Unsurprisingly, the drive was inexpensively made (and easy to disassemble). We disassembled several of these storage devices (and we’re using the term “storage devices” liberally) in our laboratory. To reiterate, reputable flash media manufacturers do not sell 1TB flash drives for less than $100. With a quick search, we found 2TB flash drives listed for under $40 on Walmart, Amazon, Newegg, and eBay. In every instance, the devices fraudulently advertised their capacities.

Over the past year, we’ve received dozens of “2TB” flash drives from consumers. External hard drives and solid-state drives are much better tools for transferring large amounts of data. The 1TB SanDisk Ultra® Dual Drive Luxe USB Type-C™ Flash Drive is slightly less expensive at $114.īut neither manufacturer offers a 2TB USB flash drive for general audiences, and for good reason: High-capacity flash media is difficult to produce reliably, and most consumers don’t need to store a tremendous amount of data on a USB stick. For example, Kingston’s DataTraveler Max 1TB drive costs about $180 (with free shipping). While some reputable manufacturers offer USB flash drives with high capacities of 1TB or more, they’re not inexpensive. Currently, internet retailers are flooded with fake flash drives, and consumers need to take precautions when ordering storage media online. However, we’ll make it as clear as possible: As of March 2022, most 2TB USB drives are scams. If you’ve read the headline of this article, you know the answer. Is it a great bargain - or a dangerous scam? You’re browsing Amazon or eBay, and you see a great deal: A 2-terabyte (TB) USB thumb drive for about $40.

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