I’m not sure they deleted, I saw none too on my main account, then had to click down to my seller account to see them.
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Do you mean you are on your seller dashboard’s message, and there is still message there?
If so, then maybe Michaels only deleted all the messages from the sellers who reported the scam messages?
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No, i see two diff placea for messages, one empty, one with stuff. Ill grab screen shots in the morning and post here.
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This might mean that access to all (non-scam) messages is also temporarily disabled.
Very glad that MakerPlace has recognized the scope of the issue and communicated about it.
Honestly? MP must be doing something right, to make them (and their Sellers) a hacking/phishing target. I’m wondering if not-really-handmade Etsy and Amazon “handmade” international Sellers have been rejected by MP…
so since they can’t join 'em, they try to beat 'em.
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I wouldn’t say they are doing something “right” to make them a target. They’ve clearly become a target because the scammers have had success and will keep on fishing the same pool.
I think Makerplace being new tends to attract a lot of people who maybe didn’t find success on Etsy or amazon simply because running a business is hard and not everyone is capable. People who are lacking in business skills are also probably lacking in internet safety skills. There are so many posts on the Facebook group asking “if it is a scam” vs “bringing awareness to an obvious scam”, that there are probably even more who don’t even read or go on Facebook to ask and just fall for the scam.
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Oh I hope not, but you’re quite likely correct.
It’s easy to forget the hard-earned lessons we have already learned, that seem so obvious to us now–and that there are still newer or less experienced Sellers who have not.
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I had ~40 phishing/scam messages today.
MakerPlace storefronts were inaccessible for at least 10 but less than 30 minutes (I’m not online every minute to be more exact.)
My MakerPlace inbox was completely emptied several hours ago. Unfortunately, that includes several special orders (nothing recent).
I didn’t count, but MP FB group had well over 100 replies/comments on maybe 6(?) separate posts about the scam message explosion. Lots of panic, especially over the privacy issue.
I was doing not-great-but-OK-enough on MP until ~4 months ago. Sales on Amazon crashed about the same time.
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Ok well after I looked yesterday and today, all messages are gone. I’m going to have to imagine that it’s temporary, as they want to avoid us seeing bad links.
Yesterday under the seller dashboard I could still see messages, but not under the main account home.
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I received 39 emails from Michael’s that I had messages waiting for me in my inbox, but the scam messages were deleted before I saw them.
A bigger concern is the scammers know our names and which Michael’s account is ours. That’s a lot more personally identifying information (PID) than most scammers who send out blanket messages to a wide audience with no known names.
I am beginning to suspect this is an “inside job” done by Michael’s employees or their “off shore” contractual employees.
Marilyn
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Good point, my full name was also in the message.
Luckily I did not make any sales this Xmas season on this platform so when I got the message I said oh well dont need this marketplace anyways.
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Yeah I put my makerplace shop on vacation till the end of the year. I might extend it longer. The longest I think you can do is 3 or 4 months but I’m afraid if I extend it that long I might forget to renew the extension. I don’t just want to close it permanently because I don’t know if I want to come back and if I would have to start all over? I might extend my vacation time till the end of January and reevaluate then.
I’m just really struggling to see this as a “successful marketplace” (I know we all define success differently) it’s just a lot of unprofessional things going on, things I read in the Facebook group about Michael’s giving out sellers contact information to customers, the most recent scam stuff, the constant featuring of imported and dropped shipped goods as “handmade” just because the seller has 20k+ followers on Instagram.
I’m not even sure at this point what I would like to see happen that would get me eager about being a Makerplace seller? Would I feel better if I was making a lot more money or being featured? I’ve actually been invited several times to sell in store but every time I tell them I can’t on a Saturday how about a Sunday? And for the longest time they wouldn’t even respond. Finally one time someone did respond and said yes they would start doing Sundays but then the newest dates again were all on Saturdays. I just don’t seem so optimistic about this platform like I was 18 months ago. In the very beginning it was nice seeing all the items that didn’t have the greatest photography like they really were all about promoting stuff people were hand making but now it seems to be all curated perfect looking things. They’ve learned nothing (or maybe everything) from Etsy / Amazon Handmade.
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I wonder if this was inserted by Michaels? At least I hope that’s the case…
I also just got their email, it’s longer, but this is the start:
Dear MakerPlace Sellers,
In the past 48 hours, we have finalized a set of technology updates that will help MakerPlace address the threat of bad actors in our community. Given the scope of this plan, we will not be able to complete the updates until after the holidays.
All MakerPlace messaging, including historical messages, will remain turned off until the technology updates are complete. During this time, MakerPlace employees are still able to access historical messages, and we are here to help you successfully fulfill all your orders.
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At least it seems finally Michaels are taking the matter seriously and trying to fix things and also making an efforts to keep business going.
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