Global hardware scam: 'brand new' Seagate hard drives exposed as used mining equipment

A new fraud scandal has emerged involving the sale of used hard drives from data storage manufacturer Seagate. An investigation by Heise has revealed that used HDDs have been sold across global markets as 'brand new,' with over 200 cases confirmed worldwide.

Investigations have traced the scam back to several German retailers, including Alternate.De, Wortmann, Galaxus, and Proshop. Similar used drives have also been identified in adjacent European regions, along with cases confirmed across Australia, Japan, and Thailand.

Many of the drives are recorded to have logged between 15,000 and 50,000 hours of use prior to their resale, with affected units traced back to mining operations in China. The units were used to mine Chia, a popular cryptocurrency that led to a surge in HDD demand during the early years of the pandemic.

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Reports indicate that scammers reset the standard SMART parameters used to track HDD usage before re-entering the supply chain, effectively obscuring the wear and tear accumulated from years of crypto mining. Retailers have insisted that they were unaware of any tampering involved with the affected stock, highlighting that the stock came from suppliers they trusted.

Seagate has denied any involvement in the distribution of the affected drives, and has urged buyers to report any suspicious cases to fraud@seagate.com. The company has reportedly launched an internal investigation and is working with law enforcement to track the fraudulent resellers.

Owners of Seagate hard drives can also install SeaTools, a software tool designed to verify drives, to ensure they are unaffected by the scam.