Fake Compaq kit hits UK

One of the UK's major distributors has admitted that it has up to £200,000 worth of fake Compaq memory on its shelves.

One of the UK's major distributors has admitted that it has up to £200,000 worth of fake Compaq memory on its shelves. Fake Compaq-branded digital linear tape (DLT) drives and controllers are also in circulation, sources have said.

The memory was supplied by a broker that claimed to have bought directly from Compaq in Hong Kong, and is packaged for retail. The distributor will probably be able to return the product, so resellers should look out for the broker's attempts to sell it again, said a source close to the anonymous distributor.

Neil Dagger, senior product marketing manager at Compaq, said although he was not aware of this specific instance, shipments of fake Compaq products do occur from time to time. "Resellers should buy only from official Compaq sources. If you use the grey market you are going to get burned," he said.

Dagger said resellers should be particularly wary of anything that is suspiciously cheap or comes in packaging that varies from what they are used to buying.

The distributor has reported the incident to Compaq headquarters in Houston, but company representatives could not find anybody familiar with the situation in the UK.

Although the packaging is convincing, the memory can be identified because it uses WinBond processors not used by genuine Compaq memory, sources said. The quality of the memory itself is poor.

• Pentium chips stolen in hammer attack
• A thief stole 200 Intel Pentium processors last Wednesday after attacking a delivery driver with a hammer.

All major distributors contacted by Computer Reseller News since the incident have not been approached to buy the chips, but Intel representative Graham Palmer called for resellers to be vigilant.

The attack was carried out at an Esso garage in Ashford, Middlesex, by a man dressed in a blue bomber jacket wearing a black full-face crash helmet.

It is unclear whether the theft was planned or opportunist, but New Scotland Yard said police have not ruled out a link between the crime and a spate of recent thefts from computer warehouses in Middlesex. The car stolen in the attack was later found empty and abandoned in Feltham, suggesting the vehicle was not the main target.

The value placed on the chips has been recorded at £1.5m, but this figure is questionable as it values each processor at £7,500. Intel's current flagship Pentium III 500MHz Xeon server chip costs £4,447.