A user bought a 1TB SSD for 32 Euros. At first glance, this seems to be an unbeatable deal since official prices are much higher. The gamer is also not surprised when he installs the part in his PC.
SSDs are considered a performance boost for many gaming PCs. Especially very old systems can be revived with an SSD, significantly improving boot, loading, and reading times. SSDs are among the best PC-upgrades that you can install without major issues.
According to comparison sites like Geizhals, you pay around 100 Euros for a 1 TB SSD. So, an SSD with 1,000 GB of storage for about 30 Euros sounds like an excellent deal. A user reported this in a reddit thread:
AMD has recently unveiled its new graphics cards, aiming to compete with Nvidia:
SSD with 1 TB offers significantly less storage and generates endless errors
What is the problem? “Previous_Tennis” connected the SSD to his computer and tested it. In an initial test, he surprisingly found that the data looked correct, and he had no problems writing and reading data.
In a further test, he then found that the data couldn’t be correct. He explained in an update: “It seems that the controller is programmed to deceive Crystaldiskmark and CrystalDiskInfo.”
In the test, he attempts to write 100 GB of data. However, only 73.6 GB are actually written; the rest is considered “lost” or “corrupt” (damaged files). The chip inside is also a completely incorrect model and is not related to the purchased product. The actual storage size remains hidden and cannot be read by the user.
The model definitely does not offer 1 TB. In another thread, people discuss such counterfeit storage media (via reddit.com). The firmware tells the PC that it is an SSD with 1 TB, but the actual storage installed is much lower.
How does the community react? Some users also explain that the price is absurdly low. At 3.2 US cents per GB, this drive is far below what someone would pay for the bare chip on the wholesale market.
Some users complain in the comments under the thread that there must be a clear method behind it: the sellers use product listings with good ratings. However, the product being sold has nothing to do with the good reviews, as they pertain to a different product that is not being offered. One person writes on reddit:
Almost every time I look at my orders from more than a year ago, the items I “ordered” have been replaced with completely unrelated goods.
Pay attention to reviews on Amazon and eBay when purchasing
How can I protect myself against such offers? Often, using common sense is enough. 1 TB for 30 Euros? Absurd 16 TB for a mere 100 Euros? You should always strongly question such “offers”, because in the end, you may receive counterfeit goods or a defective product.
A glance at current product reviews or the seller’s ratings often helps as well. If dozens of buyers complain about the seller or the purchased product, you should also stay away from supposedly good deals.
There are also other ways to deceive customers. Just recently, Amazon deleted over 200 million fake reviews intended to mislead buyers:
