Amazon Counterfeit Scam Easily Deceives Consumers
Despite Amazon claims, the fake listings often remain.
March 1, 2017, Los Angeles, CA – It's a simple scam, take a low capacity flash memory card costing a few cents and reprint it with a higher capacity label and a globally recognized trademark. Sell the items on Amazon as authentic for up to $100.00 or more.
It's no bigger than your fingernail, but this tiny replaceable memory card holds your data, photos and contacts in your phone, camera, iPad, tablet, laptop and GPS. If you buy a fake, you are likely to lose your data, images, and you may damage your equipment. Could you spot this counterfeit microSDHC® card as a fake?
Amazon purports; "The sale of counterfeit products, including any products that have been illegally replicated, reproduced, or manufactured, is strictly prohibited" -- but that is not true. The fact is that counterfeit and replicas can be, and are, easily listed on Amazon. Alarmingly, Amazon does not notify buyers they may have purchased a counterfeit item that could damage their equipment and, of course, are entitled to a refund.
These counterfeit micro SD® memory cards were all listed for sale on Amazon.
(photos:© The Counterfeit Report®)
The micro SD® trademark is owned by SD-3C, LLC, who licenses its use. None of the items shown are authentic licensed products.
The Counterfeit Report®, a watchdog and consumer advocate website, promptly reported 22,645 counterfeit memory cards to Amazon in just the past year. While Amazon reported the listings were removed, in many cases the inarguably fake items remained despite repeated notifications. All the microSDHC® memory cards purchased from Amazon and tested by The Counterfeit Report tested at 7GB or less, a fraction of their stated capacity. It was not uncommon for some counterfeit cards to fail during the test as unusable. When the counterfeit memory cards reach their actual capacity, they erase and overwrite any existing data.
Consumers cannot determine the actual memory capacity of a counterfeit memory card by simply viewing the capacity displayed on their computer, phone or camera. The counterfeiters are too smart for that, and simply overwrite the real memory capacity with a false capacity to match any capacity they print on the counterfeit packaging and card. A free downloadable test program (H2TESTW.exe) will easily tell you the real capacity of your card.
The fake cards may tout certification from the FCC, CE, VCCI, and NATA leading you to believe that the card meets certification standards. And, of course, there is no manufacturer to honor any warranty.
The removable micro SD memory storage card is an amazing, convenient and trouble-free storage device. When it works, it is unnoticed. When you get a fake, it will be the very core of your frustration, despair and pain – and your data may be gone.
If you are going to trust your data and photos to a micro SD® card, be sure to buy authentic memory cards from authorized retailers or directly from the manufacturer. See TheCounterfeitReport.com for more examples of actual counterfeit and fake memory cards.
Consumer Recourse
If you received any fake product, always retain the item as proof of your counterfeit claim and notify Amazon immediately at (888) 280-3321. Open a refund claim under Amazons a-z Guarantee.
Trafficking in counterfeits is a crime with criminal and civil penalties. The Counterfeit Report offers this advice to consumers for any online purchase;
Counterfeit products are a serious problem for e-commerce websites and consumers. With many retailers matching website prices, consumers are better served and protected purchasing from authorized retailers.
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