Genealogy Chat

I read about a scam going on with these cheap 1-2-3gb memory sticks especially on ebay, apparently companies buy up the smallest 64 or 128mb memory sticks very cheaply, then they do something inside that makes the memory stick register as a 2gb or 4gb etc. instead of its real size, I understand that they call it flashing or something like that, then when you plug in your flash/memory stick it will show up as 2gb say but one day all the data will just corrupt and it will revert back to it's original size, apparently lots of sellers have been doing this to bump up there profits.Is this possible I would be interested to here form anyone who can advise me about this. I just cannot see how it is possible but in this electronic age I have to keep an open mine. Margaret N

Hi Margaret, I read something about this on e-bay myself, it appears that a lot of flash drives that are imported from China etc are 'doctored' to show 2+Gb when in fact they are smaller, and as you say they lose the data stored and revert back to normal size very quickly. If you check e-bay, there is a guide on the site check this link http://reviews.ebay(.)co.uk/Beware-of-FAKE-1GB-2GB-4GB-8GB-USB-Flash-Drives-on-eBay_W0QQugidZ10000000000953346 Remove the bracket Keith

Keith, Many thanks I will take a look now. I read the information on the Martin Lewis money page (BBC money man).www(.)moneysavingexpert(.)com/tips Margaret

There are lots of things I would be happy to buy from ebay, but computer bits isn't one of them. They are so cheap at places like big Tesco branches/Amazon, why bother?

Like everything else 'You Pays Your Money....' Stick to a well known brand and you shouldn't go wrong.