Etsy is actively engaged in preventing scammers from targeting sellers stores. If you receive a suspicious message, please proceed with caution.
Recently on Etsy, we have observed a lot of spam messages coming to our clients' inboxes in their stores. In general scams on Etsy can take many forms, from counterfeit listings to deceptive messages trying to steal your personal information or money.
Recognizing these scam messages and taking action is crucial. Scammers typically create multiple accounts on Etsy and send the same message to many members with little or no personalization. They often target sellers of high-priced products.
1. How to know if a message from Etsy is legitimate or not?
Messages from Etsy may have varying subject lines, but will always appear in the “From Etsy folder”. This is how legitimate messages from Etsy will appear in your From Etsy folder in Messages.
You have to keep in mind that authentic messages from Etsy always appear in a From Etsy inbox and are clearly labeled "From Etsy" below the subject line. If someone claims to be an Etsy employee and the message is not located in the From Etsy folder, mark the message as spam and don't reply.
Even if a message looks like it’s from Etsy, if it appears only in your regular Messages inbox or any other folder, it is likely a phishing scam and should be disregarded and marked as spam.
Here are some examples of a scam messages which you can receive in your inbox.
This is how a phishing message may appear in your inbox. Avatars may differ, and some scammers add fake Etsy branding.
You can tell this message isn’t truly from Etsy because it doesn’t appear in the From Etsy folder
Keep in mind that: Etsy will never ask you to respond directly with personal or account information via Etsy Messages, email, or social media. If we need to inform you of missing or required information, we’ll always provide an Etsy.com link or instructions on how to complete the requirements on our site, so that you don’t have to share any information as a direct response.
More examples:
As you seen the pattern is similar in terms of the vocabulary and structure.
This is an example when a scammers can send you an QR code to scan.
2. How to mark a potential scam message as spam
First and foremost Do not respond to the message. Etsy does not recommend engaging with suspicious messages for any reason. Responding will encourage the scammers and cause you to receive further scam messages. If you receive a suspicious message, you can mark it as spam:
- Go to Message
- Select the suspicious message from your inbox
- Choose Mark as Spam
This will move the message out of your inbox and into your Spam folder. However, you will continue to receive emails about new replies to that message.
3. Does Scam Messages reflect on the Message Response Rate?
The Message response rate counts initial messages from all Etsy members, both buyers and other sellers. This is because sellers could be potential buyers for your shop. If it's not a spam message it requires a response within 24 hours. If it is a spam message you can mark it as such and it won't count towards your score for the current evaluation period. It will take up to 24 hours for this to be reflected in the Response rate score.
Its important to be aware that if the message looks suspicious you have to Mark it as Spam for up to 24 hours. If you do NOT mark it as Spam it will count as a normal message and it will be taken into consideration for the current evaluation period.
Sellers are being re-evaluated on the 1st of every month, so marking unwanted messages at a later date(after the evaluation) will not retroactively change the score from the previous review period.
4. Some common scammer techniques
The following characteristics, or any combination of them, may indicate the message is a scam.
For any member
- Insisting you reply via a personal email address instead of an Etsy Message.
- Asking to pay off Etsy with a different payment platform instead of checking out on Etsy. When payment is made off Etsy, Etsy cannot offer Purchase Protection.
- Creating a sense of urgency. The scammer may act like the purchase has to happen immediately before you have time to reconsider.
For sellers
- Pretending to be a buyer who is having trouble checking out and needs your email to complete their purchase. They claim that by providing your email, you'll get a link to receive payment with further instructions. They may also include a fake screenshot meant to look like the Etsy site asking for them to input your email. Your email is never required for a buyer to complete a purchase.
- Claiming there was an issue accepting payment for their order and sending you a fake QR code through Messages saying that you need to scan it to confirm their purchase.
- Asking for additional items to be added to their order. For example, asking sellers to purchase and include a highly-priced gift card with their order and promising to pay them back later.
- Claiming they want to purchase items listed in a link that is actually malware or a link to a phishing site.
- Offering to send you more money than you are asking for your item. This is known as an overpayment scam.
- Seeming to not have read or looked at your listing, based on their vague questions.
- Refusing to go through Etsy Checkout, thereby disqualifying the transaction from any Etsy Purchase Protection.
- Having a particular interest in an item of relatively high value. Scammers tend to focus on mid and high-value listings.
5. How to tell if you're really on Etsy.com
Sometimes scammers try to direct their targets to fraudulent sites that look like Etsy.com. To confirm that the website you’re looking at is truly Etsy, double-check the URL in the address bar. The URL will always start with etsy.com or help.etsy.com.
Here is an example of a legitimate page on Etsy with a URL starting with etsy.com
In general, this is all the information you need to know if you notice a suspicious message in your store. Be cautious and always verify the authenticity and the source of the sender.
If a message seems off and doesn't have that special touch, it's probably a phishing scam. Our advice? Don't bite — mark it as spam instead.
