WD Green SSD Fraud Report
Description
I bought what was advertised as a genuine WD Green SSD, but it turned out to be a fake. On the outside, it looks just like the real product, but inside, it's been replaced with much cheaper and lower-quality parts.
The fake drive claims to have a large storage size, but in reality, it has much less. When I tried to copy a lot of files to it, the device failed—because it's pretending to have more space than it actually does.
The following is proof of the fraud.
Purchase Information
interno Western Digital WD Green WDS200T2G0A 2TB negro
Detalle de la compra
27 de abril | # 2000007728598409
Purchase price: $1,580 / 1 unit
Product Images
- Package
- Product Front
Product Details from Photos
Evidence from Official Sources
Invalid Chipset
- WD Green SSD uses the SMI SM2258XT chipset, not RM1135T:
- Reference 1
- "The controller used by the WD Green 240 GiB is the Silicon Motion SM2258XT, presented in Figure 6."
- "WD Green is using SMI SM2258XT SSD controller to connect the NAND memory to the SATA/AHCI interface. The controller has Single-core, 4-ch, 4-CE/ch configuration..."
- Reference 3
- Teardown with images showing SanDisk, SM2258XT, is the actual chip used:
- Teardown video showing the insides of the WD Green using SanDisk:
- There is no documented partnership or licensing between WD and RayMX for SSD controllers
- Genuine WD PCB boards have specific part numbers like "2060-" series (e.g., 2060-701383-001) source
- “To find the right replacement PCB board for your Western Digital hard drive, the 'PCB Number' (starts with 2060-, like the number 2060-701537-003 on the picture below) must be the same!”
- WD uses in-house controllers developed from their SanDisk acquisition:
- _“Western Digital Technologies, Inc. has completed the acquisition of SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK). The addition of SanDisk makes Western Digital Corporation a comprehensive storage solutions provider with global reach, and an extensive product and technology platform that includes deep expertise in both rotating magnetic storage and non-volatile memory (NVM).”_ source
Unverifiable Serial Number
The serial number 202495K802253 shows no results on the official WD website. See Western Digital Warranty Page
Price Disparity
The price offered on the market is significantly lower than most offerings of the product. This is consistent with similar scams.
Visual Differences
- Purchased product lacks distinctive grey rectangular metallic strip along the edge.
- Various other visual differences can be seen: different colored screw sockets, different internal case structures. Not definite proof, but expected if a fraudulent device.
Common Fraud Strategy
- Scrap NAND Chips Reused: This describes how some manufacturers extract NAND flash memory from discarded electronics, recondition the chips, and install them into new SSD products. Often, these chips have degraded performance and reliability, but tampered firmware can mask these issues by providing false health and capacity readings.
- Fake or Misreported Controllers and Firmware: Some counterfeit SSDs use misleading firmware and controllers to disguise their real specifications, sometimes rebranding generic drives as reputable brands or inflating reported capacity, risking major data loss.
- Counterfeit Rebranding of Cheap SSDs: There have been reports where generic SSDs with low-grade or unknown controllers are re-branded as WD Green SSDs, often with packaging closely resembling legitimate Western Digital products. Teardown investigations have revealed mismatched internal components never used by WD, clear evidence of fraud.
- WD Green, NAND/Controller Swaps, and Performance: Users observed that even authentic-looking WD Green SSDs sometimes include different, less capable hardware in later revisions, without informing consumers. While not strictly fraudulent, this practice leads to mismatched expectations between reviews/spec sheets and actual performance or reliability.
- YouTube Data Recovery and Forensics: Data recovery professionals demonstrate actual chip swaps and show how recycled or mismatched components look inside a fake SSD, including issues with controller-NAND compatibility.
