor... There's simply not enough room in that tiny enclosure to fit that amount of NAND flash.

[@joefish6091]

Same as car companies doing cost benefit analysis of danger vs recall. whatever makes a profit.

[@someguy4915]

@@MLWJ1993 There is easily enough physical space, there's even a 100TB SSD (for enterprise so don't even bother looking at the price tag) in roughly the same physical dimensions.

[@RuruFIN]

I love these fake storage device videos, as it's always interesting to see that what they've put inside of the covers of those.

[@TomNimitz]

There was a image floating around a few years back of a (fake capacity) portable drive. Inside the enclosure was a small SD card and adapter, plus two very large iron hex nuts glued in to add mass.

[@bibasik7]

You deserve an Oscar for pretending to be surprised every time these SSDs turn out to be USB 2.0!

[@oscargalindo26]

What?

[@nekosh1ru]

@@oscargalindo26 NO WAY

[@oscargalindo26]

@@nekosh1ru Ha

[@namesurname4666]

what's the point of usb 3.0 if an sd card is around 1mb/s-100mb/s?

[@someguy4915]

@@namesurname4666 Higher speed is the point, obviously... USB 2.0 is max 480Mb/s, so a 100MB/s SD card (note the difference between Mb/s and MB/s) would be about double the speed that a USB 2.0 connection can transfer.

[@damian9303]

I actually remember being able to find Windows XP laptops being sold on Walmart’s website some several years ago and being mindblown considering at the time they only had Windows 8 ones for display in store. Now I guess I know why

[@a2pha]

6:11 The transfer to these solid state drives will also slow down if it is getting "too hot." And I mean that in the literal sense. I have an old 256-GB I use for transfers and even after only transferring 50-100gb the plug itself is red hot; you can burn your finger on it. So be careful out there when transferring files.

[@ronk9830]

I had two of those portable SSDs (the black ones that look kind of like a cigarette lighter). I bought them on Walmart Marketplace. They did exactly the same thing. I tried to do backups, and they would appear to be doing it, but afterward, many of the files were corrupt. I tried everything, like copying small groups of files, fully formatting the drives (took 24 hours) but to no avail. After I initiated a return, the marketplace company emailed me and wanted to give me a discount not to return them. I ignored their request as I had already returned them to the store, and they were useless, anyway. One good thing about Walmart is you can always be sure you can return items if they're unsatisfactory. The most it cost me was leaving my computer on for over 48 hours formatting them. A product that is, in fact, too good to be true.

[@CrispyToast]

10:27 "I am Heavy Weapons Guy... and THIS... is my weapon."

[@biggiejohn3360]

way too many people dont understand the difference between "bought ON Walmart/Amazon" vs "Bought FROM Walmart/Amazon", those are both market places, with many companies selling, they are generally not vetted or make any guarantees as to the legitimacy of products listed.

[@2.0taccord]

I'm so glad someone is finally talking about this. I've seen so many of these on Amazon as of late and I knew these were just using modified controllers

[@louistournas120]

These are probably factory rejects. The chips in them probably have faults, bad memory segments, can't handle high Hz. Throw it in the garbage.

[@TheRetroMess]

Another red flag is that they are private third party sellers (read: NOT affiliated with Walmart or Amazon) shipping from and based out of China (or similarly sketchy country). Always look at the country of origin. ALWAYS.

[@I.____.....__...__]

Yup, Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, etc. are all essentially just eBay now, and they even make a point of displaying third-party items and even making it hard to filter them out. 😠 Always make sure to filter them (assuming there's an option to do so). Yes, this will eliminate legitimate third-party sellers, but you can't take a chance, especially with something expensive or storage which you put irreplaceable files on. 🤷

[@Relkond]

The issue of fraudulent sellers and fraudulent storefronts has also limited who I’m willing to buy from and what I’ll buy from them. What I won’t be buying for some time is SSDs that price at $1/tb

[@joefish6091]

if on a host website then they are affiliates. same as utube partnering with election fraudsters.

