Did I just get scammed on the day I opened my account??

[MomtiquesBoutique]

Hello -

I opened a seller account yesterday and posted a few listings.

Shortly after that, I got an email from Etsy Technical support informing me that someone had placed and paid for an order, but that order was being blocked until I could verify my account. They asked for my email and said they would send instructions. 

I replied with my email, and soon after I got a note from Etsy Messages with a digest of the conversation that had been taking place. But there were no instructions! I tried to reply to the message in the Etsy app, but got an error that said "The username you have entered is not a valid Etsy user."

What the H*** is happening here? Did I just get scammed? After a bit more investigation, I found a support article telling me that any genuine message from Etsy will be in the "From Etsy" tab. This message was not in there.

It is EXTREMELY disconcerting that I would get scammed IMMEDIATELY upon signing up for a seller account. This is the time when users are the most vulnerable - with a brand new account, unsure of how the site really works.

Etsy - please help. Was that message in fact a scam? Is my account in good standing? How worried should I be about site security?

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@MomtiquesBoutique: The "The username you have entered is not a valid Etsy user" message almost always means that the account has been closed (either by the person or by Etsy - in this case probably the latter). Just in case, try to mark the message as SPAM.

Real orders will show up on your Orders & Shipping page and your Payments page.

If you have not already done so, you may want to read https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015710308-What-to-Do-After-You-Sell-an-Item?segment=selli... for an overview how orders work for sellers.

Did you receive a real eMail (not the eMail copy of an Etsy Message) or was it a Message? Real messages from Etsy are now going into their own section (labeled as "From Etsy") on your Messages page https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/New-From-Etsy-section-in-Messages/m-p/143722497#M1899 but apparently this is only true when using a browser.

Most likely the Message you received is a SCAM - you might want to read the excellent post by @bradgoodell in https://community.etsy.com/t5/Managing-Your-Shop/How-to-Spot-a-Scam-No-a-Buyer-Doesn-t-Need-Your-Ema... and https://community.etsy.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Why-do-they-ask-me-for-my-e-mail-in-order-to-make-a-p...

Additionally there is also a very informative thread from @StickIt2M at https://community.etsy.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Nefarious-activity-aimed-at-sellers-quot-The-user-nam...

There is also official information from Etsy at https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000343128-How-to-Handle-Spam-and-Suspicious-Messages?segm...

[MomtiquesBoutique]

Thank you, @BagmakerSupply , for the thoughtful and detailed reply so quickly! That is very helpful information!

I think you're right - this was a scam. And I fell for it.

And I'll accept that part of this is on me. I'm no newbie to the internets and I don't fall for stuff like this easily. That said, my confidence in Etsy's site security is a bit shaken if the scammer population is so unfettered that they can hit a new Etsy seller so quickly and with so little trouble.

[FallenAngelBrass]

@MomtiquesBoutique 

I hate to say, it but Etsy has more new sellers than it knows what to do with.   Etsy just announced that it will show a Super Bowl ad, which costs in the $9 mil neighborhood.  The safety of new shop owners seems to be a rock bottom priority right now. 

[BootifulLabels]

@MomtiquesBoutique 

Just to help shore up your confidence in Etsy, the error message you got when you tried to reply to the message, "not a valid Etsy user", show that Etsy was onto this scam before you were, and had already removed the scammers account so that you couldn't reply and subsequently get scammed.

Scammers are like ants at a picnic, you can't always see them in the grass, so you can't stop them coming, but you can hit 'em as soon as they step onto the blanket so they don't get a chance to bite.  Doesn't mean they won't try again at the next picnic blanket.

[ButterflyFeetDigital]

Scam. Etsy probably removed the account before you could reply to it. 

Things to read:

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/Protect-Your-Account-From-Scammers/m-p/143158945#M1882

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Managing-Your-Shop/How-to-Spot-a-Scam-No-a-Buyer-Doesn-t-Need-Your-Ema...

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/New-From-Etsy-section-in-Messages/m-p/143722497#M1899

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000343128-How-to-Handle-Spam-and-Suspicious-Messages

If you receive an actual order, you will see it in your "Orders and Shipping" section and you will receive an email from Etsy notifying you that you have a sale, and there will be a notification in your dashboard as well.

[thePaperFramer]

Scammers do be liking the newbs

Scam, blam, thank you ma'am

[FallenAngelBrass]

• Scam message icons show the Etsy logo (which is easily copied) and nothing else.
• Real Etsy messages have a little orange "E" badge that sits outside the icon walls, which nobody can duplicate. 
• Real Etsy messages show a yellow "From Etsy" badge.
• Real Etsy messages arrive in the "From Etsy" folder, which is visible on a laptop or phone browser. 

[TheHomespunLoft]

@MomtiquesBoutique 

SORRY This happened.. On the practical side.. change your email password-- you do not want them to try to change your etsy acct log in..Make it so only people in your address book can email you-- the others go to SPAM.. which you can check in case there is an error.

If you Gave up any other info-- change the emails on those acts too.

Consider signing up for 2 Factor Authentication.  Just one step to help protect your acct- Just make sure you take note of the codes they give you and keep them safe.