700 Counterfeit Seagate Hard Drives Seized in Malaysia

This month, Malaysian authorities seized around 700 counterfeit Seagate hard drives in a major enforcement action. The raid, led by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN), targeted a warehouse near Kuala Lumpur where counterfeit Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba hard drives were being prepared for sale.

Suspicious Online Listings on Lazada and Shopee

The case began when Seagate Technology detected unusually cheap offers for its high-capacity hard drives on e-commerce platforms Lazada and Shopee. Some of the fake Seagate drives were advertised as having up to 18TB of storage, offered at prices far below genuine market value.

A Seagate sales manager ordered samples from these sellers and confirmed the fraud: the drives were second-hand devices with their SMART values reset to hide age, prior usage, and wear.

Counterfeit Drives Targeting Budget Buyers

Further investigation revealed that these fake Seagate hard drives were marketed as cost-effective storage for:

 Desktop PCs

 Portable external drives

 NAS hard drive configurations

Online reviews and transaction data suggested the operation was profitable, generating tens of thousands of Ringgit Malaysia (RM) in monthly sales from unsuspecting buyers.

Counterfeiting Workshop Uncovered

Working with KPDN, Seagate traced the supply chain to a warehouse outside Kuala Lumpur. Inside, investigators discovered a counterfeiting workshop where:

• • Used drives were sourced, likely from the secondary market in China

• • The devices were scrubbed and relabeled with Seagate, Western Digital, or Toshiba branding

• • Counterfeit packaging made the drives appear factory-new

Authorities continue to investigate the scale of the operation, its distribution channels, and the individuals responsible.

Risks for Buyers of Cheap Hard Drives

This raid demonstrates how organised groups can recondition and remarket old hardware so effectively that buyers may only discover the truth when drives fail. Purchasing hard drives through unverified sellers on Lazada, Shopee, or other platforms exposes buyers to:

Data loss from failing or worn-out drives

Wasted money  on counterfeit products

Security risks, since erased drives may still contain recoverable data

How Seagate and Other Brands Are Responding

Seagate and other manufacturers are strengthening their authorised distributor programs, requiring partners to source drives only from official suppliers.

For consumers, the warning remains: beware of “too good to be true” prices. Cheap listings of “brand-new” 18TB Seagate drives are almost certainly counterfeit.

Key Takeaways

The Malaysian raid on counterfeit Seagate hard drives highlights the ongoing risks of buying storage devices through online marketplaces. As long as counterfeiters can exploit the flow of second-hand electronics, fake hard drives in Malaysia and Southeast Asia will remain a challenge.

The best protection for consumers is simple: buy only from authorised retailers or distributors to ensure product authenticity and reliability.

How to Spot a Counterfeit Seagate Hard Drive

1. Packaging and Label Quality

• • Legit packaging: Seagate uses high-quality packaging with accurate branding, serial numbers, and product details.

• • Counterfeit packaging: May have spelling errors, blurry printing, or incorrect logos. Box may feel flimsy or generic.

2. Drive Label Check

• • Inspect for:
    • Poorly printed or misaligned stickers.
    • Fonts or layout that differ from authentic Seagate drives.
    • • Serial numbers that don’t match what’s on the Seagate website or box.

3. Suspiciously Low Price

• • If the price is too good to be true, it often is.

• • Be wary of deep discounts from third-party sellers or unknown vendors.

4. Capacity Mismatch (Fake Firmware)

• • Some counterfeit drives are low-capacity USB drives with reprogrammed firmware to falsely report a higher capacity (e.g., shows 1TB, but only stores 32GB).

• • Use tools like:
    • H2testw (Windows)
    • • F3 (Linux/macOS)

These tools write and verify data to detect fake capacity.

5. Performance Issues

·        Extremely slow read/write speeds can be a red flag.

·        Frequent data corruption or drive disconnects are signs of a fake or defective product.

 

6. Seagate’s Official Tools

·        Use Seagate SeaTools to check drive health and authenticity.

·        You can also verify serial numbers on Seagate’s warranty check page.