[@johndododoe1411]

All the best drives are made in China or 3rd world countries anyway. It's the company name of the seller that matters. Some fraudsters will stick fake Samsung or Kingston names on their fake drives, but hopefully they'll have problems getting listed as _being_ Samsung on a website where the real Samsung is also selling.

[@Relkond]

@@johndododoe1411 By ‘China’… do you mean the Republic of China, or the People’s Republic of China? Because one of the two may find it difficult to compete in the SSD market, while the other has a healthy chunk of the market.

[@GreenAppelPie]

If Walmart is listing the item, then they are also liable for issues. A refund will do, but yeah they are on the hook.

[@derrickbrummett6973]

It's cool watching someone who knows what they're talking about expose these scams.

[@ComputerClan]

: )

[@rafaeltorovip]

When a company is so bad about checking what they allow vendors to put on their website you just can imagine the type of quality control they have. That’s why I do not remember the last time I visited a Walmart store or bought something at their website. 😞

[@I.____.....__...__]

Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon, etc. do this now, they allow third-party sellers and have essentially turned into eBay. They don't bother to vet anything because they charge a fee to allow third-party sellers and won't take action unless they get a significant amount of complaints. Avaricious capitalism at work. 🤷

[@TheMastertbc]

Think about what garbage food they would sell

[@ABaumstumpf]

This is the walmart online-store - and in that regards they are basically the same as any other online marketplace - just as bad as amazon.

[@snakewithapen5489]

I'm from the Midwest so I have a personal vendetta against Walmart lol. They are not getting my money

[@chainswordcs]

here's hoping walmart dies out this decade

[@jnorth6022]

In these days, there are at least 1000 scammer per 1 consumer. This is exactly why such reviews like the one in this video are so important! Before buying almost literally anything, look up as many reviews as possible of that thing you are about to purchase. THANK YOU for this great video!

[@theodoros_1234]

These videos keep getting better, It's clear that you're putting a lot of effort in making these! You explained everything very well, and I had a good laugh at the same time.

[@ComputerClan]

Thank you! I super-appreciate it because you're right! I've been pumping a lot more time and effort into these lately. Ya know, the whole quality over quantity approach. : D

[@theodoros_1234]

@@ComputerClan I just hope that the magic KZbin algorithm notices and rewards you with more views and new subs, since you would definitely deserve it! You make better content than some channels that have millions of subs.

[@bumbo66]

@@ComputerClan I hope you so a review on the flashlight scam? I see that stupid ad your flashlight is like a lightsaber.

[@ComputerClan]

@@bumbo66 did you see the end of my episode? I think this will answer your hopes. ; )

[@ComputerClan]

@@theodoros_1234 it absolutely does. However, it’s bad practice to focus on the algorithm. I’ve learned to replace the word “algorithm” with “audience”. I put viewer satisfaction first and everything else will follow. 😇

[@honda_fanboy]

You need to upload more, I love Scam Busting episodes so much

[@geoffstrickler]

Hey, the fact that the microSD card was decent means you got $15-$20 worth of value for your $40.

[@arieelberian7614]

I'm thinking that somebody accidentally added an extra zero to their "3TB" and decided "F**k it, just leave it like that."

[@tylern6420]

Probably like several zeros

[@VVerVVurm]

that's what I would do if I was a scammer .. selling a 128GB thing and list it as 128TB .. ups .. plausible deniability

[@Aliyah_666]

​@@VVerVVurmOr scammers could just go pound salt...😂

[@stinkycheese804]

Pretty ridiculous thing to suggest, when a 3TB SSD for $40 would have still been a loss leader and great deal for the buyer.

[@TheRogueWolf]

Obviously "30T" denotes that the drive is capable of storing thirty times the pity that Mr. T has for a fool.

[@redsnaps]

The computer clan has saved me from many purchases if not for your videos of information I and many others would of been scammed many times. THANK YOU COMPUTER CLAN.

