Fraud with Seagate hard disks: Dozens of readers report suspected cases
One of our readers noticed an inconsistency with new hard disks – this indicated a scam. Almost 50 other readers have the same problem.
(Image: Seagate)
Anyone who orders a new hard disk also expects to receive exactly that: a new hard disk. However, at least 50 of our readers have probably received a used model when buying a Seagate hard disk in recent weeks: Additional diagnostic values indicate that the hard disks have already been in continuous use for several years.
According to the readers, various retailers supplied the hard disks, with Amazon, JB Computer, Mindfactory and Reichelt being mentioned in large numbers. Further mentions: Alternate, Böttcher, Büroshop 24, Galaxus, Jacob, Kosatec, Maingau and Proshop – some of which are on the list of official Seagate dealers.
Most affected are hard disks from the Exos series, i.e., HDDs primarily for servers. Most of them have 16 TByte storage space (model numbers ST16000NM000J and ST16000NM001G), some 12 TByte models (ST12000NM0127 and ST12000NM0558), plus individual reports of drives with 4, 10 and 18 TByte as well as a NAS hard disk.
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When querying the warranty status of the individual drives, it often emerges that you should contact your dealer –. In most cases, these are therefore likely to be OEM drives, for which only the dealer's statutory warranty obligation applies, but not a manufacturer's warranty. In random checks, we also received an end date for some hard disks, usually within the next year – With a five-year warranty, these drives are therefore already at least three years old.
Used instead of new
Officially, the disks are new, even if some readers noticed abnormalities such as scratches or scuffs. The usual SMART queries (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) provide runtimes of only a few hours, the SMART tests run through. However, an extended query of the so-called FARM values provides the real running times. According to the evaluations available to us, the drives have between 15,000 and 36,000 hours behind them, with the two 4 TByte drives even clocking up 50,000 hours.
Some dealers have already agreed to take back the drives due to customer complaints. We recommend all those affected to obtain a reversal of the purchase contracts with reference to the counterfeits and the FARM log. Please also send a screenshot of the warranty query.
However, some readers have also purchased reconditioned and recertified drives from the manufacturer. Slight scratches from installation are probably common with these, but SMART and FARM values are reset according to Seagate. Most importantly, they are clearly recognizable by a green border around the sticker.
(Image:Â Seagate)
Determining FARM values
The easiest way to determine the FARM values is with the smartmontools. Versions for Linux and Windows are available in our download area. If you already have smartmontools installed, pay attention to the version number: the FARM query only works with version 7.4. Search for the term “Power on Hours”, followed by the relevant value.
The values can also be read out using Seatools, a collection of tools from Seagate. These are also available for download for Linux and Windows.
Determining the origin
It is currently unclear how these used drives got back into the sales chain. Seagate cannot provide any information on this for data protection reasons; it is therefore not even clear whether the drives were originally sold in Germany.
We are very interested in information on the supply chain of these drives, either by e-mail or via our anonymous mailbox at heise investigativ.
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