Online Scammers

[kmmcrafts]

They've sure been busy it seems like this year and getting more tricky. I usually can tell and the more recent ones I've had suspicions but replied anyway. Recently had a message on my website about how they planned to purchase about 100 items and they put together a google doc. list of said items and wanted to know if all items were in stock and the ones not in stock how long it'd take to get a order fulfilled. I currently have my website through etsy so the message came in across my phone as a Etsy message as the website works just as if it was etsy as it is sort of, LOL. Anyway I was busy working on the laser machine so I didn't reply right away and by the time I did come in the house to look at the message on the computer etsy had removed the message and marked it as spam ( good to know they also do this for my website messages ). I looked into the spam folder and found the message but decided not to open the google doc link. 

Couple weeks ago I've had a few messages from my Facebook business page one was asking if a item was still available as they didn't see it on my website. I sent links to them showing the item page and they replied back with a screenshot of a page showing the page wasn't available and maybe the link was broken or had been deleted and asked if I could sell directly. I replied back and said the link seems to be working but sent them a link to my etsy or amazon for the item and said I do not do direct sales and they could order from one of the other sites. All messages have stopped and no order came in for said item.. I had some friends check the link  for the website as it was working for me,  everyone chimed back saying yes it was working. Being on FB I looked up their profile and it seems like a legit person from the states in Kentucky.. What was they after? A lot of people sometimes will message me asking to do direct sales.. in some cases I'd like to avoid the fees from the selling sites but at the same time I sell on several different sites and prefer to sell through the sites because it's easier for me for bookkeeping and everything as they are all linked together.. if one site is down there are many others I sell on so there is no reason for a person to not do a purchase through Amazon or any other of the popular sites.. why do they need to do a offsite purchase? I could send a PayPal invoice but that is extra work for me as well because I have to create a invoice.. why do that when there are all these other places to order from.. I always decline selling in these instances if they can't buy from one of the sites then there is no business.. I don't know what info or what they would gain from me from a scammer standpoint if I was to take a venmo or other payment.. I suspect they just get me to send a item and want to send a check or money order? I don't know.. either way no business with me if it's not through the websites. 

Many folks are eager to get a order and would fall for this or go the extra mile to work up a order / payment page etc to help customer out.. and they may be getting scammed.. maybe not.. maybe I'm missing out on orders by doing this but I don't care honestly as I said.. it's more legwork to create a invoice when there are plenty of other ways / sites for them to order what they wanted.   

Edited March 21 by kmmcrafts

[BadBob]

I think I got one of these in my email, which was strange in itself because I don't use this email for my online sales. However, I have had people contact me this way that turned out to be legit.

This one claimed that they got an error message when he tried to add a listing to the shopping cart. He did not tell me which site but sent one of my photos. He wanted to purchase directly and get the item delivered in four days. This would have been a Sunday delivery.

I tested the listings on all my shops and sent him links with an explanation of how shipping worked.

Crickets

Was he a scammer? Possibly. I'm not exactly hiding, so someone with some computer skills could easily find me. If you knew my name, you could probably guess my email address. I treated this as if it were legit, but I am suspicious that it was not.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I got those many times on FB marketplace. Nothing new. If these people would put the same effort in doing a legit job they would be a plus for society. This way they are just dirt. As low as can be. 

[JimNC]

[BadBob]

I know someone whe fell for the Nigerian prince scam.

[kmmcrafts]

Yeah there are people who fall for many of these scams and that is why they keep on doing it.. I know someone that fell for one of those eBay scams saying something along the lines of "your account is in danger of deactivation.. if this is in error use the link below to log into your account to verify / update your info" He did just that with the link in the email instead of going directly to eBay and logging in.. I also know someone that did the same with PayPal.. I don't remember how much money he got scammed out of now but I think it was only a few hundred which was lucky really.. 

 

I have sold many times directly to customers and some of my biggest wholesale orders happen that way.. in fact, most of the bigger wholesale stuff I do get is direct sales and it's worth the effort to create a invoice etc.. but to spend 15-20 minutes between communication and creation of a invoice for a $15 I feel is not when there are many other places I sell where they can buy it from. They usually are more like a American / human the way they communicate.. and as I stated previously.. if a link doesn't work on one site I sell the same stuff on 3 more sites and if they really want it most times they have no problem with going to Amazon instead of Etsy.. 

I don't know if they still do this but years ago if you sold on etsy and violated their terms of use they would block your IP address so you couldn't be a buyer either.. I have sold directly to a few people several years ago because they had been kicked from etsy.. this was before Amazon handmade was a thing. I figure nowdays if you've been kicked from both etsy and Amazon maybe I just shouldn't do business with you either, LOL

[BadBob]

22 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I don't know if they still do this but years ago if you sold on etsy and violated their terms of use they would block your IP address so you couldn't be a buyer either.

Blocking IP addresses could get tricky. If my connection is offline for an extended time (hurricane), when I finally get reconnected, I usually have a different IP. Then, there are always those various VPNs that hide your IP address.

[kmmcrafts]

24 minutes ago, BadBob said:

Blocking IP addresses could get tricky. If my connection is offline for an extended time (hurricane), when I finally get reconnected, I usually have a different IP. Then, there are always those various VPNs that hide your IP address.

Yeah there are ways around that and that might not be the way they delete accounts anymore or maybe never was the way they did it.. just what I've read.. There are certainly ways to get around that if so.. especially now days