How to Identify a Fake SD Card

A security camera that works with a standalone micro SD card is primarily designed to store motion-activated recordings or short video clips of movements with local storage, which offers a cost-effective alternative to subscription-based cloud storage. However, users may run into issues like the camera is unable to overwrite recordings, the SD card becomes full and stops recording or the SD card cannot be formatted by the camera App, etc. These kinds of problems might be caused by the fake SD card.

How to Identify a Fake SD Card?

If you have already purchased an SD card, there are a few things you can inspect and basic tests you can run to identify a fake SD card.

1. Inspect Product Packaging
Make sure the package contains necessary information about the product such as its specifications and card speed, as well as all the appropriate labels, warranty info, and a proper UPC. Users may also verify with the SD card manufacturer directly.

2. Test the SD card with third-party software
For example, you could verify if you can write files to the advertised capacity for your SD card with software H2testw. 

Install the H2testw on your Windows computer (you can also run a similar tool called “F3” on Mac OS, and an app called SD Insight on Android devices) and run the test, it will show you the real capacity of your SD card.

If the SD card you are using is fake, it will report errors and show how much actual data was written and read from the card.

For more detailed instructions, please refer to the FAQ: How to Verify Fake Micro SD Cards