A recent investigation by Heise has revealed that counterfeit Seagate hard drives sold as new likely originated from defunct Chinese cryptocurrency mining operations. The scandal involves data center-grade drives that were previously used for mining Chia cryptocurrency before being deceptively resold as factory-fresh units.
The investigation uncovered that these drives, many with 15,000 to 50,000 hours of operation, had their usage records deliberately altered to appear unused. Over 200 cases have been reported globally, affecting customers in Europe, Australia, Thailand, and Japan.
The connection to Chia mining stems from a period when the cryptocurrency's popularity caused massive demand for storage devices. As mining profitability declined, many Chinese mining farms shut down, flooding the market with used drives.
Major retailers have responded differently to the crisis. While Alternate has advised affected customers to contact them directly, Galaxus created a dedicated help page, and Proshop offered free returns and replacements. Wortmann took a more cautious approach, requiring verification before providing compensation.
Seagate maintains its distance from the controversy, stating they only distribute genuine new drives through official channels. The company has launched an investigation and established a dedicated fraud reporting email address: fraud@seagate.com.
For concerned customers, the true operational history of these drives can be verified using Field-Accessible Reliability Metrics (FARM) values, accessible through Smartmontools version 7.4 or higher or Seagate's Seatools software. Unlike standard SMART parameters, which were manipulated in the fraudulent drives, FARM values reveal the actual usage history.
This scandal highlights vulnerabilities in the global hardware supply chain and the lasting impact of cryptocurrency mining operations on the technology market. As investigations continue, the full scope of this fraudulent operation remains to be determined.