Clue #1 False SONY Part Number or False UPC / EAN Part Numbers
- Genuine SONY Memory Sticks have exactly the following Sony Part Numbers and UPC Part Numbers on the retail paper insert and all MUST includes “Sony IC Recording Media Memory Stick PRO Duo – Operating instructions” sheet(s) in 14 languages, folded 20 times. It is a special 70% or more recycled paper using VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) – free vegetable oil based ink:-
- PRO series: 1GB (MSX-1GS), 2GB (MSX-2GS).
- PRO Duo Hi-Speed series:
- 1GB (MSX-M1GN), 4-901780-942947 or 0-27242-64714-5
- 2GB (MSX-M2GN), 4-901780-892532 or 0-27242-64715-2
- 4GB (MSX-M4GN), 4-905524-319217.
- PRO Duo series (with 2 hidden UPC Security Tags):
- 1GB (MSX-M1GST), 0-27242-66543-9
- 2GB (MSX-M2GS), 0-27242-67114-0
- 4GB (MSX-M4GS), 0-27242-69239-8
- 8GB (MSX-M8GS). 0-27242-69240-4
- PRO Duo series (with separate Sony Warranty sheet in 14 languages):
- 1GB (MSX-M1GST/X), 4-905524-386865
- 2GB (MSX-M2GS/X), 4-905524-387889
- 4GB (MSX-M4GS/X), 4-905524-333688
- 8GB (MSX-M8GS/X), 4-905524-333695
- 1GB (MSX-M1GST/X), 4-905524-386865
- FAKE Sony have easily identifiable FALSE Sony part numbers with extra letter T and also mixed/incorrect UPC Part Number on the retail paper insert.
- PRO Duo:
- 2GB (MSX-M2GST/X)
- 4GB (MSX-M4GST/X)
- 8GB (MSX-M8GST/X)
- PRO Duo:
- Newer FAKE may have correct Sony Part Number but the UPC Part Number may still be incorrect on the retail insert! Fake has none of the Operating Instructions sheet(s) and none of the separate Sony Warranty sheet.
Clue #2 For PSP Owners: MagicGate Unknown and Incorrect User Capacity
- In your PSP Menu screen, go to Memory Stick, press the Triangle button, then select Information. Genuine SONY will display as MagicGate Supported. If you see Unknown or Unsupported then you know you have a FAKE Sony!
- Genuine Memory Stick displays User Capacity: 8GB as 7687MB or 7763MB; 4GB as 3839MB; 2GB as 1909MB or 1910MB; 1GB as 956MB.
- Fake Memory Sticks displays User Capacity: 8GB as 7727MB or 7839MB; 4GB as 3876MB; 2GB as 1937MB or 1949MB or 1956MB or 1959MB; 1GB as 969MB of memory space when being tested.
- Most fakes have HALF or less than half of the usable capacity from the stated capacity. The only bullet-proof way to find out its real capacity is to try transferring as much data as possible to your card and then READ BACK data from the card to see if it will actually hold close to the stated capacity with no sign of missing files or data corruption.
- Genuine card has high transfer speed at about 80Mbps while Fake has painfully much slower transfer speed.
Clue #3 Incorrect Retail Packaging
- Genuine retail blister packaging has 9+6+9 (some has 3+2+3) long-staple-shape heat-pressed seals along the Left, Top & Right edges of the pack indicated by the positions of the yellow arrows while fake always only has 3+0+3 round dimple or long glue seals along the Left, Top & Right edges with NO seals at the Top edge indicated by the encircled red arrows. This applies to all 1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB retail packaging products. Newer fake may also have 9+6+9 staple seals but the TOP vertical staple seal is misaligned with the 6 horizontal seals. It may also have old 3+0+3 dimple seals pattern left on the packaging.
- Genuine has COLOR CODED round label: 1GB/GO is Light Blue, 2GB/GO is Light Green, 4GB/GO is Purple Blue, 8GB/GO is Red. Fake Sony has similar color codes for 1GB, 2GB and 4GB so not as easy to differentiate, older FAKE 8GB/GO is Light Blue which can be easily identified, newer FAKE 8GB/GO is also Red which makes it hard to identify.
