Amazon Investigates Sale of Refurbished Hard Drives Marketed as New
Amazon Scandal: Selling Used Hard Drives as New Raises Security Concerns
A new scandal is shaking the Amazon marketplace, as strong doubts have been raised about the integrity of external hard drives from the UnionSine brand. Following a thorough investigation by Attingo, a company specializing in data recovery, it was revealed that these drives, sold as "new," are in fact old 2.5-inch hard drives from major companies like Seagate and Western Digital, manufactured more than ten years ago. This discovery directly contradicts the misleading information on the product labels, which claim a manufacturing date of spring 2025.
Data Remnants and Security Risks
Attingo's examination did not stop at revealing the age of these hard drives and clear signs of use, but extended to discovering remnants of previous user data. The company reported that some drives still retained parts of personal data, with only the beginning of data fields being "zeroed out." This technique aims to deceive operating systems into believing the disk is empty, but it failed to erase all digital traces. What makes the matter more serious is the discovery of a recovered XML file with a timestamp from May 2024, confirming recent activity inconsistent with a "new" hard drive. Some recovered data also indicated that these drives were part of TV recording systems, proving they were in operation in previous uses.
The presence of previous data on a hard drive sold as new not only poses a risk to the former owner's privacy but also exposes the current buyer to potential security risks. These leftover data could contain malware or viruses that might transfer to the buyer's system as soon as the drive is connected, compromising their files and privacy. For more information on these risks, you can refer to reasons not to buy used hard drives.
Manipulation of SMART Data
Adding to the severity of the situation is Attingo's discovery of clear manipulation in SMART data (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology), which operating systems rely on to assess the health of any hard drive. While the power-on hours counter was manipulated to show zero, other technical metrics, such as a high read error rate, revealed its deteriorated true condition. This fraudulent method is common in the sale of used hard drives in grey markets, where mechanical defects and severe read errors are hidden behind fake SMART data. However, what is concerning in this case is that this fraud is occurring on a giant e-commerce platform like Amazon, and not just an obscure online store.
To protect themselves, consumers can use free software tools to inspect the condition of new hard drives. Programs like CrystalDiskInfo for Windows directly read SMART data from the drive, revealing vital information such as "power-on hours" and "start-stop count," which are indicators difficult to completely falsify and provide conclusive evidence of whether the drive is new or used.
Reactions and Security Questions
For his part, Markus Havel, CEO of Attingo, expressed his shock at these findings, stressing that they are not limited to misleading consumers but pose a real threat to data protection. Havel said: "Unfortunately, we are used to seeing used devices sold as new on platforms like eBay or imported directly from Asia, but for this fraud to occur systematically within a large-scale advertising campaign on Amazon is truly appalling." So far, Amazon has not issued any official comment on these serious allegations, which opens the door to broader questions about the reliability of external storage devices and NAS drives offered by third-party sellers on the platform.
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