I've just been scammed

[iKrafft]

Dear Users. I have seen that there are a lot of posts like this one however they are from several months ago. I wanted to warn you of a new method that thieves have come up with to steal from our accounts.
I am a brand new user on Etsy. After my first transaction on the Etsy dashboard I got a message that in order to get paid money from Etsy, my bank account must be “verified” (now I know that I should get a small amount which I then enter on the Etsy dashboard.) As a new user I did not see this and I got a message from Etsy that there is a problem with my bank and that they have to help me otherwise my store will be closed. I automatically opened a chat with , “HELP ETSY,” and it was a scam. I was robbed of €600
BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR ACCOUNTS!

[AutumnHollowStudio · Accepted solution]

I am sorry this happened to you; new shops are often targets of scammers. Any official message from etsy will have a "from etsy" label on it, and it will be in a special section of your message inbox. Any other message claiming to be from etsy that doesn't have those designations is fake.

Read this about scams and suspicious messages: https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000343128-How-to-Handle-Scams-and-Suspicious-Messages

Are you able to contact your bank for help?

[iKrafft]

Unfortunately, no. I tried to contact my bank as well as the one in Turkey where the transactions were made. But it did not result in anything. The worst thing was that even the message from them had a sign that it was from Etsy and the support chat that opened also looked like the original one.... As a new user I was very happy that I finally managed to open my shop.... However, now not only do I have no orders, but also I was robbed. A lot of desire is gone... I'm looking for how to get my store going, but I think I'm just not going to make it and as time goes by I'll have to close it.

[CarpetCollectionAU · Accepted solution]

Every legitimate Message from Etsy will be in the "From Etsy" Folder in your In-Box.

Etsy is now requiring a Sellers to "accept" or "spam" any message in the normal "All" Folder in your In-Box

This development allows a Seller to read the message before deciding to reply or reject.

The "scam" which you, unfortunately, were subject to is not new. But we are seeing fewer Sellers scammed recently due to the protective measures which Etsy has implemented. Moving outside these is most unwise.

[iKrafft]

Yes it's true and I know it now. However, at the time I set up store I was so happy that I finally succeeded that I didn't want to squander it That's why I lost my temper and these people took advantage of it. I hope that no one else will be fooled like me ...

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@iKrafft Unfortunately, you took the "bait" exactly as the scammer intended.

New Sellers, excited to see an opportunity, are often blindsided and act against their better judgement.

I am sure everyone in this Community feels for you in this situation but selling on-line is a Business not a Passtime and everyone needs to put on their "Business" hat every time they make a "Business" decision.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@iKrafft I just read your second post. You have identified the "scammers" Bank was in Turkey???

This is the irst time I have read of a Turkish Bank being the recipient of funds "scammed" by this Etsy hack.

I have a bit of knowledge of the Turkish Banking System and believe you may be able to retreive your funds if you contact your own Bank's fraud department. It is a "long shot" as you did authorise the transaction, albeit inadvertently, but your Bank should notify the Turkish Bank of the possibility of a fraud account.  At least this may help others if this Bank Account is closed.

[BeaconwoodDettman]

Thank you for sharing, it is good for everyone to see recent examples of scams. 

At my previous employer, we had ongoing refresher courses for identifying scams and phishing attempts. These were required whether you were new to the company or had been there for years. 

[Ohsaphir]

Bonjour Tarotwings, je suis désolée pour toi...il y a des gros salopards qui essayent d'arnaquer les créateurs sur internet!! Je suis Française et nouvelle sur Etsy; mais j'ai eu d'autres boutiques sur d'autres plateformes. J'ai été la cible d'arnaqueurs...et c'est vraiment difficile de distinguer les messages de vrais clients. C'est vraiment pénible. J'ai reçu beaucoup de messages de tentatives de fishing; ça s'est passé comme pour toi; ils disaient que mon compte était suspendu...Mais j'ai trouvé que c'était bizarre. Plus tard j'ai fait une vrai vente, et j'étais tellement méfiante que je croyais que j'allais avoir un problème; j'ai envoyé le colis à Paris, et j'ai été soulagée quand l'acheteur m'a dit qu'il avait reçu son colis et qu'il était content. Je pense que Etsy devrait chercher une solution efficace pour empêcher les tentatives d'arnaques sur cette plateforme. Bon courage. 

[ButterflyFeetDigital]

More 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

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.

[vintageNCtreasures]

There's a notice on the message page from Etsy warning about scams.
It's right below a message and right above the text box where you reply.

To stay protected, stay on Etsy. Never follow links to other sites, and don’t share contact, account, or financial info with anyone in Messages. Learn how to spot spam.

