Established Titles Scam

Overview

The Established Titles Scam refers to a controversy surrounding accusations that the company Established Titles, a frequent sponsor on YouTube videos that claims to allow people to buy a Lordship or Ladyship title alongside a plot of land in Scotland in support of the preservation of woodland areas there, is a scam. Established Titles sponsored videos by dozens of creators throughout 2022, including SomeOrdinaryGamers, Ben Shapiro and Logan Paul and claims to plant trees in Scotland with every plot of land purchased. In November 2022, YouTuber Scott Shafer posted a viral video explaining how the company is a scam, inspiring some creators to drop them as a sponsor.

History

What Is Established Titles

Established Titles, started by Katerina Yip, has been in business since as early as mid-2021. Along with offering Lordship and Ladyship packages, they also sell items, purportedly donating the money to eco-friendly projects in Scotland. In April 2021 they were selling 17th-century maps of Scotland designed by mapmaker John Speed.^[1] That month, they also reportedly made charitable donations to children in Scotland.^[2] In September 2021, they then reportedly started a tree-planting initiative in the country.^[3] On the website's About page,^[4] the business is described as follows:

Established Titles is a fun gift, meant for a good laugh and not to be taken too seriously. With the help of a few friends, we bought a few hundred acres of land in Scotland, have pledged to protect it and keep it as is forever, and plant a tree with every order we get through one of our tree planting partners.

The page further describes the origins of the company in a series of paragraphs written in old English, writing:

Having stumbled across the Scottish custom of landowners being referred to as Lairds (Scots for Lord) [Katerina Yip] bethought combining this with 1 square foot plots wouldst beest a wonderful way of preserving woodland in Scotland, while making a most wondrous gift for those looking for something special. The Lady did starteth Established Titles as a side project and currently works on Land Assets at Galton Voysey Limited as an Entrepreneur in Residence.

The website's FAQ page answers some questions about the company in more depth. One question asks, "Can I refer to myself as a Lord or Lady?" with the answer, "Yes" and "Most jurisdictions will allow you to update your title when you choose to do so." One of the entries on the website's FAQ^[5] page asks, "What are souvenir plots?" explaining:

The plots of land themselves are recognised and referred to as 'souvenir plots' in Scotland. Though souvenir plots are typically too small to be registered with the Scottish Land Registry directly, we maintain our own private records and take our arrangements with our Lords and Ladies very seriously.

Scam Accusation by MedCrisis

On November 16th, 2022, Twitter^[6] user @MedCrisis posted a thread accusing Established Titles of being a scam, garnering over 600 likes and 120 retweets in two weeks (shown below, left to right).

Scott Shafer's "Established Titles Scam" Video

On November 23rd, 2022, YouTuber^[7] Scott Shafer posted a video titled, "Established Titles Scam -YouTube's BIGGEST Con! Graham Stephan & Andrei Jikh." In the video, he shows several clips of YouTubers advertising Established Titles on their videos and proceeds to describe how he believes the company is a scam.

He begins the video by claiming they aren't selling you land at all, instead selling a "gag gift" known as a souvenir plot. He then details how there is a law in Scotland that does not allow plots of land as small as what Established Titles offers to be sold. He adds that if you were to go to Scotland to claim the land, you "would be laughed at because you don't actually own anything," Established Titles still owns it.

Shafer then disputes the claim that you can use "Lord," "Laird" or "Lady" as an official title after purchasing the land, citing an official statement from "the highest court in Scotland" to prove this. He goes on to claim that Established Titles does not plant trees with every purchase. Instead, they donate money to a tree-planting company called One Tree Planted and have purportedly never provided evidence that they do so. According to Shafer, the land that the company owns is already part of a protected plot and therefore does not help the environment.

After explaining this, Shafer looks deeper into the company's founder, Katerina Yip, showcasing her LinkedIn^[8] profile. According to her profile, she is based out of Hong Kong and is "Co-Founder & President at fail ventures" and a board member at Galton Voysey and Trifecta Retail Ventures. According to Shafer, Fail Ventures is responsible for numerous "scammy" e-commerce sites, including DealDash, Galton Voysey, Kamikoto Knives and Established Titles. Kamikoto Knives also sponsors YouTuber videos. DealDash has been sued in the past for running what NBC News^[9] reported as "perverse lotteries."

Shafer's video proceeded to gain over 2.1 million views in four days, largely helping to spread awareness of the controversy online (seen below).

At one point, Scott Shafer had a list of the names of all known YouTubers who have been sponsored by Established Titles pinned to the video.^[10] The list has been removed, but Shafer posted an unlisted, 12-minute long video to YouTube^[11] on November 26th where he shows clips of dozens of YouTubers promoting Established Titles, including the timestamped list in a pinned comment, garnering over 48,000 views in two days (shown below). In the description, he discourages anyone from using the list to harass creators.

Established Titles' Response

On November 24th, 2022, Established Titles emailed a response letter to their frequent YouTube partners responding to the claims that they're a scam, calling the accusations an "unfounded attack based on bogus claims." They refute claims that they're a scam and say creators are spreading these rumors for views. They also write that the "attack" undermines their work, writing, "In the past two years, we have done more tangible work in donating to plant over 2 million trees," although they offer no evidence for this.

The letter also claims that they will refund anybody who wants a refund, that the title packages are meant to be a fun gift, nothing serious, and that no new information about their company was brought to light with these accusations, writing, "We have always been clear that our certificates are based on a historic Scottish custom of calling landowners 'Laids/Lords or Ladies" […] it does not grant you the right to rule or make you a member of any royal family." The letter was shared by YouTuber^[15] Internet Anarchist on November 28th after he was sent one by the company (shown below, left, response letter, right).

Online Response

Following Shafer's viral video, numerous YouTubers who were sponsored by Established Titles announced they were cutting ties with the company. On November 24th, 2022, YouTubers^[12][13] The Quartering and SomeOrdinaryGamers responded to the video, announcing they were cutting ties, garnering over 324,000 and 600,000 views respectively in four days (shown below, left and right). On November 25th, YouTuber^[14] TehMimi posted a similar video. On November 28th, YouTuber^[16] Browntable announced on Twitter^[16] that he was cutting ties with Established Titles.

Search Interest

External References