The Aldi Super market chain in Australia appears to be the next victim in fake flash memory acquisition. The last major retail chain reported to the FrankenFlash project was Walmart in the United States about two years ago. At that time, a very low cost usb flash drive made it’s way to the display racks. Walmart immediately removed the item when buyers complained about false capacity waving their testing results from H2testw.
Aldi is in a similar situation to Walmart’s, having purchased usb flash drives at a very low cost from an unscrupulous supplier. Unfortunately, like Walmart, Aldi did not research the real costs for flash memory products. It is a big mistake, it puts consumers at risk.
FlashChipTutor at FlashDriveFacts reports fake flash memory sellers are now raising their prices for defective and upgraded flash memory to appear “genuine”, just a little bit cheaper. While not attractive or luring to small retailers, a slight decrease in price point does increase your potential profit you purchase in volume.
Aldi Australia is refunding their shoppers, it is good news. Buyers in Australia say Aldi stores are reporting the problem to their Head Office. TechReporters at FakeFlashNews hopes they will investigate the source of their flash drive acquisition and prosecute with haste. If the supplier is in China, they need to report to the Chinese authorities for a criminal investigation. We also hope Aldi will remove the 8GB flash drives buyers are reporting from their shelves until they can test and confirm the product(s) are the advertised capacity.
Testing results reported at SOSFakeFlash indicate not only have the 8 GB flash drives been “Upgraded” but are suspected of containing grade D flash memory chips. Without additional information, a tear down sent to the FrankenFlash project it is hard to tell. A tear down shows the flash drive photographed in packaging, front and back, and disassembled (see: Proving A Fake USB Flash Memory Pen Drive Stick Pen To Be False Capacity – A Visual Example – Guide Made Easy) . It also involves opening a usb flash drive and decoding both the usb flash drive controller chip and flash storage chip confirming what H2testw reports. If the chips do not have readable serial information, you have the worse possible counterfeit flash memory – Grade D.
What should you do if you bought a USB Flash drive from Aldi?
1. Before you use it to store data, you should test it with the free software, H2testw.
To learn how and to find the download links read: H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives. It’s a German software with a stellar reputation for detecting false capacity flash memory chips. It is also very easy to use. If you don’t have a Windows operating system but use Linux you can use:Linux H2testw Alternative Program Called F3 By Michel Machado
2. If you did not receive the advertised capacity for a usb flash drive purchased at Aldi.
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Report to your Aldi Store, with your fake usb flash drive and the testing results of H2testw.
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Ask for the manager on duty, be prepared to explain about the subject of fake usb flash drives, how flash memory chips can be upgraded and manipulated to lie about their real capacity. Don’t be negative, be helpful. You can also have the manager “Google” SOSFakeFlash, FakeFlashNews and other internet sites to see just how wide spread the problem is.
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Insist they remove the usb flash drive you bought from display racks, immediately.
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Ensure you receive a refund, you should not have a problem with Aldi. They respect their customers.
Aldi is not the first retail chain to sell fake memory, Walmart fell into the same snare. There will be other major retail chains that will also make the same mistake. What matters is how they deal with it, their actions to protect consumers.
It does not matter how much you paid for your usb flash drive. Whether you bought from a respected retail chip, an internet site such as eBay or from a wholesaling site in China, you should ALWAYS test a usb flash drive for capacity before you use it to store your important information. H2testw not only detects real capacity, it can warn you about potential problems with the flash drive. If your data matters to you, you need to test before using.
With so many altered flash memory chips invading the consumer market on a global scale you really do not have any choice. TEST BEFORE USING!
Additional Reading:
Global Report – eBay Fake Memory 2008 – 2009
Reporting Fake Flash Memory:
Did you buy a fake flash usb drive, MP player or memory card? You can report your source to SOSFakeFlash using their Report A Fake tab.
If you are a victim of fake flash memory:
How can you help?
Facebook Articles. It is the quickest way to promote the issue and warn your friends!
Fake Flash News - Internet & eBay Fraud 
June 14th, 2011 → 2:10 am
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