[@kevinwebster7868]

I hate it when people refuse to make companies accountable for their B.S. If it’s sold on Amazon, if it’s sold on Walmart’s website it’s an Amazon or Walmart product. Force them to take responsibility instead of allowing and condoning them actively taking part in scamming people.

[@h8GW]

I love how much good information you packed into this video in a way for even tech noobs to understand. Not that I'm a tech noob -more like tech barely competent,- but it all lined up with the snippets of tech knowledge I picked up from various sources over the years.

[@johnsullivan937]

I came across these when looking for a 4tb external drive. Not gonna lie, I was tempted.. as the storage size wasnt quite as absurd as the "30tb" one you found. I think I found some listings where it was like 8tb for 60 bucks, which yes still absurd now that I think about it. At the time I wasnt even aware these fake external drives existed, I figured it was just some cheaper generic brand. Luckily I went with my better judgement and bought the western digital 4tb for like 90 bucks. It's honestly wrong that these websites arent penalized for selling these things, I dont care if something isnt amazon branded or walmart branded. Its being sold on their online storefront. I'd complain to a store owner if he was selling some bag of chips that when opened was full of silly string.. so why arent these companies being held responsible? Amazon in particular is absolutely filled with scam products. There has to be some basic customer protections against this crap. I mean come on, its blatant false advertising. I wonder how many normal every day people buy these, then dont realize something is wrong until a year or so later after they filled the 128gb up with pictures/music. By then its too late.

[@annieworroll4373]

I have two 4TB HDDs in RAID 1. Each of them was just over 100USD on sale. The price per gigabyte on this thing would be a huge red flag. If it had that capacity it would either be horrifically unreliable or a situation where you do *not* ask them who their supplier is unless you're a fan of cement footwear.

[@targuscinco]

One time I had a fake flesh light. The hole was just a sticker! I was like oh man, you got me good!

[@tazman8697]

LOL

[@Omnipresentpigeon]

Scammers truly are everywhere!….

[@targuscinco]

@@Omnipresentpigeon they are hitting us where it hurts now!

[@targuscinco]

@exvinity290 it's like how women's clothes will some times have fake pockets stitched into them. I would have to imagine that the empty cold feeling of finding out you've been duped by an industry just selling you empty dreams to superficial herd, is much the same as my experience.

[@justingurski5155]

Profile pic checks out 💀

[@GodmanchesterGoblin]

Thanks for bringing this kind of dodgy data storage product greater attention. I was also impressed by the clarity of your explanations showing how the storage ultimately fails but continues to give the user the impression that it's all working.

[@midi-sama]

Btw! You can flash that controller to let it recognize the actual capacity of the drive! I did that with some fake usb drives and it worked fine! However I'm not sure what software to use for this specific chip, they usually have their own oem flashing utility that can even let you fake the usb IDs.

[@I.____.....__...__]

The card is of poor quality, they're not going to use expensive high-quality media, they'll use whatever cheap junk they got in bulk from the reject bin from a factory. I wouldn't trust any important files to scam media even if you've flashed it to be correct. Only store expendable or replaceable stuff.

[@kbhasi]

@@I.____.....__...__ Yep, I agree. I've a feeling that the companies making such counterfeit storage devices probably get most of their storage chips and microSD cards from the reject bin at one of the factories SanDisk use, but I only think so because of the number of knockoff SanDisk Ultra microSD cards I saw on AliExpress, such as "Lenovo Ultra" and "Huawei Ultra". Edit: I remember buying SanDisk flash drives on DX that turned out to be fake, and was able to get a refund through that website. That happened several years ago.

[@caralynx]

Fun fact: for some of these controllers the config is on the card itself. If you insert a card without a specially provisioned config, it should work just like any other card reader.

[@Tahngarthor]

The reason why Walmart and Amazon don't put much time into vetting these products is because it's far cheaper and easier to just tell the customer "sorry you got scammed here's a refund" than it is to actually punish companies for breaking their rules.

[@aaronmorris5403]

Great video. Great to see you on screen in last week's BattleBots!