- Genuine retail blister packaging will have a golden metallic ‘SONY hologram sticker‘ at the front as pictured. Fakes also have similar hologram sticker, however on the fake the SONY wordings does not go on and off, become black and light up in alternate pattern when viewing from various angles, fake’s SONY wordings will be ALL ON or ALL OFF easy to differentiate.
- Bring the packaging to your nearest SONY retail outlet and ask for a SONY Anti-counterfeit Handy Viewer to tell if your item is genuine. The viewer has 2 see through Lens. Genuine hologram will appear as complete BLACK when see through the Left lens and Normal on the Right lens. Counterfeit hologram will appear as Normal through both Left and Right lens.
Counterfeit 8GB extra T - Genuine 8GB
Counterfeit 4GB extra T - Genuine 4GB
The FACT is there are NO Cheap Genuine cards, there are only Cheap FAKE cards.
I just found out my 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo that came along with my psp slim wasnt an Original Sony memory stick. Damn.
Read more about it here.
So to make sure, always get your Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo MagicGate Cards from reliable sources like Amazon
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
i just found out that mine is fake too, is there any way i can return it?
Well that depends, from where you got that from and the stores return/exchange policy. I found out mine was fake too, but im too lazy to go through any process about reutrning/exchanging the product. I’ll just get a new and Original Mem card from an authorized dealer when i have some cash to spare.
Anyway try returning it, who knows maybe they’ll be responsible enough to exchange it with an original one.
Although i highly doubt it, gudluck still. =)
My MS says it has correct available memory for 1gb and supports magic gate, when i put it in my PSP…but the writing on the back is printed. I can feel the print. This MS came with my sony ericsson w850i as standard. what are he chances they took the real MS and replaced it with a cheap fake??
i dont think you got a fake one, considering it was from your sony ericsson w850i and it has correct available memory for 1gb and supports magic gate i say kudos you got there an original Sony memory card. =)
Mine is fake. So, what if it’s fake? It’s still holding or saving data; it’s still loading data- it’s still functioning. So, is there something I need to worry about it just because it’s fake? Everything seems fake nowadays anyway. There are people with fake smiles, fake faces, fake everything. What else is new?
Fake items suck, faking is for loosers, period.
Thanks for the info! I was curious about all these cheap sticks on ebay and looked into it and found your blog. Thanks again, VERY good to know. It’s appreciated.
As for the above comment about everything being fake. Fake is not cool, but imitation is alright. For God’s sakes why can’t these companies just make their goddamn cards? It’s not like they’d make any less money since they sell their cards for 1 cent. JMHO.
I purchased a 4GB Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo from ebay and I just found out that it is FAKE according to your site infromation. Reading the information on this site above tells how much a genuine memory stick should hold and I have the FAKE one!
I was also informed from the ebay ad. that it is brand new in the package, but when I received the memory stick it came on a small zip bag with no sealed plastic case and or paper information. It was from Hong Kong where the shipment came from.J
bought mine on ebay and it’s fake too. at first, my psp can read it but after few uses, it cannot be read anymore. the seller doesn’t reply on my problem. *sigh*….got there goes my 70 bucks
arse i just bought a memomry card finking awesome but its a nasty fake i hate sony and i hate the fakers why do people ruin it for everyone stupid sony with their high priced shit and easily pirated technology
i bought an 8gb card off ebay it says the capcity was 7728mb, i have a program called psp media manager which indicated that to begin with i had 7.7 gb
however i added one 15mb music video and it said i now have 3.7 gb. from what is said above i realise that it’s probs a fake so just to clarify, i should put as much stuff on there as possible to find out the real capacity, yes?
Good Afternoon All
I was looking for fashion watches Vacheron Constantin – Automatic Calendar VC-42 and I’ve found something beautiful here Vacheron Constantin – Power Reserve Calendar VC-40
Vacheron Constantin – Automatic Calendar VC-42
Vacheron Constantin – Power Reserve Calendar VC-39
. How do you think, are these watches worth buying? I want to buy one, but want to know your opinion first please.
