EXPOSED: Estimated 600,000 Victims in “Bait and Switch” Groups Across 9 States on Facebook

Facebook Groups Masquerading as Local Communities Are Running Coordinated Merchandise Scams

A growing number of Facebook groups presenting themselves as nostalgic, community-based spaces for former or current residents of U.S. states are being used as fronts for a widespread merchandise scam. Operating across multiple groups and targeting hundreds of thousands of users, the effort involves carefully crafted emotional content followed by a deceptive “bait and switch” — in which the original posts are later edited to promote AI-generated products through storefronts hosted on a third-party platform.

The network began to surface through the Facebook group “Growing up in Maryland,” which has over 51,000 members and claims to be a space for shared memories about the state. Posts in the group commonly feature vintage photos or calls for users to comment on their childhood schools or neighborhoods. These posts often receive hundreds or thousands of interactions. However, once a post reaches peak engagement, it is quietly edited — replacing the nostalgic content with ads for personalized merchandise, such as AI-generated quilts featuring state themes or slogans. These products are sold through external websites like newdesignss.com and ournewdesing.shop, both of which use the e-commerce platform ShopBase.

The people running these groups are not former residents or local historians. The same admin and moderator team appears across at least six major groups, including “Florida History (State)” (150,000 members), “Idaho History (State)” (32,000 members), “Things to do in Michigan” (162,000 members), “I grew up in Texas” (98,000 members), and “Growing up in Louisiana” (104,000 members). In each case, only admins and moderators are allowed to post, giving the illusion of organic community participation while controlling all visible content. Names such as Tess Elizabeth Stiver, Jahed Miah, Jahed Ahmed, Alison Backer, Clarence Brown, Addisons, and Eva Reyes appear consistently in admin roles across these groups, indicating centralized control.

The merchandise itself appears to be generated using artificial intelligence and is often accompanied by emotionally charged descriptions. In some cases, posts claim that a moderator’s autistic son designed the quilt as a way to raise money — a tactic intended to dissuade skepticism and encourage users to make impulsive purchases. The linked websites direct users to stores hosted on ShopBase, an e-commerce platform that supports dropshipping and print-on-demand services. ShopBase is a legitimate business headquartered at 548 Market St #14148, San Francisco, CA, and is designed to help entrepreneurs launch online stores, especially in cross-border commerce. The platform does not appear to be directly involved in the scam activity, but is being used as the backend infrastructure that enables the storefronts to function.

ShopBase was launched in 2019 by the OpenCommerce Group to support small businesses and online sellers with tools for marketing, fulfillment, and automation. It currently powers over 130,000 stores in nearly 200 countries. Although ShopBase promotes transparency and support for entrepreneurs, its tools — like many e-commerce platforms — can be exploited by bad actors. In this case, scammers are using the platform to build stores like newdesignss.com and ournewdesing.shop, both of which use identical contact information and product designs. These storefronts have also been linked to a broader network of entities using names such as Gavmart, Bcstore, Bearsumo, and others — several of which have received numerous complaints from consumers.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) lists multiple businesses at ShopBase’s San Francisco address, including ShopBase itself. While the platform holds a legitimate corporate presence, BBB records show ShopBase has received an F rating for failing to respond to over 120 complaints due to these businesses. This suggests that while ShopBase may not be intentionally facilitating scams, its services are actively being exploited by deceptive actors running fraud operations through Facebook. Complaints include unauthorized transactions, incorrect products, and substandard quality.

Another group, “Alaska Everything,” with 55,000 members, follows the same model using alternate admin names, but promotes nearly identical products linked to the same infrastructure. Quilts and similar merchandise for Ohio, Alabama, and North Carolina also appear on the scam-linked storefronts, indicating that Facebook groups targeting those states may already exist or are in development.

Despite variations in branding or admin identities, the hallmarks of the scam remain the same: nostalgic or emotionally engaging posts created solely to build trust and increase reach, followed by a covert edit and redirection to an external storefront. The network has so far targeted at least nine U.S. states and amassed a combined audience of nearly 600,000 users — all under false pretenses and operated by a web of admins using tools meant for legitimate e-commerce.

Unfortunately, when reporting the posts or groups to Facebook, Meta fails to act on these scams, with automated review typically replying that the post or group doesn’t violate their community standards. Meanwhile, users will continue to be duped into sharing posts by these scammers, and helping them sell their questionable merchandise to friends and family.

Article by multiple RFHC contributors, based upon information from internal monitoring of Facebook groups, domain-linked metadata, and the Better Business Bureau.

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