[@ComputerClan]

Thanks! And I'm glad you saw me! I love going to the tapings… That reminds me. I have a new BB episode to watch. 😈

[@Elvisdukebox]

I brought one of these from a company here in the UK called Moxtons. A scam company here in the UK. Do not buy anything from them. Managed to get my money back through my credit card company. The price was £79.99. Great video Ken, I have just subscribed. Keep the good video's coming. 🙂

[@robburdack4361]

i got a ebay company busted last month for selling ssd,s marked as wd and with packaging identical ... they got in a whole lot of trouble and then their and about 7 other sellers went bye bye real fast lol

[@caralynx]

One thing you could have done before formatting the card was to check it out with a hex editor. Some readers use configuration directly on the card to program its VID/PID and capacity. If you tried inserting a normal microSD card, it would behave like a normal reader.

[@cujoedaman]

Sadly, Walmart (and others like Amazon) allow the listings of so many manufacturer's that they simply do not have the time to properly check each one (though, that in of itself is a problem). If I'm a scammer, I know that I only need to have my product up long enough to hook a few hundred people before my listing is reported or investigated by the company. By that time, I've made my money and most likely have multiple products up at one time which have all made money. Get myself investigated, shut down, move around and change everything and do it all over again.

[@ailivac]

The only time I've heard of Amazon requiring sellers to provide any kind of documentation like this is safety certifications for lithium ion batteries. But if there's no way it can make their delivery trucks catch fire they couldn't care less as long as they get paid.

[@cujoedaman]

@@ailivac I watched a video about that very subject, Amazon's battery requirements are pretty vague and can be sidestepped too. It's why they can sell those knock-off Ryobi batteries (for example) without getting in trouble, they just kind of fudge the numbers because Amazon won't check. Then you get one home and you gamble on whether it'll work or not.

[@ailivac]

@@cujoedaman like I said, I don't think they care in the slightest whether the specifications are accurately represented or that the product works correctly, they just want some assurance that it won't set one of their trucks on fire. or if it does, that someone else *said* it was safe and therefore will assume the liability if it's not

[@MatthewCenance]

The eight second intro is the best intro clip from the Computer Clan. I've replayed that countless times - I enjoy the hammy presentation of the intro. "I Hate That!" is a quote that's starting to get stuck in my memories and I sometimes think of that quote too.

[@nikolakolarov12]

This series is amazing, you need to upload more.

[@JBFranny]

When I worked for WM customer service I would always tell people never trust 3rd Part Vendors. If you're gonna buy something from them make sure it's returnable, and if you have to return it, do it in store ASAP, I've seen vendors give customers the run around for weeks, then tell them it's too late.

[@MrHeem94]

I always say you're doing a great service for people by making these videos. It's especially needed today as these scammers are everywhere and a large chunk of the population have zero common sense and, lets be honest here, have the IQ of a dead moth. Let's hope you're able to get it through their thick empty skulls by continuing to pump out these vids. Thanks!

[@louistournas120]

There is a portion of the population that calls India when they get a popup and the call center agent connects to their PC, runs the tree command and other nonsense. Some people buy gift cards, 4 gift cards, 500$ each. Some of them put 40 k$ in a box and ship it. Some buy gift cards when they win some lottery or publisher's clearing house. It is almost 2024 and these old scams still work. I don't get it.

[@413Dimitri]

You should take a look into the WD 18tb storage that Best Buy sells…they aren’t 18tb and contain a mismatch of different drive companies inside.

[@ModernChaot]

I gotta admit, your production quality continues to improve and get better with each video!

[@ComputerClan]

Thank you! : D

[@kilgarragh]

@@ComputerClan that is one cursed emoticon ;-;

[@AmaroqStarwind]

I think I fell for one of these scams when building my grandmother’s computer. It was an internal “512 GB” SSD. But Windows kept getting corrupted.

