Q. I've just bought a memory stick from an ebay seller that was really cheap and they've assured me it's the real deal, is it?

A. Unfortunately, the answer is probably "NO", most of the cards sold on ebay are fake, even the guys getting positive feedback.  People give positive feedback for fear of reprisal feedback.

Q. The packaging looked real, the printing was great and the card itself had all the right markers, the serial on the back looks like it was laser etched and the serial number works on the Sony site.  Are you sure it's fake?

A. Counterfeiting stuff is big businesses in most parts of the world why would that be any different in Asia?  Unfortunately with so many guides out there telling you what to look out for the counterfeiters keep improving their products.

Q.  But my card works, I'm happy, why should I care? 

Well, that's personal choice, if it was advertised as fake or stolen would you have bought it? If you are happy then great, but why did you bother searching for or reading this guide :-)? 

Q. Will Sony, Sandisk or Lexar honour the warranty?

A. No!

Q.  What if the product fails and I lose my stuff?

A. Go back to the seller (if they are still around) and hope they will help you.

Q. Ok so how do I tell it's fake, if the packaging is so good now and the serials work in the web based utilities how can I be assured of buying the real deal?

A. Unfortunately you can't.  To be sure to get the real deal you will need to purchase the card from an authorised reseller in your country, because it is impossible to tell before you buy the product. Yes they are more expensive (hint that the stuff on ebay is fake!).

Q. Ok so I bought the product any way, I've got it, it works, but now I want to know if it's genuine what do I do?

A. Take it to Sony, Sandisk or Lexar - they may have to pull the product apart because the fakes are really very detailed now.  There is another way to tell and it centres around the functionality of the official / genuine cards.  With all the attention to the external detail most of the counterfeiters have forgotten one thing - MagicGate - if you have a device that supports MagicGate you will probably discover your fake card does not support this feature!  If you have a Sony PSP you can check the card information (not the file information) and it will report on the capacity as well as MagicGate.  Most fake cards do not support this and MagicGate support appears as "Unkown" the real cards report "Supported".  Then there's the capacity etc that other guides mention, only problem is that it's already too late.