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South St. Paul company says it’s being targeted by fake ad scam
WindRider, an outdoor apparel store, says fake ads are telling customers they can buy products for huge discounts. The company feels powerless to stop it.
SOUTH ST PAUL, Minn. — Since 2010, South St. Paul-based WindRider has built a national reputation in the outdoor apparel industry. Launching originally as a sailboat manufacturer, the company now offers sun protection clothes, rain gear, ice-fishing suits and a variety of other products to buyers across the country.
Usually, in anticipation of ice-fishing season, WindRider sees a strong boost in sales starting in early November and lasting through the winter.
Strangely, though, that did not happen in 2023-24.
“At the beginning of November, we weren’t really seeing the traction we were seeing historically,” CEO Robert Sanberg said. “All the sudden, we started getting calls, of like, ‘Hey, where’s my suit?'”
Hundreds of frustrated customers reported buying items from WindRider that they never received. When the customers presented order numbers, they did not match anything inside of WindRider’s system. The company had no record of any of the purchases.
At first, Sanberg found himself perplexed by the whole situation.
Then, after doing some digging online, he discovered a barrage of Facebook advertisements offering enormous discounts on WindRider items. One of his products, for example, was marked down from $599 to $49.90. Clearly, something had gone terribly wrong.
According to Sanberg, a fake company — which he believes is based overseas — has created more than 700 of these false ads as a form of trickery. When customers click the links to buy the discounted items, they are directed to a fake WindRider website, barely distinguishable from the real thing.
“They got me for $61. I thought this was the first of 12 payments,” one customer wrote on Facebook. “This is the last time I try to buy anything off Facebook!!!!”
Over the past two months, Sanberg said more than 1,000 people have called to inform him that they fell victim to this scam. The scheme is so sophisticated that customers have reported dealing with fake customer-service representatives, who told them to check with their local U.S. Post Office to figure out why their WindRider items were missing.
Sanberg said he’s frustrated with the lack of response from Facebook, which he said has taken days to remove some of the ads.
“Every time we get something taken down, [the scammers] create a new one and they’re off to the races scamming people,” Sanberg said. “Truly, daily, I get up in the middle of the night, and low and behold new ads have popped up. It’s playing whac-a-mole constantly of trying to get the ads taken down.”
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, did not respond to KARE 11’s request for comment.
A spokesperson from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office said he could not specify how many people have made complaints about the fake WindRider ads due to privacy reasons, but in general, he said “scam ads make a frequent appearance in complaints we receive about Facebook.”
For WindRider, the toll has been devastating. Sanberg estimates he has lost at least $1 million in revenue over the past two months, due to plummeting sales. To make matters worse, he’s now fighting an uphill battle to clear his company’s name, which has become associated with an online scam through no fault of its own. (WindRider has an A+ accredidation from the Better Business Bureau.)
“There’s the immediate revenue which is significant, and hurts, but I’m also super concerned about the long-term brand damage,” Sanberg said. “There’s a sense of helplessness. There’s nothing I can do to stop this.”
Sanberg said he has tried cutting ad spending on Facebook, but the false advertisements continue to appear.
“We’ve contacted the Attorney General, had an attorney write demand letters… all this stuff, and basically, nothing has worked and nothing has come of it,” Sanberg said. “We’re in a holding pattern and continue to get calls from people who continue to be scammed. They’re frustrated because they thought they ordered something and nothing showed up. It’s definitely a frustrating and challenging situation.”
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At least one of the sites was immediately cleared in response to the shootings.
MINNEAPOLIS — By Monday afternoon, there wasn’t a tent in site along the railroad tracks off of E 44th St between Hiawatha and Snelling Avenues. There was only some leftover crime tape.
Just 24 hours prior, two men were killed and a woman was critically hurt in a triple shooting there.
Sunday, a neighbor told KARE what started with one tent in August grew in recent weeks. Police Chief Brian O’Hara and Mayor Jacob Frey held a press conference that day.
“The Third Precinct, this part of the city, has the greatest concentration of homeless encampments so it remains a very serious public safety issue,” O’Hara said. “As soon as these encampments move in, we have a significant increase in crime in the general area and once we’re able to clear them, crime generally does go down.”
Monday, a City of Minneapolis spokesperson confirmed the encampment was “closed earlier today” and that “debris was cleared” from a smaller encampment where yet another triple shooting occurred early Saturday morning.
This one was near E 21st St and 15th Ave S. Three men were shot and one of them died.
Monday afternoon, there was a small fire going and a couple of adults seated outside. A memorial was also placed beside the fencing. The city says there weren’t any structures to remove from the location.
Frey’s office confirmed the immediate closure of the E 44th St encampment was a result of the shootings. However, there were prior discussions about closing it in the near future.
The Mayor’s Office sent KARE 11 the following statement Monday evening:
“The tragic and unacceptable loss of life at homeless encampments underscores the need for immediate action. Encampments are plagued by fentanyl abuse, drug trafficking, and gun violence, and they do not provide a dignified way to live—not for encampment residents and not for the neighbors in surrounding communities.”
“As new encampments form, we are committed to closing them while continuously offering shelter, addiction recovery resources, and support to our homeless residents.”
– Office of Mayor Jacob Frey
A city spokesperson also sent a statement saying the “Minneapolis Homeless Response Team is working right now with the Minneapolis Police Department, Hennepin County and other service providers to offer unsheltered individuals at both locations the necessary resources, services and shelter.”
“We want to help our residents find suitable arrangements in the most supportive and humane way we can. All of our Minneapolis residents deserve better,” the statement continued.
A police spokesperson confirmed no arrests have been made in either case.
The suspect was 17 at the time of the shooting, but he was charged as an adult.
A St. Paul man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, more than two years after a drive-by shooting left a 17-year-old dead.
Casimir Semlak, of St. Paul, was charged with shooting 17-year-old Anthony Skelley in May 2022 during an apparent drug deal in South St. Paul. Police say a search of Skelley’s cell phone uncovered that the last number he was in communication with was linked to the suspect.
Semlak was also 17 at the time but was charged in the adult court system.
Following his death, family members told KARE 11 in a statement that Skelley was a junior attending St. Paul Public Schools’ Gateway to College program, and had “a beautiful soul with a cheerful presence and a joyful spirit.”
Semlak will be sentenced in January 2025.
The Moorhead Police Department said Paige Reinke was last seen Sunday wearing a blue sweatshirt and gray sweatpants.
MOORHEAD, Minn. — Officials are asking for the public’s help locating a 17-year-old Moorhead girl that is believed to be endangered.
According to the Moorhead Police Department, Paige Reinke was last seen Sunday near the 2600 block of River Drive North wearing a blue sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) describes her as 5-foot-4, 155 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Moorhead Police Department at 701-451-7660.