[@i_like_commenting_ok]

i remember windows getting corrupted once on my old laptop but how does one keep getting corrupted

[@yogibear2k220]

Man, though. A 600 hour KZbin video would be "freakin' amazin' " as you would say. A definite long video record breaker! Go,on, do it! You are Krazy Ken after all.....

[@jeffwalker7185]

With regard to the previous video where you destroyed a fake SSD -I find that isopropyl alcohol is good at releasing hot glue and won't damage the electronic parts.

[@lovedfriend2020]

Its sad that Walmart is going down the same path as Amazon with fake stuff. :(

[@johnree6106]

Just once I want someone to scam someone with such a device but instead of over reporting the specs, under report them so you get more than you bargained for.

[@DeadPixel1105]

I've had similar thoughts. The world's most generous pick-pocket and burglar. A man who sneaks into your purse or wallet in order to *add* money to your wallet; and they break into your home in the middle of the night to upgrade your television, computers, home entertainment system, furniture, etc.

[@jakalair]

A great video as always. I love the way you broke down what you know vs what you are guessing at. I can't help but wonder what a dump of that control chip would show. Is the chip made evil? Or was it programmed that way? Does it report a flat amount or some multiple of the sd card inserted? Can it reformat a different SD card? I love videos that give me more questions!

[@309electronics5]

Those controllers likely have some firmware and sdk/flash tool in where you can either make a custom firmware image with your own listings and configurations or use an existing one (maybe even with the function of editing that premade image) my usb has an silicon motion mcu with an 8051 and it has a sdk in where you can fill in the vendor id, product id, size, flash type, name etc

[@Levantis1]

Considering that Walmart is notorious for selling inferior products, I am SO not surprised about this.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Thanks for this video, Ken, because wow, we wouldn't think this kind of junk would be on Walmart, but obviously we thought wrong! This junk is the kind of stuff we'd see on Wish!

[@louistournas120]

The video is great but it is obvious that the 30 TB SSD is not real right? It is 40$. If you see a light bulb made by Zortem and it is 0.10$, you wouldn't buy it, right? Buy the General Electric and pay 5$. Brand loyalty is important.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

@@louistournas120: Umm... don't you think that's why I said what I said?

[@louistournas120]

@@HelloKittyFanMan. Good. Then, there is nothing to worry about.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

@@louistournas120: Then why did you even try countering -- or just "countering" -- with that reply?

[@louistournas120]

@@HelloKittyFanMan. I was making the point that brand loyalty is a good thing. Don't buy random noname things just bc they are cheap and in this case, they are offering 30 TB which is funny.

[@ChaseMC215]

People will likely say "Formating the drive will reveal the true capacity". Well, they are wrong, the controller chip is hacked to trick the computer into thinking it's a 30TB drive like what Ken said. I highly recommend watching Atomic Shrimp's video on fake USB drives.

[@ScottishCCRfan]

This. Shrimp has covered this before and I think PleasantGreen has as well.

[@ChaseMC215]

@@ScottishCCRfan Oh, no shit!

[@Blinsick]

TF2 bit was unexpected, nice one Ken :D

[@johnslugger]

*When it comes to USB, micro SD cards and SSD drives ALWAYS BUY NAME BRAND ONLY like "EVO" !!!! The other guys can reformat a 2GB drive into a 64GB drive by cutting the "BIT" up into 32 pcs. It may last 20 writes before it dies for good!*

[@EthanRDoesMC_]

10:16 I mean, it makes for a half-decent last-resort microsd card reader…?

[@tristanraine]

Some SD card readers like that force to read those SD cards at 30TB since its the board, so it probably is useless anyway.

[@ComputerClan]

It probably wouldn't work because the card would need to be reformatted. The controller would get in the way. : )

[@tristanraine]

@@ComputerClan that's much better then how I explained it

[@EthanRDoesMC_]

@@ComputerClan I wasn’t even thinking about the controller. Man so this thing really is just complete e-waste :/

[@soundspark]

Transfer rates can be over 4GB/sec thanks to USB4. Since I have a 3.2 port and the 4 version was so much more expensive, I settled for a USB 3.2 NVMe reader that reaches 2GB/sec.

