Popular Skiing Instagram Account Exposed for Scamming Followers

It's not often that POWDER dips its toes into the bizarre world of internet drama and scams, but when it involves skiing or skiers, we're interested.

Our story starts with a post shared on August 22, 2024 on the r/skiing subreddit by u/First_Ad7819. The user claims that they nearly fell victim to an internet scam by a popular Instagram account called @theskiing.

@theskiing , while a great name for SEO, but certainly not the most creative, has amassed over 326,000 followers. That's not too shabby when compared to popular ski brands and athletes. For context, Tom Wallisch has 284,000 followers.

The page is controversial in nature due to its "ask for forgiveness and not permission" mentality when it comes to sharing videos. Like many aggregators, @theskiing finds clips across the internet and posts them without asking the creator for permission first. Don't worry though, they have a convenient Instagram account called @credities that you can DM to "take down post or credit". Essentially, @theskiing has developed a massive following by taking other people's content and repurposing it for their financial gain.

'Welcome to media in 2024', some skeptics might say, but the alleged scams go much further than simply ripping videos. A quick look at the account's 'Link in Bio' should send up red flags for any internet-savvy user.

@theskiing sells 'Mystery Boxes' containing a variety of skiing, snowboarding, and mountain bike gear that include, "global shipping 2-5 weeks guaranteed". The images of the Mystery Boxes are adorned with expensive items like a new pair of skis, a full-suspension mountain bike, and action cameras. There are also a variety of lesser-value items like balaclavas, goggles, gloves, and water bottles.

Customers pay $110 for a chance to win one of the mystery box items. Meaning, an unlucky customer might walk away with a simple balaclava while a fortunate customer could get a brand new pair of skis. It's a roll of the dice, so to say, and a cash-grabbing one for @theskiing at that.

While incredibly predatory on those with gambling addictions and uncontrollable spending habits, mystery boxes aren't necessarily illegal, but @theskiing's numerous false promises and "guarantees", are.

The Mystery Box might seem like a scam in itself (who wants to pay over $100 for a simple balaclava?!) but multiple reddit users, including u/First_Ad7819, have alleged that @theskiing has a knack for selling Mystery Boxes, and then never delivering them.

u/TheBadBox (a somewhat ironic name for this story) says, "They have been scamming for 3+ years now. Got me and a good chunk of my ski club back in college. I’ve tried all I can to get them taken down but they just keep going. They even have sub brands for other sports where they do the same stuff. They have a mountain biking one that pops up and gets deleted somewhat often."

u/First_Ad7819, the Redditor that called out the scam in the first place, even shared a screenshot from an alleged Direct Message interaction between @theskiing and an account that seeks to expose scammers. See below.

POWDER has reached out @theskiing for comment, but has not received a response.

It's easy to say that "only dumb people" fall for internet scams, but when it comes to the alleged predatory behavior of @theskiing, anybody could become a victim. The allure of brand-new gear at low prices is so enticing that hundreds of folks have given @theskiing their hard-earned money. Whether they received a crappy pair of goggles or never saw a Mystery Box at all, the scam had been successfully completed.

Stay vigilant when you're perusing the internet, friends. If it seems like a scam, it's probably a scam. If you have doubts, it's probably a scam. If you feel like it's risky, it's probably a scam. If you have to ask somebody for their opinion on the matter, it's probably a scam. If somebody is telling you that you can own a brand new $10,000+ mountain bike for just over $100 in a roll-of-the dice, you're probably getting scammed.

Let's put these scammers in the dust and support our local ski shops this Fall and Winter. Walk in, shake a real person's hand, ask them real questions about the gear, and walk out with real gear in hand. You know, the way it's supposed to be.

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