Fake Samsung SSDs could make upgrading your PC or PS5 a nightmare

(Image credit: Anandtech / Samsung)

The Samsung 980 Pro may be three years old, but it’s still a pretty popular PCIe 4.0 solid-state drive (SSD) that remains more affordable than its successor, the Samsung 990 Pro. But, it seems the immense popularity of the SSD has prompted knockoffs that are infiltrating the market, according to Toms Hardware.

As one of the best SSDs out there, the news doesn’t come as much surprise, though it’s definitely something consumers should be aware of as they plan to purchase the drive.

We’ve seen fake microSD cards plague Amazon in the past, so it’s worrying to see that fake SSDs are a thing as well. Twitter user @harukaze5719 came across an imitation of the Samsung 980 pro and posted it on a Baidu Tieba forum.

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According to the user, the fake drive came across like a legit Samsung 980 Pro; it had the Pro 2TB sticker and the firmware even suggested it was the 980 Pro - although that turned out to be false. Apparently, the fake was so good the drive even fooled Samsung Magician software, which is used to manage users' SSD.

Fake Samsung 980 Pro SSD internal — (Image credit: Baidu Tieba)

[FAKE] Samsung 980 PRO SSDhttps://t.co/SjcIDPpmmd pic.twitter.com/OXbEqz9AvdMarch 14, 2023

The merchant had sold the fake Samsung 980 Pro 2TB SSDs on Taobao’s second-hand Market, Xianyu for 880 yuan ($128) and it even comes in official Samsung packaging. However, the price of the drive is a good indicator that the SSD is fake, as the original runs for $169.99 on the US market. The recipient of the fake SSD reportedly didn’t have a PC on hand when the drive arrived so couldn’t put it to the test for ten days after receiving it.

According to the benchmarks provided by the user, the drive had read and write speeds of around 4.8 Gbps and 4.5 Gbps respectively, well below what the real Samsung 980 Pro offers, which offers read and write speeds of 7 Gbps and 5 Gbps depending on capacity. So, obviously, the performance numbers were off and a clear giveaway the user was not working with an original.

The risk of buying counterfeit computer hardware is ever present in the second-hand market, regardless of how distinguished the online retailer may be. Sneaky sellers are always abundant on platforms like this primed to take advantage of unsuspecting customers. Remember to keep an eye out for too-good-to-be-true pricing and keep in mind that everything comes at a price. You should always only buy from trusted sources, and make sure any seller or retailer has good customer reviews before you buy

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Muskaan is TechRadar’s UK-based Computing writer. She has always been a passionate writer and has had her creative work published in several literary journals and magazines. Her debut into the writing world was a poem published in The Times of Zambia, on the subject of sunflowers and the insignificance of human existence in comparison. Growing up in Zambia, Muskaan was fascinated with technology, especially computers, and she's joined TechRadar to write about the latest GPUs, laptops and recently anything AI related. If you've got questions, moral concerns or just an interest in anything ChatGPT or general AI, you're in the right place. Muskaan also somehow managed to install a game on her work MacBook's Touch Bar, without the IT department finding out (yet).