[@lucadivine3862]

I really hate how the official title for USB 2.0 performance is "Hi-Speed" because it's super duper misleading to consumers who don't know any better...

[@Zark-Muckerberg]

It was named Hi-Speed because it is more than double the speeds of it's predecessors (USB 1.0 and 1.1).

[@untrust2033]

I just love when they slap some text straight on top of an existing product image with no skew or anything so it doesnt line up properly!

[@Gameboy_1992]

9:38 Lmao

[@scrappy93]

The issue is that when people get scammed, they don't report the seller. Some buyers are just suckers.

[@PlanetLinuxChannel]

Technically the drive is “high speed” as it indicates. It’s clearly making out within USB 2 speeds, which was called hi-speed USB.

[@RiceCubeTech]

Amazon has it BAD. I was trying to get a 6TB hard drive for mass storage of video files the other day and I was FLOODED by tons of product listings advertising 20TB for the price of a 2TB drive. So many that I had to go to Best Buy to get them because the first two pages had every other listing was a scam. Ended up finding a Best Buy gift card I forgot I had from a Christmas a while ago. Didn’t spend a dime of my own money. Got a 6TB WD red for like 90 bucks vs literally getting scammed out of 120+ for a “20TB” piece of shit.

[@okaro6595]

I do not get why they do it. When I advice people where to buy memory cards: i have to say do not buy from Amazon. If I can find the fakes, they could do it also and kick the sellers out.

[@dcavalli9]

I bought one on Amazon last year. It was a piece of garbage. I threw it out. The vendor is no longer listed.

[@enderzhul_66]

Loved the TF2 meme, glad the community keeps it alive so well

[@jamesfararo2493]

THANK YOU FOR HELPING GET IT OUT THERE! :)

[@CoasterMan13Official]

I did get a refurbished 1tb Toshiba HDD from Amazon for like $30. Works pretty well.

[@bionicbison05]

5:48 “WhatThe (F:)” Genius 😂

[@thevalorousdong7675]

3:42 It doesn't matter that Walmart didn't make, they're still selling it without verifying it's real. May as well be making them

[@SalvoGamerYT1]

@ComputerClan i actually encountered this problem and found a similar one and told my dad to buy me that for christmas and then we returned it and they returned the money then i bought a gooder Western Digital Elements USB 3.1 SSD with 2TB of space for double the price which honestly wasn't that much, i knew that there was some sus things going on inside this thing and with your video you helped me bust this myth

[@gamingwithmahirofficial2489]

bro the ending made me lose my shi im dyinggggggggggg "have u finished ur homework? no mom the cheap ssd ate my homework"

[@ArniesTech]

Just discovered your Channel, Ken! You gained a new subscriber. So many inspiring and interesting ideas for my own channel 🙏

[@ianollman5006]

Yes I bought a 16Tb SSD, turned out to contain a 64Gb Micro SD card, when I could have bought a 64Gb Micro card for about a third of the cost I paid for the SSD, if looks too good it is probably a scam..

[@CMDRunematti]

Walmart sells it with the website with their name. They definitely should be liable for fraud for this.

[@DaveTexas]

My husband bought several of these type of things for us. He didn’t tell me; he just bought like six of them. When he gave me a couple of them, I told him that there was no way a device that small and that cheap cold hold however many TB of data they claimed to hold. I wouldn’t even plug one into my computer for fear of it trying to install some virus. He didn’t listen to me and wrote a ton of data to one. He showed me the directory and how it was showing all the files and all the available memory. I asked him to open several of the files. Sure enough, he couldn’t. Everything was corrupted. It’s exactly like everything else in this world; if it’s too good to be true, then it’s not real. I’ve got 30 TB of storage attached to my computer, but it cost me about $600. Not $40.

[@Horse335]

I Love your videos and how much effort you bring to the table in showing the world the lies that are out there. Thank you!

