Ironwolf also affected: Hard drive fraud is becoming more sophisticated
The scam with used Seagate hard disks is spreading to other models. Buyers of Ironwolf models should examine their drives closely.
(Image: Rudolf T.)
So far, the scandal surrounding Seagate hard disks sold as new but used has mainly affected models from the Exos server series, most of them with 12, 14 and especially 16 TB. Now, however, we are receiving mails with information about possibly falsified values for NAS drives from the Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro series with 8 and 16 TB of storage space.
Most of this information points to the now common fraud method: delete SMART values, repackage, sell, done. The fraud can be detected using smartmontools or other specialized programs, and the production date printed on the drive already can indicate old goods.
But now drives are appearing that look new even at second glance. The production date on the sticker is quite recent, the SMART values are fresh and a warranty query shows a remaining warranty period until 2029. However, a check of the FARM values confirms that these drives have already been in operation for a few thousand hours.
Explanation sought
If you take a closer look at the drives, you will notice slight dents in the housing and possibly abrasions on the SATA connector – the first signs of previous use. Furthermore, the sticker is stuck too far down – this would not happen to the manufacturer. However, the FARM values contain the real operating hours and also the real production date, albeit in a distorted form.
The fraudsters now seem to be able to modify the serial number of the hard disk drives. To do this, they use the numbers of newer drives that still have a sufficiently long warranty period ahead of them; these are therefore genuine serial numbers. However, these are likely to be used several times, if not a hundred times, and Seagate is likely to become suspicious by the second warranty claim at the latest.
Another indication of fraud is the warranty date. Seagate normally gives a 5-year warranty on the retail versions of the Ironwolf Pro drives. Since the manufacturer does not know how long the drives are on their way to the customer, they prefer to add a few months. However, the counterfeit drives have exactly 5 years warranty from the printed production date.
Seagate support confirmed in a chat with an affected person that the drive in question must be a fraud. The support employee also wrote that a drive with this serial number was first delivered to someone in the US, and that Seagate could therefore not send a replacement drive to a European country.
Another indication of fraud is the age of the casing. On the underside there is a cross with a year, which often corresponds to the year of production, and often the year before. However, we also have a drive in our collection whose casing was manufactured more than three years before the production date printed at the top. However, we have not found this feature on silver enclosures, only on black ones.
Seagate Germany sent the following text in response to our request for comment: "We are aware of this problem. Ironwolf-related fraud is not a new one; it’s all part of fraudulent practices. Seagate is investigating these practices."
We are still happy to receive information on how the drives reached the market as well as information on other counterfeit drives, either by mail or via our anonymous mailbox at heise.de/investigativ.
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