In context: Earlier this month, an investigation revealed that Chinese cryptocurrency farmers are passing off their used hard drives as new and selling them to consumers and retailers. The scandal mainly involved Seagate Exos server HDDs between 12TB and 16TB. Samples showed usage between 15,000 and 50,000 hours, but now there's even of more widespread distribution that extends to other drive models.
Last week, a Heise investigation found that a fraud scam in volving Seagate Exos HDDs is more widespread than it initially thought. Based on emails received after breaking the news, investigators discovered that the scammers had tampered with usage metrics in many Seagate Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro NAS drives so they could pass as new, adding to the number of models affected.
The scammers accomplish the ruse by deleting the SMART usage logs, duplicating the serial number of newer units, affixing a bogus production date sticker, and then repackaging them as "new." Even checking the drive's warranty shows it to be good until 2029. However, Heise researcher, Luts Labs, points out several ways to tell if these HDDs are used.
The first and simplest thing to do is physically inspect the drive. Look for dents, scratches, and other wear on the housing. Also, check the SATA connector closely for signs of use, like scuff marks from connecting or disconnecting the device. Look at the production date sticker placement. It should be level and in the right place.
An online warranty check can be a tell-tale sign, too. Heise notes that Seagate doesn't know how long it will take for a drive to reach a customer, so it usually adds a few months to the warranty. A fraudulent HDD's warranty will be exactly five years from the fake production date.
Buyers can also confirm the HDD's age using SMART monitoring tools like Smartmontools or SeaTools. This software lets users view Seagate's field-accessible reliability metrics (FARM). It will indicate how long the drive was in use. Investigators found some that had logged over 50,000 hours.
It is worth noting that Heise questioned whether Toshiba and Western Digital drives were affected by the same fraud. After testing samples using Smartmontools, it found that Toshiba and WD drives returned errors when validating FARM values. Toshiba confirmed that its drives only used SMART logs, and Western Digital did not respond to a request to comment.
Seagate is still standing firm that it will not replace the drives since it did not distribute them. However, it would like anyone with a bogus HDD to contact fraud@seagate.com with details as it is still investigating the matter.
Seagate HDD fraud also includes IronWolf Pro lineup, more details uncovered