[@iamfbjreturned]

Walmarts websit allows companies to sell items at absurdly inflated prices, including many scalpers and outright scammers they do NOT deserve to be cut any slack.

[@4bSix86f61]

Tip for filesystems: Linux can read filesystems that macOS/Win10 can't.

[@genotronex8663]

One scammer website had a trick for similar product, you select the capacity 128G, 512G,2T and on the checkout they put the capacity unit to be in bit not in byte so 2T is 2Tb which is around 2GB capacity and the website customer service will blame you and not issue a refund after your purchase

[@EgoChip]

When it comes to data storage, I always buy from reputable and reliable brands, and if it looks too good to be true then it definitely is. Brands I would recommend are Sandisk, Samsung, Crucial, Kingston, Western Digital.

[@Ghostie2023-A]

I just fell for this scam on wal-mart: I got a drive that looked exactly like the square ssd drive. It was listed as a 40 TB hard drive for about $75 . Should have known but I caved and got it. Turned out to be exactly what you just described. I am at a loss of about $75. I am shocked wal-mart allows stuff like this.

[@richardlong1567]

Loved it! I bought 6 32GB thumb drives for clients and they are all crap.....Keep up the good work.

[@BaronVonQuiply]

I used to use that old "my disk got corrupted when I accidentally ejected it while saving my paper" excuse. Granted, this was 1684, so nobody knew what I was talking about and they had me tried as a witch. I got the job.

[@bosstowndynamics5488]

It's worth noting that the file allocation table is not touched by the dodgy controller, that's used entirely at the filesystem level by the OS, which is part of the reason it doesn't get updated. The OS creates an inappropriately large table when formatting the drive because it's being told that the drive is larger than it is

[@AaronShenghao]

These SSD scam started with fake SD card scam… the scammer just found a new wrapper…. I only buy SD card and SSD SOLD by Amazon, not 3rd party

[@AlexanderTzalumen]

For these tests, it might help if the large files you're writing are non-encoded binary data, something that doesn't need header data to render into a usable format. That would allow you to open all the file entries on the allocation table regardless of them being overwritten and see when and where the files have been cut apart by the microcontroller.

[@Hauketal]

Thus is what h2testw does. It writes pseudorandom data, but remembers the initial settings of the number generator. Now it can re-generate any data that shoud be in the file for checking, without needing the space for a second copy.

[@AlexanderTzalumen]

@@Hauketal isn't that the program that takes >600 hours, though?

[@Hauketal]

@@AlexanderTzalumen Yes, but only if you have a large (pretended) and slow device like this. Real disks are faster and not as large.

[@AlexanderTzalumen]

@@Hauketal these things remind me of the physical security products on Amazon

[@AzumiRM]

I like that you put your sponsor at the end of your videos. I especially like when you review non apple products. This gets a thumbs up from me. Glad I subbed

[@olsmokey]

I bought some supposedly 2TB drives from (some place in China) which did exactly the same as described in this video. Pulled them apart to find a tiny pcb with a controller and 64GB microSD card. Once I reformatted the cards I found they were actually quite fast and (1) they wouldn't work in the "2TB" drives anymore, and (2) I'm still using them successfully in some dashcams. Oh well, not a total loss.

[@Fisheee123]

My dad got scammed on Amazon a couple years ago after buying a "256 gb" micro sd card. The branding and listing all said sandisk, but it was fake. My parents went to Iceland for an anniversary trip, took a lot of photos, and returned to find out that it was only a 8 gb card. They lost most of the pics which sucks, but Amazon gave him a full refund

[@genericname3685]

A 128gb sd card is a rare sight to see. This is probably the best case scenario if the scammer is feeling generous lol. Normally on scam products they don't even pass 16gb or more

[@jacobtitio5275]

I was about to buy one of these SSD due to their price but I didn't thanks to your video. Love your vids and thank for the useful information.

[@ReubenAStern]

That "brand" is all over Amazon. I thought they were suspiciously cheap but 30TB takes the mick.