Is this scam?

[SerenityRoseCraft]

I’m a new seller and I just got first order and I got a message from someone that says that now I need to confirm a ship request and link follows. After I click on it, it said that my account needed verification or something and it’s exactly like Etsy website (it’s like [This content has been removed by Moderation. Please do not share unsafe links in the Forums.]…) so I put my card info, SSN, literally everything including my address and drivers license but it told me that I needed $400 but after I “passed” most of the stages, it told me that I needed to top up $600 more and I got receipt from PayPal (cause it made me make and put my PayPal debit card) that $400 was paid to moonpay USA LLC. 

I haven’t continued after it sent me to top up $600 but is this a scam? I’ve already put card info, address, SSN, drivers license, phone number, and every personal info you can think of but what should I do now?

[EphemeralExpressions]

It is a scam that targets new sellers.  Because you put in your card information after clicking the link, call your bank immediately and explain what happened!

[CryzalisMasksUK]

You need to contact paypal immediately if you used a Paypal debit card and report this to their security department.

Please remove the scammers link from your post, to prevent others clicking on it.

All real orders will appear in the order section of your dashboard.

No information will even be requested via messenger in your dashboard regarding orders or account verification. Never click on links, images or screenshots in messenger, not provide any personal or financial information.

Also contact the cybercrime department in your country (check the police website), you have pretty much handed all the information over to the scammers to enable them to steal identity.

[AutumnHollowStudio]

I am really sorry this happened to you, and I hope that you can get this straightened out as soon as possible. Do contact your bank or whoever issued the card to you and report it as stolen, so they can suspend and issue a new one with a new number.

Etsy will never ask you to provide any sensitive financial or personal information by clicking a link.

I really wish that Etsy would include a brief tutorial on this when shops are in the opening / onboarding process : (

[GlassyFields]

Yes, a brief tutorial for new shops would be ideal.

New shops really need to know that they are targeted by scammers and likely to receive fake orders that are scams to steal their money.

I get that Etsy likes to put on a happy face, but I'm seeing posts like this from new sellers daily. It's really sad that their Etsy store experience starts out with scam attempts and worse, being scammed.

[AutumnHollowStudio]

@GlassyFields yes it's really sad, and some forewarning can go a long way in reducing these situations

[CryzalisMasksUK]

They had no issue putting a huge orange banner across the dashboard for US tariffs or was it the AI listings update?, or both

Why can't they do this above the message box in the dashboard? A huge bright banner is the only thing that people can not ignore

This message:

We scan and review messages for fraud prevention, policy enforcement, security, to provide support, and for similar purposes.

Is not a warning, it is obviously not noticed at all by many new sellers. And in recent months has even been reworded and watered down so it is no longer a warning for new sellers against scammers

Even more worrying is the following "card info, address, SSN, drivers license, phone number, and every personal info you can think of" this is no longer about just scamming one payment from the sellers, there is not much they can not do once they have all this information about a person.

[ChillwolfArt]

This a thousand times ^.

A prominent Banner needs to be in the Shop Manager/Dashboard, for every new Seller. They come here and are susceptible because they have no clue how large the infiltration of scammers is. Most likely they have not run into this on any other sites prior to coming to Etsy.
The Message, "We scan and review messages for fraud prevention,..."makes it sound like we've got it under control, when that is not the case. Far too many scammers are slipping through, and we only hear from the Sellers who are coming to the Forum. I can't imagine the ones who get scammed and don't report it.

@SerenityRoseCraft  I'm so sorry this happened to you. In addition to contacting your bank, please run virus scans on all of your devices. And contact the authorities; you are the victim of a cyber crime.

[CoolCyberCats]

SCAM. In a nutshell, ONLY use your Etsy panel to see your sales and ONLY use emails in the Etsy site (messages you get - AKA do not respond to emails you get in YOUR personal email and not on Etsy) and NEVER click on links in the emails. If you get an email you question, trust your questioning judgment and mark them in Etsy as junk/spam and move on. That will roughly keep you safe.

