Etsy Staff - message

[BrightStarssBooks]

Hi, I am new to opening up my store and I am selling digital products, I'm not sure whether the purchases are real cos there is no order update on my shop but I am getting emails saying people are purchasing. the messages say the following - 

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why do i need to send my email if it is a digital download. - are these real? so confused! Please help

[CraftyCornishMaids]

It's a scam.

If the message is from etsy,

then where you read messages, it's in the "from etsy" folder in the left

if its not there, it's not from Etsy.

Mark the message as spam, and do NOT reply, or give them any information

[DivineCrossings]

This is a scam….its been targeting new sellers for months now. I also recommend checking in to the forums at least once a day to keep up with the latest available information. Read the following:

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

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

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

DO NOT RESPOND AND SEND THE MESSAGE TO SPAM

[JMOldeVintage]

Am I the only one who wonders if shops owners are getting emails, or, Etsy messages?

I believe as part of the UK/EU requirements shops must show their email address in the contact info?
(And this may be changing & all shops will need to do this?)

I'd guess there's a way to "acquire" email addresses with a bot?
If the scam stuff sent to their email address then it's not going to a "from Etsy" folder that is there for messages sent thru Etsy.
So based on percentage of success, the scammers might hang around for ages?

[DivineCrossings]

@JMOldeVintage @I agree! It is so confusing when sellers use “email” and “messages” interchangeably. Drives me crazy and makes it more difficult to understand the problem and help with a solution. Email and messages ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS! Lol….ugh!

[Amaradorn]

@JMOldeVintage if they have notifications turned on then they will receive an email when they get a message via their Etsy account. So, yes - they get both, which makes it more complicated as new sellers may not even realise that they have a message inbox on their shop account.

[JMOldeVintage]

@Amaradorn - Yes, there are the notifications from Etsy that they have an Etsy message or a sale. 

But I can see your email address by going into the information you're required to make public.

Which is why I wonder if shops are receiving some of these scam attempts in their "real" email & not as an Etsy message. 

And as I re-read my first sentence I almost get angry, realizing that the scammers may be sending this type of email to a shop owner. Only theirs will accept replies. 

[Amaradorn]

@JMOldeVintage Yes, that's also a possibility. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do about that. Email addresses can be 'harvested' in lots of ways. 

[ZenCatPottery]

Any sale you make will immediately appear in your shop dashboard.  It will also say “1 sale” at the top of your shop page.  I can tell you have no sales because there are none listed on your shop.

If a message is NOT in the “From Etsy” folder in messages it is NOT from Etsy.

@BrightStarssBooks 

[BagmakerSupply]

@BrightStarssBooks: It is NOT an order - real orders will show up on your Orders & Shipping page and your Payments page.

Are you referring to Etsy Messages or actual eMails (not the copy of the Message that you can have eMailed to you)? Real messages from Etsy are now going into their own section on your Messages page https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/New-From-Etsy-section-in-Messages/m-p/143722497#M1899

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.

Be sure to mark the message as SPAM so that it does not affect your stats.