Around the American company Seagate is a scandal associated with the sale of former consumer disks (HDD) server class under the guise of new ones. The threads of the investigation lead to Chinese mining farms, but it is not ruled out that fake HDDs were acquired by distributors through channels that are not official.
Image source: Seagate
To date, more than 200 cases of detection of counterfeit HDDs around the world have been recorded, including Europe, Australia, Thailand and Japan. The first reports of fraud appeared in January, when it turned out that the new Seagate Exos discs for the data centers had already worked out for thousands of hours. To hide the actual wear, attackers drop the Smart parameters that monitor the use of the drive. However, a deeper analysis using a request to FARM values fully reveals the history of operation.
Retaillers reacted differently to the scandal. Alternate claims that neither the store nor its German suppliers knew that the discs were not new, but admits that customers treated complaints to the store by e -mail. Galaxus has created a special assistance page, and Proshop offers a free return and replacement of goods. Some sellers refer to the laws on warranty, while Wortmann insists on checking the HDD before paying compensation.
Seagate denies its involvement in the fraudulent scheme, announcing the beginning of a full -scale investigation and offering a tool for checking the authenticity of HDD. The company claims that only original data storage devices are distributed and called on the injured buyers to report cases of fraud directly to [email protected].
Buyers, worried about their acquisition, can check the real HDD operating time using FARM values. To do this, use the SMARTMONTOOLS application version 7.4 or higher and apply the Smartctl -l Farm /DEV /SDA command or Seagate Seatools software.