In the increasingly digitized world in which we live, having the appropriate storage media is key to maintaining safe to our data. From the need to store video games, which have increasingly large installation files, to the enormous amount of photos that we can capture on our vacations.
Given this scenario, if the possibility of completely trusting cloud solutions does not close, it is completely logical that we consider local storage media. A deal on a 2TB portable external hard drive for just $10 might be hard to resist, but this investment could go wrong for a number of reasons.
When cheap is expensive
Storage devices like the one mentioned are usually priced around 50 dollars, so embarking on buying a product whose price is well below that threshold would be taking too much of a risk. A Reddit user named NooBGam3R007 decided not to think too much about it, he trusted and ended up being scammed.
According to the victim, purchased a 2TB portable external hard drive on AliExpress. The price? Only 10 dollars. Unfortunately, when he received the product, he realized that he had been scammed. I had not received what I expected but a plastic box of disappointing quality, although with an apparently functional external connection port.
Inside this “hard drive” there were no magnetic platters or read and write heads. Rather, the device consisted of what appeared to be a usb stick for life adhered to one of the walls of the box with a huge amount of silicone and cables that went from it to the connection port.
The unfortunate situation leaves several questions on the table. One is whether the device at least works and how much storage you got for spending $10. In any case, an external hard drive and a USB drive, although both can store data, are supports designed for different needs.
In any case, this episode is one more example of why we must be very careful when making purchases in e-commerce platforms. It is not about stopping doing it, because we certainly find interesting bargains in them, but we will have to look at factors such as the number of votes, the reputation of the seller, the number of products sold and a realistic price.
Images: NooBGam3R007 on Reddit
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