A wedding photographer brings us a microSD card from a well-known brand. She had covered an entire ceremony, copied the photos to her computer, and later noticed that the images taken after a certain point refused to open. The card itself reads perfectly: it's detected, the folder shows up, the filenames and thumbnails are all there. But part of the photos are empty.
This scenario lands in our lab regularly, and nine times out of ten the culprit is the same: a counterfeit memory card with fake capacity. Here's how to recognise one, how to test it without destroying anything, and why — this is the hard part — those photos are usually gone for good.
What is a counterfeit memory card?
A fake card looks identical to a real one: same logo, same printing, same casing. The difference is invisible, on the inside. The card's controller (its management chip) has been reprogrammed to report a capacity it doesn't have. A card sold as 256 GB may physically contain only 16 or 32 GB of real memory.
As long as you write little data, everything looks normal: the computer, the camera and the card all agree on the fake size. The problem appears at the exact moment you exceed the real capacity. That's where the trouble starts — and for the photographer, that's precisely the "certain point" where her photos stopped being recorded.
Why photos "after a certain point" won't open
When writing crosses the card's real capacity, the rigged controller reacts in one of two ways:
- It throws the data into the void. The card "accepts" the write and confirms everything, but the bytes are stored nowhere. On read-back, that area returns zeros, random noise or filler. Your files exist in the list… but are empty.
- It "wraps around" to the start. New data overwrites the earliest data. You then keep the end of the shoot at the cost of the beginning.
So why does the card still show every file? Because the file table and directory (the FAT/exFAT "table of contents") are written at the very start of the card, on genuinely real memory. They survive. So you see the names, dates, sizes, sometimes even the embedded thumbnails — but the image content itself never reached a real memory cell.
The bad news: this data is usually unrecoverable
Let's be honest, because it's the question that really matters: can the lost photos on a counterfeit card be recovered? Most often, no.
It's not a matter of software or hardware. When the controller threw the data into the void, those bytes were never written to a chip: there's nothing to read, anywhere. No recovery software, no professional station (such as a PC-3000), no direct memory read (chip-off) can retrieve information that was never physically stored. In the "wraparound" case, the start area was overwritten: whatever was there is permanently gone.
What stays recoverable is only what was written before the real capacity was exceeded — that is, the files that already open. That's exactly why our trade insists on prevention: with this type of failure, there is no heroic rescue. The only real protection is to never use such a card for a one-off event.
How to recognise a fake memory card
Before buying
- A price too good to be true. A "1 TB" or "2 TB" card for a few euros doesn't exist. If the price is far below the brand's official rate, be suspicious.
- A capacity that doesn't exist (yet). Consumer microSD cards above 1.5–2 TB are rare and expensive; a cheap "2 TB" microSD is almost always fake.
- The seller. On marketplaces, buy from the manufacturer or an official reseller, not an unknown third-party seller. Counterfeits circulate there in bulk, including under reputable brands (SanDisk, Samsung, Sony, Kingston…).
- The packaging. Blurry printing, dull colours, misaligned text, spelling mistakes: compare with an official product photo.
After it arrives
- Abnormal slowness. Many fakes use reject-grade, very slow memory. If transfers are far slower than the advertised speed class, that's a red flag.
- The real-capacity test. This is the only definitive proof — see below.
The test that doesn't lie: H2testw and F3
The only reliable way to expose fake capacity is to write data across the whole advertised capacity, then read it back and verify it. If the card is rigged, errors appear as soon as you pass the real physical memory.
Two free tools are the reference:
- H2testw (Windows). Tick "all available space", run "Write + Verify". At the end it shows how many GB are actually usable versus the advertised capacity. On a fake card, the screen turns red with an error and the real size appears.
- F3 (macOS / Linux). Same principle:
f3writethenf3read;f3probeestimates the true capacity faster.
On Android, an app like SD Insight reads the card's internal ID (CID) and reveals the real manufacturer — a useful first clue, though it doesn't replace a full write test.
How to protect your photos — especially for a wedding
At an event that will never happen again, the memory card is the weakest link in the chain. A few simple habits prevent disaster:
- Buy your cards from an official reseller of the brand, never a discount third-party seller.
- Test every new card (H2testw / F3) before trusting it with a shoot. Five minutes of testing saves hours of drama.
- Shoot in duplicate. Favour a body with two card slots (simultaneous recording to both). Otherwise, rotate several smaller cards rather than one huge one.
- Offload and verify on site or as soon as you're back: actually open a few files from the end of the card, not just the thumbnails.
- Don't reformat and don't keep shooting on a suspect card: you'd reduce the chances of saving what can still be saved.
The real case from our lab
Back to the photographer's microSD. Here's what the diagnosis showed, step by step:
- The card was perfectly detected and read in full — no electronic or mechanical failure.
- The file tree was complete: all photo names, dates and sizes present.
- A carving (raw signature scan across the whole card) found no JPEG headers for the missing photos — so no trace of those images, anywhere on the chip.
- Analysis revealed a real capacity far below the advertised one. Verdict: fake-capacity card.
The honest conclusion given to the client: the lost photos were never written to a real memory cell; they are unrecoverable. Only the images written before the limit — the ones that already opened — were intact. Bad news, but explained clearly and at no cost: with us the diagnosis is free, and the principle is No Cure, No Pay — no recovery, no bill.
Frequently asked questions
01Can the photos on a counterfeit card be recovered?
Most often, no — for files lost beyond the real capacity. That data was never physically written, so there is nothing to read, even with a professional station or a direct chip read. Only the files recorded before the limit (the ones that already open) are recoverable. A free diagnosis confirms the situation and saves whatever can be saved.
02Can a branded card (SanDisk, Sony, Samsung…) be fake?
Yes. Counterfeits specifically imitate reputable brands, packaging included. What protects you isn't the logo but the purchase channel: an official reseller rather than an unknown third-party seller on a marketplace.
03How do I test a card without losing my data?
The reliable test (H2testw, F3) writes across the whole card and erases its contents: it's done on an empty card. If the card already holds important files you want to keep, don't test it yourself — first copy whatever is readable elsewhere, then submit it for diagnosis.
04I already bought a fake card — what now?
Stop using it for important data. Back up whatever is readable, then request a refund from the seller or marketplace (an H2testw result is solid proof). Don't reuse it for a one-off event.
05Does reformatting make a fake card "real"?
No. Reformatting doesn't change the physical memory inside the chip. The real capacity stays the same; the card will keep losing data written beyond that limit. Some tools can "cap" the card to its true size to make it safely usable, but it will never regain the advertised capacity.
Go further: USB stick & memory card recovery, USB stick not recognized, data recovery after formatting, and how much data recovery costs in Belgium.
Real cases handled in the lab
