Order showed up in Shop Manager, but no actual sale & suspicious email

[AcousticaDesign]

Within an hour of opening my Etsy store, I was being bombarded by spam messages claiming to have purchased an item. They were obviously all scams as nothing was showing up as purchased. However, after about 1 hour of my store being opened, in my Store Manager > Orders tab, it showed up as "1" order (it was for the same item that all the spammers were spamming me about). However there was no payment in the Sales & Fees section of my Store manager. So somebody had somehow (fake) "bought" an item but without paying for it, so it showed up as "1" sale. It disappeared after about 2 hours and my orders were back to "0".

How has this happened? It seems like somebody has hacked my account and is inside it? How can someone make my orders show us as "1" when they haven't paid for an item?

Secondly, I've got an email (which is exactly the same message as one of my spam messages) that has been sent directly to my own email address. It hasn't been sent via Etsy either - it has been sent directly to my email address. (Just to be clear, I'm not talking about the emails which I get which are from "Etsy Conversations <conversations@mail.etsy.com>", as I know these are from Etsy themselves). How has somebody got a hold of my email address which is associated with my store, when it's not advertised anywhere? At that time I had no social media presence for this store and there was no way to link me or my email address to this store.

[CryzalisMasksUK]

The email you received was from Etsy, it is to let you know someone messages you via the dashboard.

More often than not, you will find this message in your spam folder in your dashboard as these are from scammers.

As for the 1 sale showing in your dashboard, but no sales details showing in your order section of your dashboard, this means the sale is still processing, as it is the same item which is receiving the spam messages. I would assume, the scammer has put in the incorrect payment details, so that you can see the sale pop up in part, in the hope that this will push you to click on the link in the spam messages. The sales payment will never complete, and never show up in the order section. When this happens, the listing will move back to your shop and the 1 disappears from sales.

Never click on links in messenger, never provide personal or financial details nor download images via messenger. 

If an order is made and is completed, it will appear in your dashboard under orders, if not, then it is most likely a scam.

They target new shops and eventually will stop when they notice they can not get you to click on their links

[ModAngie]

Hello,

Etsy is actively engaged in preventing scammers from targeting our community members. If you receive a suspicious message, please proceed with caution. 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 in the Seller Handbook for more steps you can take to protect your account.

[ZehOriginalArt]

It appears to me that scammers are now actually placing orders, perhaps with stolen credit cards, that are quickly caught and deleted by Etsy. I think they are doing this in order to get the seller's email address so they can initiate the scam that way and circumvent Etsy messages. Buyers do get the seller's email address with their order, so that is likely how the scammer got yours.

This does not mean your account was hacked. Good you have been vigilant about these scams! They tend to diminish and go away once your shop gets orders on a regular basis.

[AcousticaDesign]

Thanks for your insights. This seems to be a far better explanation as to how they got my email address.

The other weird thing now is that they appear to be watching my movements. Less than 1 hour after I posted this question in this forum, I got a private message through Etsy from a scammer saying, "Hi there! I saw your message on Etsy forum page, can you kindly explain what exactly is the issues?" 

[ZehOriginalArt]

Oh gee. Yep, they are following the forum. Etsy had best do more to combat this scourge. Mark any of those messages as spam.

[AcousticaDesign]

The only thing with this is that, assuming they used a fake credit card to order a product. If they received a confirmation email/message which contained my email address, wouldn't I have also received a confirmation message with their details? Even if it had all been caught by Etsy before it went any further, wouldn't we both have gotten each others details in a confirmation message, being the buyer & the seller?

[ZehOriginalArt]

I'm not sure. There can be a lag between the time an order is placed and a confirmation email is sent, so that could explain it. But a purchase confirmation shows up in the buyer's account right away in my experience, and the seller's email shows up there. They do not have to get a confirmation email in order to get your email address.

[ButterflyFeetDigital]

Scammers tend to target new shops.
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.

[AcousticaDesign]

Thank you for that, it's very helpful. I've been vigilant thus far, but I just wasn't expecting this level of scamming from the moment I opened my store.

