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Spent $150 on a "hacker proof" USB stick from a guy at a Chicago flea market
This guy in a trench coat swore it had military grade encryption and showed me a screen full of green text scrolling fast, so I paid him $150 cash on the spot. Got home, plugged it in, and my antivirus screamed at me within 30 seconds because the thing was a regular 8GB drive with a fake label and a virus already on it. Has anyone else bought sketchy gear off a flea market table and regretted it instantly?
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miles94628d ago
Good grief, that flea market guy saw you coming from a mile away. One thing worth clearing up though, because it matters if you ever shop for storage again. That 8GB capacity on the label is not proof of anything, real drives come in 8GB too. What makes fake drives easy to spot is the actual chip inside, which is usually way smaller than advertised, like 2GB, and hacked firmware that lies to your computer about the size. The virus thing is the bigger red flag here. Military grade encryption is just a marketing phrase anyway, it does not mean anything specific, so nobody selling "hacker proof" anything at a table is legit. Best move now is run a full scan, then wipe the drive completely or just toss it, since firmware level junk can survive a normal format. Consider the $150 a lesson in why cash at a flea market is a one way street.
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