How to identify a fake Micro SD flash card

Foreword

Recently, Micro SD cards are becoming increasingly popular. On this occasion, there are more and more sellers, ready on this basis to profit by deception and various tricks on this topic.
I somehow needed a Micro SD card with a capacity of 64GB for a small project on the Raspberry Pi. But when I began to look for something suitable on eBay, I was surprised to find that the overwhelming number of sellers expose outright fakes. Even on Amazon, the situation was not very attractive in this regard. In the picture above, all the cards are fakes.

After that, I decided to order several such fakes and share it here, in order to protect the others not only from losing money, but also from losing data. But the data is often more expensive.
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I promise slides.

What is it?

To begin with, I’ll decide what I consider to be a fake, since fakes are different.
The two main types of memory card fakes are:

1. Capacity fake
   This is the most popular way to find a fake. In this case, the card operates at a much much lower capacity than promised. I will consider this case here.
2. Fake brand model
   It is much less common and the fake is to slip the worst card under the guise of more expensive. This occurred quite a long time ago when the price difference in the models was very significant.

Yes, there will be slides soon.

Like this?

First you need to understand how you can fake capacity.
Roughly speaking, flash cards consist of two main components - the controller and the flash chip itself. The controller interacts with the host (computer, camera, etc.), which knows the type of flash chip connected, the speed, the communication protocol with the host, and other administrative activities in servicing the card as a whole.
If, for example, a flash chip has a capacity of 16GB, then the controller will tell the host about this. In this case, the host will know that it is impossible to record more than 16GB and everyone will be happy.
But if the controller is programmed in such a way that he tells another capacity (for example, 64GB), the host will think that this is a 64GB card, although the amount of data that can be stored on this card will also be 16GB.

That is, if the card is inserted into a computer or camera, they will show that this card is 64GB, but all data after recording 16GB will be completely lost.

Due to the nature of the organization of flash chips when the access address is full, recording will begin again from the beginning and overwrite the old data. In these cases, the controller is usually programmed so that the recording does not go in a circle, but simply writes into the void. That is, when reading, zeroes or something else will be returned instead of the recorded data.
There are such fakes where it is not implemented and the card becomes completely inaccessible, as some service information is overwritten there or other processes of such a plan take place. However, this is more rare cases.

Yes, there will be slides.

Card types

To begin with, a little more theory about SD cards ... Yes, I remember that I promised slides, I have to wait a little more.
There are three main SD card standards:

• SD (or SDSC). These are cards with a capacity of up to 4GB.
• SDHC. Capacity 4GB to 32GB inclusive
• SDXC. They have capacity from 64GB to 2TB

This will help us a lot in identifying fakes.
There is also UHS-I, UHS-II, Class 10, Class 6, but this all refers to speed and in this case does not affect anything, since we do not consider it.

How to check?

Since the controller says the wrong capacity, then checks like "I looked at how many gigabytes Windows showed available" will not work. Normal formatting does not help either, since it does not check the capacity, but simply initializes the file system.

There are several ways to identify a fake:

• Check for write-read .
  The most reliable way to determine forgery. For example, if the card was able to write 64GB, and read correctly a little less than 8GB, then this is an obvious fake.
• Visual check .
  Usually fakes are rather low-quality and therefore they can be identified by many visual signs and inconsistencies.

Now more about each method.

No need to panic, we almost reached the slides.

The method of "write-read"

This method requires a compatible card reader. It is enough to write a few large files and try to read with a check md5 / sha hash or just some other checksum.
To simplify the process, there are various programs that can automate this. Perhaps the most popular is h2testw.
For example, this is the result of testing a 64GB counterfeit, which actually turned out to be an 8GB card:



h2testw works under Windows.
There are other options. For example, the console open source program F3 , which can be built under Windows, Linux, Mac.
Or, for example, FakeFlashTest (Windows) , which can scan faster because it tests selectively.

Visual way

Software methods are accurate, but the inconvenience is that you need to pay and get this card. That is, time will be minimum spent, and, probably, and money.
Fortunately, the fakes are now at such a level that they are easy enough to identify from photos of goods from the seller.
I specifically ordered a couple of dozens of different maps precisely for the purpose of studying in more detail how they look and how they can be easily determined.

