Shopee Store Exposed For Selling 2TB Hard Drive With Only Small Pen Drive Inside
Computer repair shop owner Bilawal Singh cracked open a hard drive to reveal the scam.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 27 Jul 2022, 09:19 AM
A Malaysian, who runs a computer repair shop in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, has exposed a Shopee store for selling fake external hard drives that are actually big shells with small pen drives inside
Sharing a video in his TikTok account @thesinghspeaks yesterday, 26 July, Bilawal Singh says a customer of his bought an external hard drive from an e-commerce vendor on Shopee.
"You know scammers really deserve a very special spot in hell and let me show you guys what I mean," begins Bilawal, the owner of Meticulous Technology Int Sdn Bhd located in Digital Mall, Seksyen 14.
He proceeds to show a Shopee store that sells USB3.0 hard drives with a storage size of 2TB for only RM105. The store also sells hard drives with a storage size of 1TB.
According to the product page, it has sold over 1,900 units and has an average of 4.6-star reviews from 460 users.
Despite having a high rating and a high number of products sold, Bilawal claims that many of the one-star reviews show the reality behind the fake product
Some of the one-star reviews mention that their files disappeared after using the external hard drives, while others say their computers could not detect the devices.
One review even highlighted that the hard drive only has a 2GB pen drive inside the case.
All of the five-star reviews that Bilawal shows in his TikTok have more than four photos, many of which laud the store for its speedy delivery.
"All the (five-star) reviews mentioned fast courier delivery, but did you check the one-star reviews and look at why people gave bad reviews?" he said.
Bilawal then proceeds to pry open an external hard drive believed to have been purchased from the Shopee store.
Inside the case, only a pen drive and a small circuit board are found.
Worst of all, to counter the light weight, Bilawal finds a metal plate stuck onto the case, creating a false impression that the hard drive is heavy.
"It's a freaking pen drive inside. You guys have been scammed on f--king Shopee!" he exclaims.
A check by SAYS found that the store shown in Bilawal's video no longer exists. It is believed that the store has been shut down.
Commenting under Bilawal's post, many netizens were in disbelief that a product that has been sold over 1,900 times could turn out to be a scam
Several TikTok users said they were a victim of the same scam.
One user who claimed to be a Shopee employee said users should always buy from "Preferred, Preferred+, and Shopee Mall sellers".
Speaking to SAYS, Bilawal advised shoppers to try their best to purchase from vendors that have a physical outlet or social media presence.
"Check the reviews before purchase, look out for those 'too good to be true' prices," he said when contacted, adding, "The 2TB hard drive was advertised for RM105, whereas in physical stores, it would have cost more than RM250."
