Revelations of a service master: Anatomy of deception on Avito

Cameras are often brought to our workshop “from under grandfather, who filmed his grandson on holidays.” But you open the tag `ShutterCount` - and there are 320 thousand shots! For 14 years, I have studied all the tricks of resellers inside and out.

Is it possible to hide mileage on Nikon without anyone noticing?

The 3 main ways in which resellers mislead buyers

1. File name manipulation (`DSC_0005.JPG`)

The seller posts a screenshot of the folder, where the last frame is called `DSC_0008.JPG`, and assures: *“Look, I’m only 8 Made the shots!”*. This is a scam for newbies. If you go to `File numbering` in the camera menu and select `Reset`, The name counter is reset to zero, and the physical tag in the EEPROM continues to count real tens of thousands.

2. Substitution of a file before sending by mail

When you ask to send a test photo, the cunning seller takes a photo from a completely **different fresh carcass** of the same one models. You check it on the website - there are 4,000 frames. The camera arrives and there are 250,000 on it.

• How to expose:Always check the `SerialNumber` tag from our website report with the metal number on the belly of the camera! They must match character by character.

3. Removing MakerNote through graphic editors

The seller sends a photo processed in Photoshop or opened on a phone. The shutter section is cut out, the website reports error. The seller says: *"Oh, well, the site is probably buggy, but the camera is new!"*.

Table of methods of deception and methods of defense

Seller's Trick	How he tries to deceive	How to 100% reveal the truth
Resetting the counter in the menu	Change the file name to DSC_0001	Checking the ShutterCount binary tag on our website
Alien test frame	Sending a photo from another fresh carcass	Verification of SerialNumber from EXIF ​​with carcass engraving
Cut EXIF	Saving via Save for Web	Require a clean .NEF source directly from the SD card