A major scandal involving counterfeit Seagate hard drives has expanded beyond the previously reported Exos line to include IronWolf Pro drives, according to a new investigation by ComputerBase's Lutz Labs.
The fraudulent scheme involves selling used enterprise-grade hard drives as new by manipulating usage records, serial numbers, and labels. While initially discovered with Seagate's Exos line aimed at enterprise customers, the deception now reportedly extends to IronWolf Pro drives designed for professional NAS systems.
Industry experts speculate that many of these drives may originate from Chia cryptocurrency mining operations, where both Exos and IronWolf Pro drives were commonly used due to their reliability and performance characteristics.
The modified drives appear nearly new at first glance but show telltale signs of previous use, including chassis dents, scratched SATA connectors, and misaligned labels. More concerning are altered QR codes that redirect to unofficial warranty pages, obscuring critical verification information.
Technical analysis using specialized tools reveals the true extent of usage - some drives showing over 50,000 hours of operation through Seagate's FARM (field-accessible reliability metrics) data, despite appearing unused in standard diagnostics.
While similar fraud has not been reported with Western Digital or Toshiba drives, detecting tampering with these brands proves more challenging as they lack equivalent usage tracking systems.
Seagate has acknowledged the expanding scope of the problem, noting that fraudulent practices involving IronWolf-series drives are not unprecedented. The company reports an ongoing investigation into the supply chain vulnerabilities that allow these modified drives to reach the market.
The discovery highlights growing concerns about hardware authenticity in the enterprise storage market and the need for enhanced verification methods when purchasing mission-critical equipment.