And now the slides

All-all-all cards below work only on the first 8GB. That is, all cards are alterations of 8GB cards. And in addition it is very slow (Class 2).

1. Noname 128GB Micro SD
   Very popular Micro SD card in noname packaging. Always fake . No options:
   
   Counterfeit criteria:
   On the package there is no logo "SDXC", which is supposed for cards from 64GB and higher.
   On the card itself, the “SDHC” logo, which is intended for 32GB cards and below.
   Funny moments:
   The inscription "100% tested". What exactly was tested is not clear. Apparently, the quality of fake.
   The inscription "Tech support". No contact information for this support is indicated on the package. Beat on the rail?
   
   
2. Sandisk Extreme 64GB Micro SD
   
   Counterfeit criteria:
   The packaging is from Sandisk Ultra, and the Sandisk Extreme card itself.
   Card capacity on the package is not specified.
   The SDSDQM-0000-Z35 model shown on the back of the package does not exist.
   On the packaging of the logo "Micro SD", and not "SDXC".
   UPC barcode 619659066970 corresponds to the old 2GB card.
   There are typos on the back of the package.
   
   
3. Sandisk Extreme 128GB Micro SD
   
   Counterfeit criteria:
   Sandisk does not have a Micro SD card with a 128GB Extreme capacity. The biggest is 64GB.
   The packaging says “SDHC” instead of “SDXC”.
   "MicrosDHC" was written with an error in the capitalization of the letter "s".
   Lots of typos on the back of the package.
   The non-existent model SDSDQX-128G-U46A.
   UPC barcode 619659097073 from the 16GB card.
   
   
4. Sandisk Ultra 128GB Micro SD
   Relatively good fake on Sandisk:
   
   Counterfeit criteria:
   The original card of this model and such capacity has a completely black color with red letters. And then red and gray.
   The 128GB font is not the one that Sandisk uses on its maps.
   
   
5. Sandisk Extreme 512GB Micro SD
   
   Counterfeit criteria:
   Sandisk does not have a 512GB Micro SD card.
   "SDHC" instead of "SDXC".
   Inside is a 256GB card. This is the height of arrogance, since I ordered exactly 512GB. However, Extreme Micro SD cards for 256GB do not exist in Sandisk either.
   Non-existent model SDSDQX-U46A.
   UPC barcode 619659097073 from the card to 16GB.
   
   
6. Sandisk Ultra 512GB Micro SD
   
   Counterfeit criteria:
   Non-existent capacity, as Sandisk does not have 512GB in this format.
   As usual, “SDHC” instead of “SDXC”.
   The nonexistent model SDSDQUA-512G-U46A.
   Non-existent UPC barcode 619659078635.
   The photo is not visible, but the card can be removed simply by opening the plastic cover. And on the original Sandisk you must cut the package.
   
   
7. ADATA 128GB and 64GB Micro SD
   
   Counterfeit criteria:
   The package does not indicate capacity.
   "SDHC" instead of "SDXC".
   The 128GB card (in the middle) has an inscription upside down.
   At 128GB and 64GB packages, the same UPC bar code 4718050601189, which belongs to a 2GB card.
   
   
8. Samsung EVO 128GB Micro SD
   
   Counterfeit criteria:
   There is no capacity on the package.
   Normal "SDHC" instead of the correct "SDXC".
   UPC barcode 8806085214224 from the 32GB card.
   
   
9. Samsung EVO 64GB Micro SD
   
   Counterfeit criteria:
   Terrible print quality - the text merges in the picture and is difficult to read. As if printed on low-quality inkjet printer.
   Banal "SDHC" instead of "SDXC".
   UPC barcode 8806085627291 from another 16GB card.
   In general, if you take the Samsung EVO card in hand, then the original card has a slightly different coloring. For example, there are white colors on the ends of the card, while for a fake, the paint is only on top of the surface. Also, Samsung cards can only be made in Korea or the Philippines. They are not produced in Taiwan.
   