[ModKenneth · Accepted solution]

Hello,

Etsy is actively engaged in preventing scammers from targeting our community members. If you receive a suspicious message, please proceed with caution, and do not click on any suspicious email links. Etsy Support will never ask you to provide personal information via Etsy Messages, such as your email address or password. Any legitimate message from us will show in your "From Etsy" folder.

If you receive a suspicious message, here’s how to report it:

1. Sign in to Etsy.com and go to Your Account.
2. Go to Messages. 
3. Select the suspicious message from your inbox. 
4. Choose Report.

You’ll find examples of common scammer techniques and phishing messages here in our Help Center. Read our Account Security Checklist Help Center Article for more steps you can take to protect your account.

[ButterflyFeetDigital]

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.

[AuthenicYou]

I am new here and I got 6 messages like yours. I think they are scam. I also see 2 items sold, but then under the section I see nothing.

[CryzalisMasksUK]

Scammers could be purchasing with fake payment details.

It will give them a small window to contact you in messenger, as you think it is a sale. Before Etsy's systems spot it and remove the sale from your dashboard. 

This is why nothing appears in your order section, as it is being processed.

Unless orders appear in the order section, assume it is a scam.

Never provide any information in messenger, never click on links, images, downloads or screenshots in messenger.

Etsy will never contact you for private information, financial information or verification via messenger.

[GlassyFields]

If you see 2 items sold on your Etsy dashboard, go to your orders page. Check to see if the orders say 'payment pending'. If the orders say payment pending, than the payment processing system has not cleared the payment. Scammers make orders with stolen credit card numbers to see which ones will make it through payment processing systems. I suspect they also do this followed by the messages about needing you to send them information that really isn't needed at all for a legitimate order. And sometimes, payment processing just takes some time or a buyer didn't notice that their card expired or that they were over their credit limit.

[RebeccasResinShop]

I have received the same message when I opened my shop. Just today I received a message in Etsy that I had a buyer and to respond within 24 hours. I responded and then I get a message that couldn’t be sent. I checked my orders and ….nothing. 
at this point I’m ready to close my Etsy shop as I have had zero sales as well. 

[CryzalisMasksUK]

They eventually leave you alone, when they notice you are not replying or clicking on the scam links.

These scams are run by gangs, it is a numbers game, but they are smart enough to know not to waste their time with everyone.

Maybe ask for critique in the forum, other sellers could give you advice on your shop and images

[SimplyInvitingLLC]

OMG... you just handed everything over to someone to steal your identity. You need to put a freeze on your credit ASAP or else they will use all of that information to open multiple credit cards in your name. I am so sorry this happened to you.

[MrsDsHandKnits]

@SerenityRoseCraft > THAT is 100% SCAM! Unfortunately you should have stopped all responses and communication IMMEDIATELY upon receiving that 1st message ..

[vintageNCtreasures]

@SerenityRoseCraft 
So many red flags.
#1 wanting you to go OFF etsy to give them your bank/cc and all that other personal info that Etsy already has.
#2 wanting you to SEND them money which IMO is the biggest red flag.
#3 there is no such thing as a buyer sending you a "ship request" (not even sure what that is).
#4 if that message came through Etsy, you should have got a "WARNING" you were leaving Etsy to another site and do you want to continue?

Think about this, WHY would you need to send Etsy $400 to verify anything let alone need to send them $600 more?
It doesn't matter if you had $0 in your Paypal account or $50K.

A quick look in the help pages on how Etsy works would have saved you a lot of grief and money.

Sad to say you willingly sent those scammers that money so not sure Paypal will give you that money back but it wouldn't hurt to call Paypal ASAP and find out.

You gave those crooks everything they need to get credit cards, open up online accounts, etc.
You need to freeze everything, banking, credit cards, etc.