I don’t see big difference between highly expensive original watches and their less expensive replicas, so why to pay more?
exactly same problem as lock had
bought the 8gb and now hav only 3.7gb left
assume its from the same seller on ebay that was around $70
formatting the memory still does no good
oh well
4gb is still worth the price
have you ever thought about buying a SanDisk memory stick? i bought a 4gb one for my psp for 45 bucks and it has the complete capacity, magic gate support and everything
one more thing
@jeff
if you buy anything from hong kong be almost sure that you are gettin fake pirated stuff!!!
my god people are you idiots?!!!
I’m thinking of buying a sony 4gb memory card for my new camera, but am a bit concerned with all the fakes flying around. I found it for £20 on play.com (which to some would suggest it’s too good to be true). however, they’re a well respected firm so i don’t see why the should be fake. I don’t have a psp so i can’t check all the magic gate stuff as described above – is it possible to find this out in another way when i connect the memory card to my computer?
any comments welcome! thanks a lot
my ms hold every thing up to 1939mb and it’s a 2gb and there is no sign that it’s a fake exept that the magic gate support is unknown so what do you think is it a fake or not
I’m over here in China. In the past several months I picked up a 4gb and 8gb ms pro duo. Both packages are fake, same as the pics posted here (3+0+3 Blister packaging).
The 4gb had the wrong part number printed on. It is a regular ms pro duo (black) but has the high-speed part number printed on the back.
The 8gb is also a regular ms pro duo with the correct 8gb part number printed.
Both show ‘MADE IN JAPAN’. Both packages did not include the operating sheets. Both packages have English and French words mixed up. Alot of misspelled words. Both holograms are most definitely fake.
4gb cost me 200RMB (about 28 USD)
8gb cost me 290RMB (about 41 USD)
Both show ‘Unknown’ status for Magic Gate Support.
4gb shows as 3.75gb
8gb shows as 7.53gb
I knew I was getting a fake one no matter what. I went to a official Sony retail store and they have the 8gb priced at about 1500RMB (about 214 USD).
I have been using the 4gb for about 5 months with no problems. Using the 8gb for several weeks, copied one ISO to it, showed up as corrupted on my psp fat 3.90 m33-3. another one loaded up without any probs. I guess its a shot in the dark.
The motto over here is ‘if it works, forget about it.’ If I end up buying several due to failures then i’m just gonna get a real one. It ain’t worth the hassle. Then again, if I pay for a real one, will I get a ‘real’ one.
I got a 8GB full storage but i know its fake but i think its one of those ‘high quality fakes’ that you get it where people illegally import so the price looses all the importing fee taxe etc… but its still quite expensive..
shit fake
Hi i have a 4gb memory stick pro duo and i dont no if its real or fake the code is MSX-M4GN but it says its unknows i think its really weird
this is the link where you can find my memory stick
http://cdn.overstock.com/images/products/L10465834.jpg
plz help me
hey i just bought a memory stick from ebay 4gb
its fake =.=
will it still function right , even thought its a fake ?
will it ruin the psp system ?
sorry im curious cause i just bought one yesterday and its brandnew !
reply:)
it will all work, but the problem is sif you go over the capacity that it actually has it may corrupt the card. thats what happened to me.. i hae an 8gb that i filled with like 6 gigs of crap, and now i cant format it fully, my psp wont read it , the computer wont read it, and when i tweak it to format it in ntfs it doesnt work either…. the corrupt thing works, i do have a fake 4gb and it works great..
so what can you do once the card is curupted , can you retrieve the photos some other way ?