[ChillwolfArt]

@iKrafft  

I'm very sorry you were scammed.  There has been an infestation of scammers, hitting new Sellers as well as seasoned ones. Oftentimes the scammer Messages pop up within seconds after someone lists an item/s.  "Verification" is a popular scam, as well as posing as Etsy Staff/Support, etc.   Scanning of QR Codes is another. When you receive a LEGIT Message from Etsy Support/Staff, etc., it will appear in the "From Etsy" Folder (in Messages). If it isn't there, Mark the Message as Spam (so you don't get dinged for S Seller).  *"From Etsy" Folder was not on the App until recently (a highlighted blurb on the Message). The thing is, should you not see this first (and be familiar with it), you could receive a scammer's Message beforehand. Also, the App does not allow you to Mark the Message as Spam (you must use a browser instead, or use the Buyer App).

Also for future, many scammers are posing as "Buyers", stating they need your email for an Order. They don't, Etsy already has it. When you receive a LEGIT Order, it will appear in "Orders & Shipping" (Left Column of Shop Dashboard); if it isn't there, you have no Order.  Mark the scammer's Message as Spam (so you don't get dinged for S Seller).  And never click on links or engage with them.

Etsy should be able to nail these FAKE accounts who are impersonating Etsy Staff/Support, etc. It's happening way too often. For a while now, Sellers have been reporting that legitimate Buyer Messages are being put in "Spam" by Etsy (obviously a glitch to combat the scamming problem).  I didn't post the links about scams because others posted them above.

Please do contact your bank about this theft. Run virus scans on all of your devices. And do report this to the authorities; you are the victim of a cybercrime.

Again, I'm very sorry this happened to you. Hope this is helpful, and may this garbage cease for you and for others.

[GeekWorksDesign]

I was scammed too. I stay informed of the scam methods and I am a systems engineer myself. These messages really seemed legit to me. They even link a certified URL that has an Etsy name on it. If you have the Etsy seller app installed, they appear as a message from the app on the phone.

After all the stories about Etsy closing several shops for no reason, I was afraid of that happening to me. The message said they would close my shop and report me as fraud (among other scary things) if I didn't verify my account. 

As a new seller. I didn't know about the "from Etsy" sign. We usually find out later on and that's why scammers take advantage of it.

I've been receiving the same messages as soon as I list an item which seems very suspicious to me. How can they detect a new listing so fast? It doesn't even appear on the Etsy search results yet.

I think Etsy should do something about it besides suggesting marking it as spam. These messages come from the same address and they are still online after several days. It seems to me there is a vulnerability on the processes and systems and scammers take advantage of it.

Etsy is very quick to close shops, they should be quick to block these scammers too.

[bradgoodell]

This is on every Etsy message:  

To stay protected, stay on Etsy. Never follow links to other sites, and don’t share contact, account, or financial info with anyone in Messages. Learn how to spot spam.

You have to disregard everything that warning says in order to be scammed.

Regarding blocking the scammers accounts, Etsy usually does.  But the scammers sometimes hack legit accounts and send messages from those legit accounts.  Lots of sellers have found their messages blocked due to this, and they aren't happy about it.  There is no prefect solution.

Sorry you were scammed, hopefully your bank has fraud protection and you can get your money back.

[audreytherese]

You say you read all the stories about Etsy closing shops for no reason, but in all your reading you never happened across all the stories about common scams? There's likely a lot more stories of scams and scam warnings than there are of shops that were closed. And while some are mistakes on Etsy's end, most shop's that are 'closed for no reason' actually have quite obvious reasons (like having a shop full of infringement (like Smiley's and Supermans). 

[DesertChains]

Any link that has etsy.something.com, something-etsy.com, or etsy-something.com is not legitimate. A real etsy link will have etsy.com in the url.

[IceMaidens]

I’m so sorry to hear this happened to you and I can understand how it did. I do hope your bank reimburses you. Please don’t give up - I can see and read from your shop info how committed you are to your craft and it would be such a shame to abandon your plans and let these horrible criminals crush you. Chin up

[MyHandKnitMitts]

Don't feel bad @iKrafft . It's a scammer's job to seem trustworthy. Despite Etsy's warnings on the message dashboard, it takes time for a new seller to really understand how Etsy operates. Many smart and highly educated people get taken in by scammers on the internet. It's no different on Etsy.

[AAANativeArts]

I am sorry this happened to you.  That particular scam has been around for a long time. I got one this morning that said it was from Etsy (but not in the Etsy folder) on a newish store I have that said there would be an Etsy logo at the top of any email from Etsy and warning me of scam messages. Then it gave a link to learn more about scams. Since it wasn't in the From Etsy folder, I sent it to spam without clicking anything. If I had, the link would probably have sent me to a page that put a keylogger or something nefarious on my computer.

Never click links in emails, even if they look official. Instead, navigate to your shop the way you usually get there, then look for something on your dashboard or in the From Etsy folder of your messages. If it is't in one of those two places, it isn't real.

[GeekWorksDesign]

Thank you for your replies, I just wanted to give my opinion, hoping it could be useful to improve Etsy for new sellers and investors (as I also am). After reading your replies I know I should not have and I hope my shop is not closed now.