If you search for “women’s western wear” on Facebook, you might come across a page called Wear the West.
The title proudly proclaims “Made in Texas,” and the first posts show beautiful women’s shirts and dresses with Southwestern flair.
Most posts proclaim that “every order supports a small Texas family business affected by flooding.” The page even boasts a Kerrville address: 1731 Sidney Baker St.
There’s only one problem. The store does not exist. At least not physically and not in Kerrville.
“Yeah, that was a scam. We’re not affiliated with them,” said an employee for Billy’s Western Wear, the real western clothing store at 1731 Sidney Baker St.
According to the Better Business Bureau, Wear the West and the associated website, wearthewest.com, is an online retail scam.
Victims of Wear the West reported losing between $40 and $140. Some received items that were of very low quality and nothing like the pictures.
At least five reports on the BBB website state that the items customers received were shipped from overseas locations and took weeks or months to arrive.
At least one customer never received their order at all.
“They even said they resent the order,” claims a North Carolina-based customer in a report on bbb.org. “Twice their tracking showed that it had been delivered. So disappointed.”
Billy’s Western Wear is not the only Kerrville business to have their address used by an unassociated Facebook page.
Kerrville Title Company on Thompson Drive and Gypsy Pearl Boutique on Water Street have also been listed as physical locations for other “western wear” stores on social sites.
Kerrville Title was listed as the address for a page called Cowgirl Elf, and Gypsy Pearl’s address and corporate phone number were posted as contact for Texas Western Shop.
Both companies confirmed that they do not and have never had any connection to the clothing or stores listed on Facebook.
These online storefronts have become part of a growing trend called “dropshipping scams.” Dropshipping in and of itself is a fairly standard retail model. Amazon and other reputable online retailers will often take customer orders on their website and send those orders to third-party manufacturers to fill and ship them to the customer.
The problem with the model is that it can easily be abused by bad actors. Scammers, like those associated with Wear the West, pretend to be “local” or “family-owned” businesses with desirable-looking clothing and in desperate need of funds.
Wear the West and similar pages appeared in July of 2025.
Wear the West and other shops claimed to have been affected personally and professionally by the July 4, 2025, flooding. At least two found on Facebook claimed to have “lost everything,” and one claimed to be a “nonprofit” that donates to verified and respected area nonprofits.
One such shop posted that they had given a “generous gift” to the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country for flood relief. The Community Foundation confirmed that it had never received any funds from the organization.
What’s more, at least one such shop, Texas Factory Outlet, discloses on its website that it is actually based, not out of Kerrville as its Facebook page claims, but out of a warehouse in China.
Many of the shops, including Wear the West, stopped making regular social posts around December of 2025. But, according to The Better Business Bureau website, the latest victim of Wear the West made a report in June of 2026.
While the pages on Facebook may have officially stopped posting, advertisements for the false storefronts still appear on social sites. And they are some of the first to pop up if someone searches for “Women’s Western Wear.”
Sgt. Jonathan Lamb of the Kerrville Police Department offered advice about some of the best ways to deal with these types of scams.
“We saw a bunch of these scams last July,” Lamb said. “Unfortunately, there are always people willing to take advantage of tragic situations for profit.”
He recommended taking the following actions to avoid these types of social scams.
- Verify the store or business yourself: Search the business’ name directly, without clicking links on the Facebook post.
- Check the store’s age and history: On Facebook, click “Page Transparency” to see when it was created. Scam stores are often brand new.
- Look for a real “About” section: Legitimate businesses will list a physical address, a working phone number and a real contact email, not just a contact form. A lot of “dropship” companies only exist online.
- Reverse-image search product photos: Fake stores will usually steal images from other stores. You can do this by right-clicking on the image and selecting “search Google Lens.” Another red flag is a shop using images that are obviously AI-generated.
- Search for reviews of the store: Search “(store name) + scam” or “reviews” on Google or Reddit, not just testimonials on their own website.
- Be wary of vague donation claims: Things like “a portion of proceeds” with no specific percentage, dollar amount or named charity are common scam tactics.
- Contact the named charity directly: A quick email or call to ask “are you partnered with this store?” often settles it fast.
- Use a credit card, not a debit card: This gives you dispute/chargeback protection if it turns out to be fraudulent. Debit card charges can be disputed, but they’ll usually take longer, and it’s not as easy.
If you believe you have become the victim of a scam, make sure to report the page or post on the social site where you found it, dispute the charge with your card issuer, and report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
If you wish to donate to a community nonprofit, KPD recommends that you do so directly on the organization’s website or approved social pages.
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