AH !
thanks man ..
hey just found out my 8gb memory stick is fake thanks for making this site or blog whatever you call it, bought it off ebay and they said it was genuine and feedback means alot to them, obviously it dont cus that is negative all the way with this site in the info box to proove it thank you.
noticed something else if you compare the case to a real 1gb for example the fake ones are more flipsy and can come apart easy where as the real 1 gb i looked at is solid and not flipsy
thank you again i will save up the extra cash for a real one thats my second fake but oh well
actually i have just looked a bit closer at my 8gb and i think it could be a very new fake one, it has the shiney emblom on the front, it has the right serial number, it has the red go circle
it doesnt have the warrenty bit i dont think well theres nothing folded 14 times, the packaging has the 3 seal bit down each side it says unknown in the psp instead of supported and free space is 7727 but user capacity is 7728, i am guessing if just one thing is in the fake category then its fake just wondering if mine would be the newest fake, the buggers are getting better i am just testing to see if any files are corrupt when i fill the whole 8gb up
Ordered 16GB on eBay, payed around $160. Asked the seller in advance if it’s a fake, or geniune. Seller promised that it is genuine Sony. Got the package and it was looking real. Then I noticed that the print on the paper looked fake like 16bit color on the monitor (instead of 32bit…) Put it on my PSP and where it should say MagicGate, it shows unknown. The seller is no longer registered on eBay, but I opened a dispute with PayPal which should return my money.
I bought a 2GB Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo from a local games store. It was pre-owned and i paid 20 pounds for it (compared to 35 for a new one).
Anyway, i played about 4 hours of monster hunter, 2 hours each on ridge racer 2, wipeout pulse, pro evo 2008 and tekken and everything seemed fine…
…then i got hooked into Crisis Core…
played over 25 hours, finished the game and saved the “new game +” save and went to sleep. Woke up the next day to find that all my saves had been wiped from the card or currupted beyond use.
i thought maybe id turned it off while it was saving or something so i carried on using it and spent another 10 hours using it before the same thing happened.
…and then again about 2 hours later.
by then i was getting kinda pissed so i started using my M2 card with an adapter, sacrificing being able to save anything on my phone until today when i bought a new Duo card.
I had a hunch the original card was fake so i checked out your blog and it turns out it not only has “MagicGate: Unknown”, but it has the extra T at the end of the serial code. i havent got the packaging since it was preowned but ive seen enough and plan to take the card back to the shop tomorrow and demand a refund or at least equal value in store credit.
so…
to the people who asked if it mattered that their card was fake, YES, it really does unless you want to waste the best part of 40 hours (possibly a lot more) playing games only to have your saves destroyed!
Kudos! I really learned a lot since I’m the type of person who reads reviews before buying. Now, I have an easy chance to spot a fake or not. Thanks a lot!
Got one of these fake cards, it works and i only paid $14 for it 4GB. worth every penny if it was only $14 and it works fine, just slow on transferring files. by the way, got it off ebay.
Well I got one in ebay too, a 8GB MS-Pro-DUO (“MagicGate”)
And I though was real, but was fake, I didn’t panic, I didn’t complain, it only cost me 26 dollars, free shipping in ebay from this Chinese seller, really nice and communicative. The MS worked fine, except for the data that sometimes it was corrupted, I just copy again one by one and work fine. Transferring Process was good, not excellent but not that Bad. After that I was copying something to my brother Laptop,and I used the MS-Pro duo to MS adapter to transfer, I install some App in his Laptop, it did a restart, I left the MS Adapter with the MS-Pro duo inserted and next I know the 8GB MS-Pro DUO just keep reading and reading in the PSP and nothing shows up, it got entirely corrupted, PSP doesn’t detect even it was reading and flashing a lot.
Thanks God the Seller has a 30 days Guarantee to give you another 8GB MS, I don’t care if Fake, it was working, You just have to take care of it very well, I hope shipping of this Fake Damaged 8gb MS pro duo doesn’t cost too much to send it to Honk Kong, If does I will tell his that I know that the MS was fake and that I just want another MS 8GB back that works and that him/her pay the shipping (for selling me a fake MS-Pro DUO). If doesn’t agreed I will tell ebay that he sold me a fake item and Pay Pal too so they can open a case and return me the money I paid for that fake-Faulty Item.
