What is a Modified SDHC Card & How to figure out if you bought one!

Unfortunately they are not uncommon. Counterfeit cards bearing respected brand names are being sold on eBay and other sites with increasing frequency. Other eBay guides are claiming that 95% of all memory card sales on eBay are actually counterfeit cards. Read those guides to help you spot them.

This guide is designed to help you determine if the card you bought is what you thought you paid for.

We know modified cards are being sold on eBay because we unknowingly bought two ourselves. As far as we know there is no way of knowing in advance if a card is a “Modified” Card until you actually get to test the card itself.

An unmodified 4GB SDHC card is made from a single 4GB memory module. You should be able to read / write / access the almost 4GB of data storage on the card repeatedly without any problem.

A modified 4GB card is made up of modules that total 4GB such as 32x128MB, 16x256MB, 8x512MB, 4x1GB or 2x2GB with the 4x1GB and 2x2GB being the most commonly used.  The problem comes when you actually attempt to use the data. While the files themselves are readily copied from device to device when you attempt to access or read the files depending on the modules used (128MB-2GB) only the files stored within the first module are usable. If the first file itself is larger than the modules the card is made of you will only be able to access the first files or portion of the file just under the modules size then the application will crash or the device will abort, lock-up, error out or abort.

How to tell if you unknowingly bought a modified card.

Regardless of what size card you purchased this simple method can verify whether the Memory Card (or Flash Drive) that you purchased is what you thought you bought.

Copy a single or multiple known to be good files to the card, leaving just over 10%-15% free to allow for the actual formatted capacirty.

Copy the files back being careful not to copy over your known to be good files.

Try accessing the LAST 2-3 files you copied back. If you can read/access them successfully then your card is unmodified.  If you can’t access the files successfully then you have a “modified” card. On modified cards you will only be able to successfully access the files written to the first module.

Since we don’t typically come close to filling our 4GB SDHC cards with our almost daily photo sessions, it took us almost two months to find out that original 4GB SDHC cards we purchased were not only modified cards but counterfeit as well.

I hope this guide helps you avoid the problems we ran into.

Read other guides that will help you avoid buying FAKE or counterfeit cards.

What to do if I have acquired a “Modified Card! Who is responsible?
*    Representing an item as something it is not is deceiving and is considered FRAUD , not merely a simple mistake. It is seller's sole responsibility.
*    Consumer protection laws are designed to protect all consumers, the gullible as well as the shrewd. The fact that a false statement may be obviously false to those who are trained and experienced does not change its character or take away its power to deceive others less experienced. Our consumer protection laws were enacted for the protection of the people, many who are trusting and naive about the wolves of the business world who come dressed in lambs' clothing.
*    If your item is from high volume sellers, don't be left alone in the battle, kindly advise and encourage all buyers in same situation as you are to take action.

How to get full refund and how to expose fraudulent sellers?
*    Check if the seller is still actively listing the same misrepresented items right now!
*    After confirming receiving the misrepresented item and seller is unwilling to cooperate for refund, you should complete the Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described process dispute after 10 days of item closing date so that eBay or Paypal is alerted of the development of fraudulent situation. If you have paid by Paypal, you can also complete the Paypal Buyer Complaint Process to get refund from Paypal within 45 days.
*    Since you have NOT been provided with what you have paid for, it does not fall into the seller's return policy. You are covered by the 90 days protection period under eBay’s Standard Purchase Protection Program .
*    Unless these fraudsters would risk their eBay account for permanent suspension, they will for sure be in contact with you quicker than anything else. You then regain control of the situation and the power is again on your side.
*    Misrepresentation is FRAUD, do not settle with the seller unless the seller is paying for all the associated return shipping cost of the item.
*    You still own the right to provide negative feedback against the seller to alert the fraudulent situation to warn other eBayers.
*    Provided that you have left negative feedback for the seller and if subsequently the seller provides you with an unfair retaliatory negative feedback, you have a case to lodge against the seller by requesting eBay for feedback removal to fully protect your feedback.
*    Effectively you will get your money back either from the seller or from eBay/Paypal. Most important by going through this, you have assisted the process of exposing fraudulent sellers on eBay, which will result in permanent suspension of the seller's account.
*    In most countries, FRAUD is a CRIMINAL offense and injunctions may be brought against the fraudsters to prevent them from moving on under a different name after being banned. Thus, you may choose to contact your law enforcement agencies or each respective brand manufacturers in your region, to report counterfeit and provide them with your item detail and the source of the item.