   
10. Samsung 512GB Micro SD
    
    Counterfeit criteria:
    Non-existent 512GB card. Samsung does not have such capacity in Micro SD format.
    "Model: Flash Cards". What is this nonsense?
    Non-existent UPC barcode 8806085214170
    
    

Samsung Essential 64GB Micro SD

Counterfeit criteria:
Not indicated capacity card on the package.
Normal “SDHC” instead of “SDXC”.
Behind the package a lot of inaccuracies. For example, why should I sign 2GB-32GB cards if I have 64GB? No model number. UPC 8806071456836 barcode from a 4GB card.

Total

As I wrote above, all these cards are actually 8GB Micro SDHC Class 2 cards.
All the cards above the back look like this:

All cards in the back are written:
MMB3R08BUACA-GE
Release date code
Made in Taiwan

The numbers “08” in the first line indicate a capacity of 8GB.
MMB3R08BUACA-GE is a model of some Chinese manufacturer whose cards are used for fakes. I could not find which one. I have similar models on old noname maps of small sizes.

What to do?

If the seller has sent a card, which, when checked, turned out to be at a much lower capacity, then a refund should be requested.
It so happens that the seller could not know (just bought a batch and now sells at retail), so I advise you to demand a refund rather politely. Roughness does not accelerate the process.
The main thing is not to delay.
If the seller does not respond, then we can safely open a dispute on the discrepancy to the description.

I also noticed that almost all branded cards on Ali are fake. There are real ones on eBay, but you need to search and carefully study the photos (if they are real) and ask the seller to provide them if there are no photos.
Especially it is worth paying attention to the back side of the card (if possible), that there would not be “MMB3R08BUACA-GE” or something very close to it. I met variations MMB3R08GUACA-GE, MMB3D08BUACA-GE, MMB3D08GUACA-GE, MMB3R08GUACA-GE.
Fakes are everywhere. For example, on Amazon, I have seen quite a few obvious fakes. After all, goods on Amazon are sold not only by Amazon.

If you need a 100% guarantee, then you need to buy more expensive from authorized retailers. Just need to find out from the manufacturer who is authorized, as some sellers may write that they are authorized, but in fact they are not.

If you take a card from a photo at the beginning of this article and turn it over, you get the following picture:

Who can guess which one is Sandisk, Samsung, AData? The correct answer is no.

Tips

The comments asked about tips for searching. I will add to the article here.

• UPC barcode search
  I just paste this code into Google and see what I find. I usually find a product that is tied to them.
  There are sites to search for UPC barcode. For example, www.upcindex.com , but I don’t know how complete one site can be, so I’m just looking through a search engine.
  
• Model search
  The manufacturer's website indicates its models on its website. You can also search through the search engine. If the models are located anywhere, but not from the manufacturer, then this is suspicious.
  Sandisk example: Usually their models look like this: “SDSDQUA-032G-A46A”. That is, the “032G” part means 32GB.
  If “0000” is on the package instead, which is “SDSDQUA-0000-A46A”, then this is a fake.
  Or it happens that simply remove this part and it turns out "SDSDQUA-A46A". Again, a non-existent model is obtained.
  For example, if you go to the Sandisk website and open a Micro SD card for Android , then in the Specifications tab there will be all models of this series for different regions.
  
• Back side of the card
  Real cards have different designations at the back.
  For example, Sandisk simply writes a serial number. For example, "12038179381731. Made in China. This inscription is rotated 90 degrees.
  Sony also has a serial number on the back and is also turned 90 degrees.
  For example, this is the inscription on the back of the original Sandisk map:
  
  

Funny moments

I sometimes like to watch sellers otmazyvatsya about this.
Here are some of these excuses:
" This card was upgraded from 8GB to 128GB ." What kind of nonsense? Micro SD card can not be so easy to upgrade. This is not a computer where you can simply replace the memory module.
" Windows shows 64GB, so this is 64GB ." Here it is clear that Windows simply shows what the card itself has told. Windows does not check.
" To reduce the price, this card is designated as SDHC instead of SDXC ." This does not affect the price if it was the original map.
As for typos on the package: “Sandisk was just sealed, but the card is still 256GB.” Oh well.
" This is a real card, because I bought it from trusted sources ." Has anyone seen these sources? This is uncle Shau Lau! He could not deceive.
" I work in the secret department of Samsung, so I have 512GB cards. They gave them to us and were allowed to sell ." Three times "ha." This seller knows exactly what sells fakes.