Amazon does not deny that fraudulent reviews on its platform are a problem. And despite years of reports of fake storage products, with fake specifications and reviews to cover up performance claims, the scam continues to grow. I’m here.
On Monday, Review Geek detailed that I bought what was listed as a 16TB portable M.2 SSD on Amazon for $70. This drive had dozens of 5-star reviews, as well as similar Amazon listings. But it turns out the cheap SSD is just a 64GB microSD on a circuit board with a USB-C connector.
All this despite the drive showing up in Windows as 16 TB storage. Review Geek suspects incorrect circuit board firmware is the culprit.
List and Box weren’t honest about that connectivity, claiming USB 3.0 Micro B to USB 3.1 Type-C connectivity. I made my decision after testing the product with ChipGenius, an app for exploring USB devices.Move 1GB of data using SSD The microSD card reportedly took 20 minutes instead of the expected 1 minute.
Finally, the box’s claims of compatibility with smart TVs, Android, Windows 7, and Windows 10 remain questionable, and “| OS” support seems impossible because that’s not the issue.
The good news is that Review Geek found no malware on your device.
The bad news is that this is just one example of the myriad of reported cases littering Amazon over the past few years.
Plenty of inexpensive “16TB SSD”
After reading Review Geek’s article, I searched Amazon for “16TB SSD” and found $70-$110 options with unknown brand names like Generic, SAJIULAS, and WIOTA (the brand of drive Review Geek bought). Found it right away. All had at least he 3.5 stars and some had hundreds of reviews.
But reading some of these reviews made me wonder if I’ve been using the wrong SSD so far. It was declared as “a very colorful throw, but thin”. Another report said the drive proved to be “extremely soft and perfect” for a 6-year-old. Another five-star review noted the high mic and video quality.
I’ve also seen reviews alluding to one of the essences of a portable SSD, stating that it’s an “affordable 64GB” option, even though it shows reviews under a 16TB SSD.
As Review Geek pointed out, scammers are compiling existing listings of products (including new photos, titles, and descriptions) until they sell completely different products. That way, sellers can maintain their high reputation and make their new products appear highly rated. This also explains why the best portable storage for watching while eating dinner gets five stars.
Whether you call it review consolidation, review reuse, or review hijacking, this is a practice scammers have used to mislead PC component buyers for years, and Amazon has yet to eradicate it. not.
history repeats itself
Unfortunately, talk of basic microSD cards masquerading as fast, high-capacity portable SSDs has been gaining momentum lately. ZDNet reported that he purchased a $20 example in May, and TechRadar noted that he discussed the issue in September, with several Amazon listings removed after the article. . In August, at Walmart, he reported a scammer selling a 30TB portable SSD for $39.
When it comes to PC storage in general, there have been countless reports of people getting a different product than what is advertised on Amazon. And it’s not just limited to SSD storage. People are reporting duplicate posts about cheap hard disk drives and USB flash drives.
Review Geek’s story is a reminder of how cautious shoppers should be when buying questionably cheap tech from websites. Despite reporting and subsequent removal of rogue storage devices, they keep popping up.
According to Review Geek, the purchased item disappeared and was quickly replaced by another listing before Review Geek reported the fraud to Amazon. It’s unclear if Amazon removed the original post or if the seller did so on their own before being penalized.
As Review Geek puts it, it’s like Amazon’s whack-a-mole game. Amazon’s review process has led to scrutiny from customers, the media, and the UK’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority. Amazon has taken to court to fight companies and Facebook groups it claims sell fake reviews. Amazon has been suing him for fake reviews since 2015.
