The great Rhode scam: The pop-up store that popped off

Updated March 17, 2025, 6:25 a.m. | By East Coast Breakfast / Skyye Ndlovu

A fake luxury beauty store popped up then vanished overnight, leaving netizens stunned and confused. How did this happen?

You know that excitement when a big international brand finally lands in South Africa? The same buzz we felt when Starbucks and Burger King graced our shores?

Well, Johannesburg recently had its own moment of retail euphoria – until it wasn’t.

Hailey Bieber’s beauty brand Rhode seemingly opened a sleek new store at Mall of Africa, and local beauty lovers wasted no time pulling up.

TikTok influencers flooded our feeds with unboxings, reviews, and vlogs of their lavish shopping sprees. The store looked legit. The products looked legit. The excitement was real.

You know what else was real? The scam.

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As exciting as this new store was, there were a few red flags. The official Rhode website and social media channels made no mention of a pop-up shop in South Africa.

Yet there it was – a fully stocked, branded, and beautifully designed store inside the Mall of Africa.

@ms.prinsloo Mall of Africa 🇿🇦 @rhode skin ♬ Sogni ancora - Piero Piccioni

Enter South Africa’s favourite unpaid investigators: social media sleuths.

Kiara-Lee Pombo was the first to throw up a giant scam alert, questioning the legitimacy of the store.

@kiarapombo This is not hate towards any creator that posted it just my opinion, it’s purely for those interested in going🤍@rhode skin ♬ original sound - Kiara-lee Pombo✨

Then, Mi’chal Naidoo took it to the next level. She emailed the actual Rhode team, and they swiftly confirmed: “Nope, not us. That ain’t our store.”

@michal_naidoo Rhode Mall Of Africa Saga #rhodegate #rhosesaga #mallofafrica #mallofafricascam #rhodescam #rhodesouthafrica #greenscreen ♬ original sound - Mi'chal Naidoo

Turns out, everything about this was fake. Rhode had no plans to come to SA, and those pricey products were counterfeit.

TikTok user @ms.prinsloo, one of the many excited customers, spent a small fortune at the store, only to realise later that she had been duped.

Naturally, she rushed back to Mall of Africa the very next day to return her purchases. But plot twist: Rhode had hit the road.

Vanished. Poof. Gone in 60 seconds. The store was wiped out as if it had never existed.

@ms.prinsloo In less than 24 hours of me buying from them 😭 why can’t we have nice things in South Africa 🥲 #mallofafrica #southafrica #rhode #scammed ♬ original sound - Danè

Honestly, this level of precision and speed feels like it was orchestrated by The Professor from 'Money Heist'.

Reports suggest that a company called Beautessa was behind the pop-up store, pulling off a scam so elaborate that it fooled hundreds of customers and managed to secure prime retail space at one of SA’s biggest malls.

The audacity is almost impressive.

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As funny as this is in hindsight (for those who didn’t lose money), it’s also a wake-up call. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Before rushing to swipe your card, do a little digging.

Oh, and maybe (just maybe) wait for confirmation from official brand platforms before handing over your hard-earned cash.