Fake NVMe SSDs Are Getting Convincing - and Windows Can Be Fooled, Too

Hot news News Tech Tech News 02/03/2026

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TECH NEWS – Scammers are using increasingly clever tricks that can even fool Windows, but the moment you actually try the “new” storage, the disappointment hits fast.

Fraudsters are getting better at pushing counterfeit SSDs onto customers. With NAND supply tight, SSD scams are increasing, and just as rising memory prices have coincided with fake RAM modules showing up on the market, SSDs are now being tampered with as well. One Reddit user shared that they were talked into buying a Samsung 990 Pro because it looked dramatically cheaper than what most retailers were charging. In India, the 2TB Samsung 990 Pro typically sells for over INR 30,000 (roughly 107,000 HUF), yet a PC-peripheral seller – allegedly a friend – offered it for INR 19,000 (about 68,000 HUF). Everything appeared normal at first, but once the user started using the drive, transfer speeds wouldn’t go beyond 20 MB/s. Read and write results sat around 20 MB/s and 9-10 MB/s, which made it obvious something was off. Even a SATA SSD usually performs several times faster than that.

Because CrystalDiskInfo reported the SSD as limited to PCIe 3.0 x4, it should have been capable of at least 3000+ MB/s reads under normal conditions. The user checked with multiple tools, yet both Windows and CrystalDiskInfo still identified it as a genuine drive. After basic troubleshooting – updating drivers and reseating/reinstalling the SSD – they installed the official Samsung Magician utility. Once the test was run, the tool flagged the drive as “non-genuine”, immediately clearing up the confusion.

The software stated plainly that the drive was not an original Samsung SSD with a valid serial number, confirming it was counterfeit. The user said returning it was straightforward because the seller was a friend. Still, they warned others to treat unusually cheap SSD deals with suspicion, because the bargain may be a fake.

For Samsung SSDs, it’s strongly recommended to verify authenticity using Samsung Magician. It’s also wise to avoid questionable or little-known sellers, especially when the price looks unrealistically low.

Source: WCCFTech

Angyal Anikó

Anikó, our news editor and communication manager, is more interested in the business side of the gaming industry. She worked at banks, and she has a vast knowledge of business life. Still, she likes puzzle and story-oriented games, like Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments, which is her favourite title. She also played The Sims 3, but after accidentally killing a whole sim family, swore not to play it again. (For our office address, email and phone number check out our IMPRESSUM)