Thanks I hope this experience help others too.
joeymaru
I agree that this is really messed up but truthfully you get every penny. I think they should sell off their cards as what they are. I just bought an 8gb for 22$ off of ebay and haven’t received it yet but 90% chance it is for sure fake because it is from hong kong and cheap as hell but honestly a 4 gig for 22$ is still a GREAT deal. Ok sure u lose 10-20mbps writing speed but I could care less about that. I got a 4gig about 2 years ago and just now found out it was fake. The memory card was damaged after borrowing it to a friend so I could get it to read if i messed with it. It holds like 2 gigs without corrupted data then after that it sucks lol but I didn’t know until now so it isn’t that big of a deal to me. The point is if my 22$ 8gig comes and only holds 4Gig i wont be upset because thats less than what I paid for a Genuine 2gig.
I hope the fakes get better and better because obviously there’s is no way to get rid of them we might as well make em better
i have a strange problem. i got a 8gb MS Pro Duo from an authorized dealer n the packaging looks original. my PSP shows 7760 mb free and can format the disk too. However when running it using my card-reader on my Windows XP, it shows data capacity as 3.58GB only !! i was shocked to c this and showed it to the dealer again on his pc and it was 3.58Gb there as well and he was shocked as well. he exchanged it immediately and v checked the card at the store itself and it showed 7.something data capacity and then i returned home satisfied. but then i put it in my PC n it again showed as 3.58GB. however my PSP shows correct data capacity. i reinstalled memory card reader driver on pc but still the same problem. Please guide. livemafia@gmail.com
hi,i just bought my psp slim & lite recently.the store where i bought the psp give me free mem stick pro duo 4 Gb with iso games on it..when i check the mspro duo on my psp the user capacity is 3860 mb and magic gate is unknown…i dont know whether my ms pro duo is fake or not but it seems work fine.
What I’ve found out is that if your psp says “magic gate unknown” then you have a fake memory stick.
I got burned on a “Sony 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo” from a vendor at the MBK shopping center in Bangkok. So if your are shopping there watch out! There were many vendors featuring what seems to me in hindsight to be the same card.
The bright side of the story is that I only paid about $13 US for my lesson. The price for a real Sandisk card at a discount retailer in the US is about $32.
mine is real. stuped sony
Bought a 8GB MSX-M8 GST/X Pro Duo from Ebay for £10 that came from Hong Kong and really for that price I thought it might be a fake. After checking on this page I was correct but it don’t matter for the price as it works fine.
When I was in Beijing in 2006 I bought a fake from a good retailer that cost £6 for a 2GB. At the end of the day these products are really coming down in price and all the time cheap copies are available to purchase people will buy them.
i have an 8gb memorystick and i bought it from dealextreme.com and it was from hong kong and it has 7728 mb of capacity and everything works it holds 8 gb of games but it says magic gate unknown it works fone on my psp 1000 but when i plug it into my psp 3000 the memorystick light blink and it says cannot read memory stick
Its easier to just buy the real thing. My 16GB is fake and got corrupted on day 2 of having it. Good thing I was barely in the 30 day window where I am protected by Paypal and I filed a dispute. 8GB sticks are available at Best Buy for $45, maybe I’ll just buy one of those so I don’t have to deal with the hassle.
I recently got a Sony 8GB memory stick off of eBay and it seems to be working fine. Got it near-full and it looks 100% legit, but the MagicGate status is “unknown”, which does NOT always mean it’s a fake.
I know this because I have bought retail cards from RadioShack and one also said unknown, but I used it for a year or more with no issues.
this website is a good help to me……i was in the process of hackin 3 psp’s….the first two went great as planned….and the third….not so well….i checkd the magic gate and it said uknown…..its a 4gb and i tried everything i could……and i still doesnt work……lmao….this forum saved me from goin insane…..
I purchased Sony Duo Pro 8G Mark2 on eBay. My Sony Camcorder rejected that this card cannot store or record video and image correctly. It did not work at all. Later, I found out there are reviews posted on eBay about counterfeit Sony Duo Pro Memory stick products sold on eBay and over on internet. I could not believe that there are so many counterfeit products came from China not mentioned about software, ipod, watches, and other products as well. Just be careful, your Sony counterfeit memory stick may work for storing data from other devices but mine definitely did not work with my Sony Camcorder.
