This IS a new one…and I’m no new seller

[AJugglingEweWoolens]

Wow…just wow.  I did a bunch of updates today and got this…Message:

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Is there no shame???? Etsy Safety Team my azz!!

[RandysExoticWoods]

Sounds awfully scammy to me

[PlatypusDream]

Scammity scam scam.

Note all the weird fonts. They are trying to avoid the bots so they aren't blocked.

Etsy is CRAWLING with these scammers. It's relentless!

[vintageNCtreasures]

That's the 1st thing I noticed was all those weird fonts. 
Next was the "dear seller" then the 6 hour deadline they give. 
Seems those scammers shortened that deadline.
A few weeks ago it was a 12 hour deadline.

[EphemeralExpressions]

@vintageNCtreasures 

Probably (maybe?) because they're sending out so many messages, Etsy is deleting their accounts before the previous 12 hour deadline. 

Wishful thinking, perhaps.

[MartiqueTreasures]

Never hurts to keep reminding us that scammers are on the loose. If they can catch just a few uninformed by these threads in the forums, they win.

[MoreTreasurez]

Good grief.  They are so obvious.

[TheHomespunLoft]

@AJugglingEweWoolens 

Unfortunately this particular scam has been going around for months. The forums are full of newbies who fell for it. Odd they picked an older shop. Maybe they are getting more desperate. 

[AJugglingEweWoolens]

This particular version I’d not seen as yet…and I regularly visit the forums.  But definitelydesperate if they are targetingseasoned sellers.  Honestly…we were born one day, but not yesterday.

[JDTotesnDolls]

It has poor spelling in order to get by Etsy who has been working to remove this.  The scammers are trying new tactics.

I like the new one that compliments first and then the follow up about the purchase.

REminder, actual Etsy email will appear in the folder in message.  Any place else it is a scam. 

[howtobooksandmore]

I find it intriguing that new sellers who don't bother to read anything about Etsy before they open a new shop will read and follow the instructions from a scammer.  So people do read something, just the wrong things.

[LastCentury]

Nope. There is no shame.

I can imagine buildings full of people like this, likely enslaved to perform these menial cyber scamming tasks, likely under some duress, in order to be released of some debt owed to their masters. Just another method of human bondage. Good luck to them.

[MirageRiverCreations]

@LastCentury Were you watching that episode of the new Magnum PI a few weeks ago too? Lol.

Seriously, that’s exactly what they showed. A bunch of people trafficked over from China and then forced by gun-toting mobsters to scam people over the internet. With all the scams going on around here lately, it sure got me thinking.

[EphemeralExpressions]

@LastCentury 

I have always imagined the same or something very similar - there are just so many of the scammers, and when one account gets deleted it seems like immediately a slew of others takes their place, it seems like it just can't be all "masterminds"; there have to be stooges or expendables involved also.

My oldest daughter ended up in a very similar situation - not on Etsy, but it was an e-commerce job; her first "real" job fresh out of college.  Her degrees were Integrated Public Relations (a combo of PR, graphic design, and photography), and Media Design and Technology.  I can't remember what her title was, but the job description included website and social media management.  Perfect!  It's what she paid an arm and a leg to learn how to do. What the job actually boiled down to was handling customer complaints - and there was a huge backlog of them because the company was drop-shipping from overseas (they supposedly had a "warehouse" on site where the company was located), using a different fake name for every e-mail/call so it seemed like they had a large staff, making up fake tracking numbers, and all kinds of other unethical practices.  I don't think she even stayed a few weeks before quitting and telling them off in the process.  (she now works nonprofit for the Humane Society, and is in love with her job).

I imagine some of these "scammers" are people who just fell victim to a job offer (that might have sounded legit) , like my daughter did.  They are just part of "the churn".

'Course, that is perhaps just me always wanting to think the best of people. 

[LastCentury]

@MirageRiverCreations lol, not that show, but something British drama detective series where it was barely mentioned and the image stuck. Shetland? (amazing btw, stunning scenery)

@EphemeralExpressions glad your daughter found her footing in a happier space. I'm sure we have all done jobs that have been questionable. 

[DollHeaven]

Yes, my daughter got this same message yesterday when she renewed some items.  It seems to be the new version of the scam that's been around for a while.  And, unfortunately, I think the fact the you have written 'I agree' means that when they take money from you, the bank will not necessarily reimburse you.

[RareRagsandTreasures]

Thanks for the warning. 

[TootieandTadpole]

It’s getting ridiculous! I saw one in a group today where a seller was told by “Etsy Support” that if “You do not cooperate and enter your email for verification immediately, your store will be permanently suspended.” She panicked and gave her email and started to add her banking info to the next fake step before she realized she’d made a big mistake. Now she can’t log into her dashboard. 

[AJugglingEweWoolens]

I can definitely see how someone would/could get taken in.  The Etsy logo was badly done…almost fuzzy, but it was an orange Etsy logo.  And to someone unfamiliar with what’s been happening (although it’s plastered everywhere)…

I’d love to know what it was that triggered me as a target.  I’m not nefarious enough, I guess, to know the inner workings of “the scam artist”.  It’s disgusting.

[TootieandTadpole]

@op,

there was more than likely no reason in particular. They just know that they’ve been able to get so many shops up to this point, so why stop now? You were just one of the number they probably mass messaged today. 

[JustMeToo]

@AJugglingEweWoolens   I received that one today as well and I'm not a newbie.  I've been here 17 years.  Delete.  You're lucky your post is still there.  My copy/paste was deleted immediately.

[AJugglingEweWoolens]

Really?!? To both comments.  I was actually disappointed I didn’t get an opportunity to send the RCMP cyber crime email address… reply to this chat, indeed.  

[CryzalisDesigns]

I never received any until 2 days ago and then exactly 24 hrs later another.

Of course also asking for an email but with the pretence that the order processing system of your store is suspended

[ChillwolfArt]

@JustMeToo  @AJugglingEweWoolens  @CryzalisDesigns  Honestly, this is getting ridiculous.  And I'm sorry you guys were targeted. I can really see how new Sellers can get taken by some of these. Many of these Sellers sell on multiple sites (they're not new to selling). So it's not as if they're suddenly clueless.  

[CryzalisDesigns]

thank you @ChillwolfArt I won't mention the usernames they used because that will just land me another week at the retreat but both included "staff"

When reporting the usernames I did ask how it was possible for someone to sign up with those usernames and logos, surely they can put a block on certain names?

But all they said we are dealing with it.

I asked again if they could put a huge flashing banner up as I am sure many new sellers are not reading any of the  warnings.

Again they are dealing with it