On June 29, 2024, Google users searched for answers about a purported Travis Mathew warehouse sale scam. To help these users, I decided to perform research to look for answers. My investigation led me to uncover the culprit: Facebook and Instagram ads that funneled users to the scam website erritor.com.
This story will expose all the details I found about this scam. I’m also going to take readers through my process of how I research these schemes and find helpful information. It’s good to learn not only how to detect scams but also how to locate scams other users are encountering online.
How I Found the Travis Mathew Warehouse Sale Scam
My process in finding the origins of the scam began with me noticing users searching for a Travis Mathew warehouse sale. I first looked to Facebook and Instagram. Scams featuring supposed “warehouse sales” often originate in ads on the two Meta-owned platforms.
A search of the Meta Ad Library website for Travis Mathew displayed several results. I first found results for travismathew.com and travismathew.jp. I thought the ads for travismathew.jp might be a scam coming from Japan. However, that website looked quite official.
I then performed a search of Facebook posts for Travis Mathew. I quickly found a page named, “Travismathew Warehouse Sale.”
The Facebook page only displayed 136 likes and 136 followers. Also, the profile photo on the page displayed “8” for the number of comments. However, none of those comments were visible, meaning someone either hid or deleted them.
The Travis Mathew Warehouse Sale Scam Ads
On the Facebook page created by scammers, I clicked “About” and “Page Transparency.” The “Page Transparency” tab read, “This Page is currently running ads.” I clicked to see the ads on the Meta Ad Library.
One of the Travis Mathew warehouse sale scam ads read as follows: “It’s our BIGGEST SALE ! Travismathew Warehouse Sale to score deals on some of your favorite polos, hats, tees, shorts, and more! Save up to 90% off doorbusters! #golf #travismathew #pga #callaway #taylormade #golfing #titleist #golfswing #viral #losangeles #golflife.”
The ad’s link pointed to erritor.com, which was a scam website pretending to be a Travis Mathew warehouse sale.
The Erritor.com Scam Website
Erritor.com was likely not alone. Similar tactics used by scammers in past fake “warehouse sale” scams suggest this website was one of several.
On erritor.com’s “About Us” page, the page simply read, “erritor: Design and create chic clothing. We provide customized services for every customer. Our team of designers are a team of talented designers who make our clothing stand out to ensure you are unique and stylish in our clothing. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us by: Email address: orderinfos@erritor.com.”
A search for more information about the person or people who registered erritor.com produced few helpful results. Judging from past scams, scammers in China likely registered the website. However, the only information shown in results from a GoDaddy.com WHOIS tool search said an unidentified person registered the domain on April 26, 2024. GoDaddy.com listed “DOMAIN NAME NETWORK PTY LTD” as the domain registrar. The search also listed details for ename.com with name servers associated with alidns.com.
Meta Accepts Money for Scam Ads
Meta accepts money for and approves thousands and thousands of scam ads all of the time. The exact reason why Meta accepts money to display scam ads to users remains unclear. However, wouldn’t it be more beneficial for Meta to invest in credible moderators who could thoroughly review ads before showing them to users? After all, the company reports tens of billions of dollars in quarterly revenue. Such a large amount of money seems like enough funds to hire a large moderation team to manually check 100 percent of ads.
The best theory of why Meta allows scam ads is because more ads means more money for the company. Meta’s defense to any government body or law enforcement organization would likely hinge on the fact they provided users with the ability to report ads by clicking or tapping a “Report” button. Bear in mind such users aren’t on Meta’s payroll, so it’s unclear why Meta believes users should do the company’s work for them.
What To Do If You Were Scammed
Victims of the Travis Mathew warehouse sale scam should immediately call their credit card company. If a user made a purchase with another payment method, call that financial institution. Examples of other financial institutions include a bank debit card, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App and Zelle.
Inform your financial institution over the phone regarding what happened with the scammy Facebook ad leading to the erritor.com website.
Further, if any scammed readers wish to share their story, please comment below. That also goes for any readers who have helpful details to share.
These sorts of scams will likely continue long into the future. Fake warehouse sales, outlet sales, and going-out-of-business sales appear online all of the time. The important thing to do is to never make a purchase on a website or over the phone unless you are certain you are dealing with a reputable business. Listen to the little voice in your head. That voice is there to help you.
For further reading, I previously reported the article, “$6400 Subsidy Scam Appearing in Video Ads, Explained.”