Once COVID-19 got a firm grip on the planet, it changed the way we used to do a lot of things. Shopping was one of them and things like self-isolation and social distancing caused many shoppers to turn to online sources for just about any kind of consumable. This included electronics and even flash drives.

Websites like AliExpress have experienced an influx of traffic as millions of online customers have been seeking access to flash drives that have been advertised at prices far below what would be concerned an average price for such a product. But are you getting the real thing? At first glance, they look like regular flash drives and some of them appear to be well-known branded drives, but upon closer inspection, one letter can make a difference.

The legit manufacturer of one line of flash drives is SanDisk. A cheap knock-off would be labeled something like SunDisk. A legitimate USB drive costs about $30 to $40 but the knock-offs are priced at 3 to 5 dollars apiece, and honestly, who wouldn’t jump at such a deal?

So… you choose to order a bunch of these drives at this amazing, bargain-basement price and start to create a business plan that would see you reselling them at a fair market price and making a solid profit. Or, maybe you will order a number of them, get them engraved with your company name on them and use them for advertising and marketing purposes. But stop right there. These happen to be very bad ideas unless you are 100% certain that these flash drives are reliable.

Here is a look at some of the issues you may encounter when purchasing these types of USB drives.

Don’t Be Fooled By The Looks

While the enclosures all look the same, the insides will, for the most part, look like they have been assembled from several random PCBs, controller chips, and NAND flash chips. This will mean that these have likely been heavily used and are going to fail sooner or later. Some chips will even display serious wear which may include scratches and marks.

Unknown Sources Involved

Chips, including controllers and NAND flash chips, will be of unknown origin and were probably assembled in questionable settings. This means that should you require data recovery on one of these knock-off drives, you may as well just say goodbye to even a slight chance of successful data recovery. No one has researched these unknown controllers or has any clue how to work with them.

Don’t Rely On The Capacity

The capacity is fake. For example, you connect your device to a computer, and the disk management program shows that you have 128GB available on that drive. The controller is showing this information, but the reality is that there is only one NAND flash chip on the board and that equates to 8GB or less. Once you run out of space, the drive will crash.

Those are just the main factors you should be aware of when shopping for flash drives. In general, a good rule of thumb is to just buy products that come from well-respected brands within the industry. Even though they will be a bit more pricey, at least you will know that you are not getting a fake drive.

Sadly, it is becoming more common for “fishy” companies to sell online. And the pandemic has allowed them to make some quick money from unsuspecting customers. You may find a source online that has what appears to be branded USB drives for sale but will contain fake insides. So, how do you protect yourself from ending up with a substandard product? Do some investigating. If the website you are on does not provide an address or any type of contact information (phone number, email) then you know that it is possibly a website you should not be supporting by making a purchase there.

Your goal is to avoid getting scammed and that will mean paying close attention to the look of the website you are visiting. While some scammers have slick-looking websites, others do not. This is another clue that should tell you to stay away.

Remember, a cheap price on USB drives typically means there is something not right about the product. Beware and shop carefully online.