Help! Real or Fake Suspension Message?

[VinzentMik]

(Edit: Thank you for all your help.

My first language is not English, but yes, the style seemed weird and unprofessional to me and I also checked my Shop and there was no suspension display.

I still wanted to make sure since I am new and I want to be part of Etsy of course ;).

Thank you again! )

Hello. I am a new Etsy seller and I got a Chat message from Tamara Insaro saying:

- 

Hello, dear seller!

In order to ensure security on our site, new protection mechanisms have been introduced.

At the moment we have suspended

your shop.

In order to restore the work of your shop, you need to verify your account.

We are now directly linked to the banking system of USA and some other countries. 

We verify every seller with the banking system.

You need to verify your card on a separate verification page.

This verification is done once.

When you are ready, you need to chat your email which is linked to your ETSY account.

This is to make sure that you are the owner of this account and not a stranger. You will receive an email from the official ETSY email which will take you to the verification page.

Verification takes an average of 10 minutes.

Sorry for the inconvenience

Etsy Support

Verification link : orders-

etsy.com/225569 

————-

When I click on the verification link, I get an alert that says that I am about to leave Etsy and to be careful.

I would think that a suspension for verification would come as an E-Mail and not in the Chat? And why would I need to share my bank card info in order to verify myself?

How will I know in the future that a message comes from the real Etsy Support? 

Thank you dear community for your help.

[TheArtfulTwig]

This is a scam, send it to spam and do not engage with anything in the message.  If the message was from Etsy, it would show up in your shop manager in the message section marked "From Etsy."

[NanaLetha]

Scam 

[PlatypusDream]

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

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

[Adorabilities]

You can look at your shop and see that it's not suspended. 

[vintageNCtreasures]

You verified your bank info when you signed up.

That message you got has SOOOOOOOOO many red flags that scream it's a SCAM!

Etsy would NEVER ask you in a message / Chat box to verify anything.
Etsy would never ask for your email, they have it.

Anytime something needs UPDATING on your account, they'll be a notice on your dashboard/finance page.

These scammers take you off Etsy and want you to enter your bank/cc info so they can STEAL your money.

There's a gazillion threads about similar scams going back to July 2023.
They've been announcements, notices on your shop manager, pop ups on your message page alerting sellers to these scams.

[TickleYourWitch]

You know from the get go, "Hello dear seller..."

This is not Etsy-speak.

[ThePurplePuppy]

You listing says you ship from GA.  Therefore I am assuming you speak American English as your first language. Did the message appear to you to be written in proper English. It is very stilted and has a lot of grammar mistakes. It also starts off with "hello, dear Etsy seller". Have you EVER seen an Email message call you a "dear Etsy seller". this alone should tell you it is a scam. Etsy has always addressed me by name. ALL Etsy messages now come into your message center under the link that says "from Etsy". IF not it is certain to be a scam.

Put this in your spam folder and forget about it!  DO NOT reply.

[FallenAngelBrass]

---

@VinzentMik wrote:

Hello. I am a new Etsy seller and I got a Chat message.......

---

Just clarifying that it sounds like you got a direct message and did not interact in the shop manager chat.  We have no reason to be suspect of Etsy shop manager chat discussions since scammers cannot access the Etsy chat to talk with sellers.  You received a direct message, correct? 

[ThePurplePuppy]

@FallenAngelBrass 

I have often wondered when people say they get these messages from "chat" they actually mean thru the Etsy messaging system. I sort of doubt that new sellers even have a chat function available to them.

For any newbies reading this:  The Etsy "chat" when you are talking the the REAL etsy is a small blue circle in the lower right of your screen  in your dashboard functions and it has a little white "talk balloon" inside the circle. If you are "talking" to someone in the large rectangle that pops up when you receive a message that is NOT "Etsy chat". It is simply someone sending you a message

[Adorabilities]

I also see "I got this from the app" or "the app sent me a message" a lot. So some must think the app is Etsy's way of communicating. They don't see that there's a whole messaging system, and that those messages can come from anyone. 

[Vintorious]

We are now directly linked to the banking system of USA and some other countries. 

This is one of the stranger claims these scammers have tried to use. I am in the U.S., and I can say with 100 percent certainty that my bank was linked to my Etsy account years ago. 

They certainly are creative though, I will grant them that. Not always very bright, but creative.

[LeftBrainCreative24]

As a new seller, I too was targeted last week.  I'd read a lot of posts online (e.g. YouTube) about Etsy locking accounts with no explanation. So when I received a message in my inbox (with an Etsy logo) saying they were Customer Support I responded immediately.  They were asking to 're-verify' my payment account in order to 'continue with a pending sale and unlock my account.'  I unfortunately, did as instructed -- & was tag-teamed by 3 very efficient scammers all marked as 'Customer Support' with the logo.   I was then alerted from my bank of a suspicious purchase.  The card was locked immediately.  Just more wasted time on my part getting a new card & updating Etsy payment data    Hindsight, I wish I'd know there is a specific "From Etsy" folder in "Messages".

[AnniebelloPaper]

@LeftBrainCreative24 take most of what is said in youtube videos with a grain (make that a truckload) of salt. Most of those 'experts' don't even have an active shop and quite a few of the sellers that complain about Etsy's procedures are to blame for their own troubles.

Thank goodness your bank saved you from losing every cent in that account. Just be aware that the 'from Etsy' message section is not visible in the app ... one of it's many flaws. 

[hopeandjoystudios]

I have got to the point any time I see "Is this a scam?" on the forums I just yell YES! It always is.