I have the same note coming ups on my sony camcorder
except when i took my pictures and video they actually did store and record on the card. the chirping of the camcorder on the beginning and end of the recording seems to be the only ill effect. so i guess i can just work around that.
i have already bought 3 8 Gb memory for my psp. i thought that it got broken by the way i use it cos i was always switching games. until i found out that the 3 cards i had was all fake. what a waste.
I bought an 8GB sony mspd from ebay from japan worked perfectly for a while about a year i used it alot for movies and emulators for psp.. now when i put games or whatever on it my psp wont recignize any chip being in my psp and says i need to format it which makes it trash. there is no writing on the back of the card such as made ion japan or wherever nor any numbers at all. which makes me think fake i have 2. 1 is my wifes she has been using it in here camera and no problems with it so far been about a year
i bought a 16GB one for my psp from ebay and i’ve came to the conclusion that its fake…since it doesn’t support magicgate and there is no operation guide at all
i was wondering if you could update this article for 16GB cards as well…as mine comes up as 15GB of usable space..which seems odd
the transfer speed is much slower in the range of 3MB/sec…but i guess bottom line is you get what you pay for…and as long as my games run and load fast i can overlook the slow transfer rates and the fact that my card is fake
BEWARE: The retailers GAME are selling knowingly selling fake sony memory cards and they give you a reciept that says it was a sandisk so that when you try to return it they tell you that they sold you a sandisk not a sony.
my 8GB MS-MT8G inserted in the PSP shows MagicGate Supported, does this alone make it genuine?
i just bought a 8gb memory stick. i just found out it’s fake. These days people take a genuine cover and replace the genuine memory stick with a fake one, not only that, they even put up a sticker to replace the size of memory so that from the cover you can see the sticker which determine that it is 8gb and make you believe it is a genuine memory stick because of the cover with the long-staple-shape heat-pressed seals and the size of memory. When I get home i realize I’d been scammed by the seller
I would like to know how to transfer movies from one Memory stick PRO duo to another one. Is this possible? If so, how do i do that?
i am sooo madddd i bought one 8gb sony the one like showed above but it was with the red 8gb so i thought it was the real oneee but it was FAKEEEEE so i dont get thattt UGHHH
I’m a faithful Sony original product user, seriously.
Juz wondering if any1 could tell me what are the consequences of using a fake card?
There was once, a salesman from a Sony retailer told me that if i use a fake MS on my alpha, the camera will lock itself. Is that true?
so its a fact that you can’t a deal on a good memory stick?huh,yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah you go on think like that & when i find one, & still have money in my pocket to spare, have fuin feeling sory for yourself. (& trust i have found some good deals, especially online
this costumemaker, t-shirt, mousepads, totebag, caps and etc.
Please visit this web, ebay
http://stores.ebay.com/2Happy-Shop
i’ve recently bought a psp 3000, n thanks to you, this site’s owner, n the full list of comments, i found out that the shop who actually sold me a REAL memory stick, was selling me a FAKE one…now im in process to claim back my money, n get a real one~
anyway, F*CK FAKE~
p/s: sorry for those last word, but i really mean it~
i got a sandisk 4gb memory stick off of amazon cause it was cheaper bu when i got it i was missing not a me 1-200mb but 657mb! and it is magic gate enabeled!
i sell fake memory stick a dollar each plus one free lollipop! 4/8/16GB available.
u don’t have to worry about that, there are many advantage inside of Fake MSPro, one of the best is u can use it as a magic memory card to unbrick any PSP, including TA-088v3, google it, sure u’ll surprize
I was wondering why my games were lagging so much on my PSP and the write speeds were so painfully slow. It was a fake card, but a friend gave it to me so I can’t complain.
Thank you for the article, It’ll be very helpful when I go out to buy a new genuine memory stick.
mine is also fake and game freezes