[MoonlightHavensDen]

This is the second post I've seen this morning where the new shop did temporarily have 1 actual sale showing....just long enough to make the sale and verification scam messages look more legit. They know one of the first things new sellers are told when asking for help is "If you have a legitimate sale, it will show on your dashboard under Orders & Shipping." They're evolving again....they're purposely placing an order that they know will be rejected, but might show long enough to "prove" to the seller that they have a sale and they need to go through this verification scam. On top of that, by placing this scam order they now have the seller's email address to send more crap directly to their email address under the pretense that it's from Etsy. 

If only new shop owners would at least pay attention to the warning given by Etsy right there at the bottom of all messages! At least enough to perk their ears and feel the need to question it all before losing their entire bank account! What might look like an overly obvious scam to us might not look that way to others, especially those with limited knowledge on how to navigate the online world. Others are just way too trusting and wouldn't think something like this could happen on a big platform like Etsy, when in fact it's just the opposite - it's prime real estate! 

[AcousticaDesign]

Ok, so now a scammer has gotten hold of my phone number and messaged me, masquerading as a "helper" for my problems, which they've read in this post.

How have they got hold of my phone number? It's not listed anywhere related to Etsy.

[BagmakerSupply]

@AcousticaDesign: Doesn't UK law require that sellers display specific information to buyers, including the seller's name (or trading name), geographic address, phone number and eMail on Etsy?

[AcousticaDesign]

I imagine they get some of all of this information when they 'buy" something (?), but I've only made one sale which was from a UK buyer & this message is from a US number, so it's not them.

[AcousticaDesign]

My phone number isn't listed anywhere in the entire Etsy system, so how have they obtained it?

[passiflorawhite]

your phone number it is listed ;see Shop manager-Finances-Legal and tax information;at least mine is 

log out,change your password and put the 2F 

[AcousticaDesign]

Yes, you're right. It is listed there, but that information is only visible to me when I'm logged in to my shop. It isn't visible to a potential buyer.

[passiflorawhite]

I suspect someone else is logged into your shop,too;keep an eye on your card details

[CostumeCoutureNaomi]

Since this scammer can access the forum to view your posts, that means they actually have a seller account on Etsy.  You need to report the store/seller to Etsy and not simply mark the email as spam.  If they are using this technique against you, then they are using it against many new stores.

As a brand new store, you might think you need to offer same or 1 day shipping to get sales on Etsy since Etsy so strongly encourages this fast shipping.

My recommendation is don't.  Don't offer same day shipping, as it opens you to scams like this, or problems with legit sales where the buyers credit card blocks the sale, sometimes hours after the order shows in your Shop Manager.  

What you described is likely fraud, based on the emails, phone number, following you in the forums, etc.  But the sale showing only in the Shop Manager with the item shown as sold, then disappearing hours later can also happen with legit sales.  When that happens, it is usually because a buyer's credit card fraud prevention notices the Etsy sale as an unusual purchase for the buyer, and either blocks the sale entirely, or delays the sale until the customer approves it through the fraud department.   This will happen if the Etsy or online purchase is unusual for the buyer, ifthe buyer recently had fraudulent purchases on their card, or the purchase is unusually expensive for the seller.

I have this happen a couple times per year due to the cost of what I sell.  Usually, the customer will talk with their credit card and repurchase the item with no issues.   Never have I had these legit customers act as you are describing.  All of that would be huge red flags for an experienced Etsy seller.

If you limit your processing to 2 days or 2-3 days, you are still processing your order and shipping fast enough to get sales on Etsy, but you are protecting yourself from scam orders.  You can still ship same or next day if you are confident the order is legit, if you are filling a legit rush order, or if you are shipping to a regular customer.  Etsy wants you to ship ASAP, but doing so removes protections that you have by waiting just a day.

[FruteJuce]

@AcousticaDesign No help with the scammers but just wanted to say how lovely your items are. Good luck with your shop. 

[AcousticaDesign]

Aww, thanks a lot!