SCAM? What should I do? where is Etsy Admin when we need?

[CrissComics]

Today I received this message:

[This content was removed by moderation - Please refer to our Community Policies]

[ArtDollsbyJD]

If the sale is not listed in your shop and no order listed then there is no sale.

 You got the scam message.  They are getting more sophisticated.

Just spam it.  No need to contact Etsy.

If he persists then contact Etsy to report harrassment. 

[hopeandjoystudios]

Did the buy via the app? There has been some saying you can't download from the app..but I would assume it would show a sale!

[bradgoodell]

It's possible they are messaging the wrong seller, and it's equally possible it is complete BS.  

[MaynardMillinery]

Your last sale was for a set of She-Hulk downloads. Can’t see when that was purchased, but is that not the one they at referring to?

[UppNorthEh]

yup.  I clicked on it, against my better judgement, to see when it was listed and it's today.  I don't think this person was a scammer.  

[CrissComics]

No, not that listing. It's a Hulk. The so called buyer said he bought it on Oct. 30 but for that day I have no records in my Orders&Shipping. The only time I sold that listing (Hulk) was on Oct. 12 to another person that downloaded it without problems.

[BeaconwoodDettman]

Make sure you report this to Etsy - it may help them connect the dots if this has happened to other sellers too. I'm sure they can look at that person's account and see if it's legit, and if not, maybe they can shut it down. Thanks for posting, it's helpful to see what these messages look like. 

[Amaradorn]

@BeaconwoodDettman until Etsy removes them... I was a little late to the party. Now I have no idea.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@Amaradorn Etsy removed the copy of the exchange between the Buyer and Seller which included a direct copy/paste of the Transaction Confirmation from Ideal. It contained the Buyer's personal information. But it did show that payment had been made from the Buyer's Bank Account through Ideal to WorldPay.

It certainly did not look like a "scam" message. It is more likely that the process was not instantaneous and the Buyer was expecting to treceive the "download" immediately which did not happen due to the payment process or failure to complete the final stage of the Ideal process,

[Amaradorn]

@CarpetCollectionAU thanks for the synopsis. That makes sense.

[CrissComics]

where exactly should I report it? at which address? I can't find it. This is the reason I posted it here.

[EnergyPeace]

Scammer. How sad it happens so much nowadays. 

[CarpetCollectionAU]

Just a thought! Looking at the details (which you should remove as they contain private information) the Buyer has used Ideal. This suggests they are in Netherlands.

Many people who use the Ideal Payment Method often fail to return to the Etsy Shop after entering the payment into the Ideal direct Bank Transfer system to complete the final step of the Order. Perhaps check with your Buyer to see if they completed all steps to finalize the Transaction

"iDEAL bank transfers

You can pay with a bank transfer via iDEAL in the Netherlands or Sofort in Germany and Austria.

You’ll be transferred to iDEAL or Sofort’s website to authorize your payment. You’ll then be directed back to Etsy."

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026831353-What-Payment-Methods-Can-I-Use-to-Check-Out-on-...

[UppNorthEh]

a Hulk listing was actually purchased today.  Doesn't sound like a scammer to me.  

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@UppNorthEh From the Transaction details it certainly looks like a legitimate Etsy sale paid for through Ideal Bank Transfer to WorldPay. WP is one of the Etsy Payment Processors.

Sometimes, if is better to investigate / ask questions than to jump to conclusions and accuse people of being "scammers"

[UppNorthEh]

totally agree.  stop and think when it is a scammer and when it's not.  too much knee jerk reacting going on.

[StitchRoundabout]

If it is a scam and not a real transaction as other sellers above have suggested, if you go into the message, then click on Mark as Spam just above the message box, the message will move into your Spam folder on the left.  Then any subsequent messages you receive from them will automatically be filtered into the Spam folder.  The only notification you will receive about them is when you see the number go up next to the Spam folder to show that new messages from that person have been filtered into that folder.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

It looks like a legitimate message to me. The Buyer may have neglected to complete the final stem of the Ideal Process. It may also be that this Ideal Bank Transfer process takes a bit longer / is not instantaneous? Perhaps someone more familiar with Ideal can advise?

[StitchRoundabout]

What @CarpetCollectionAU suggested happened to me once where a customer paid via Apple Pay and then tried to access a pattern download immediately after paying but found they could not.  I asked them to wait a few minutes and then try again, and it worked the second time.

[CrissComics]

There is no order registered in my Orders&Shipping with this so called buyer! No transaction, no nothing. The only time I sold the same product was in Oct. 12 to another person. He told me that he buy Hulk on Oct. 30, but for that day I have no transaction registered nowhere in my store. I'm pretty sure those details are not of a legit transaction.

What do you think, the so called buyer could have been scammed by a fake Etsy clone and then he was redirected to the actual product in my Etsy store? Who should investigate this? What should I do? Mark the conversation as spam and that's it?

Thank you all for guidance! and sorry for my broken English ...

[BeaconwoodDettman · Accepted solution]

@CrissComics Report it through the Etsy Help Center, either via email or chat. These forums are moderated by Etsy but to my knowledge, Etsy staff doesn't actually step in to resolve issues like this. We are all Etsy sellers and what you read on the forums are suggestions, ideas, sharing of experiences with selling, etc. - go directly to Etsy as a "source of truth". 

[dippeldiundscribble]

@CrissComics 

Could be a confused buyer or a scammer.

Maybe it’s one of these cases, where orders are immediately cancelled and completely removed by Etsy because the payment had been declined eventually.

The information on the payment process only proves that the buyer has initiated the payment for his order. Nothing more, nothing less.

If there’s no order, the buyer must contact Etsy.