Warning: Fraudulent Seller (Scammer) on Etsy

Just a heads up, everyone: please do not buy from or deal with this user on Etsy. I received messages from a few people at Etsy yesterday (and one here at DA) notifying me that this account was impersonating my business by using my name and logo and photos of my past work to scam buyers at Etsy. Obviously these mounts are not her own work, and it was clear by the listing descriptions that she didn't know what she was talking about, claiming that many of the traditional mounts were wired soft mounts and had been the result of roadkill donated to her.

Per Etsy's recommendation, I contacted the owner of the account myself to give her a chance to remove everything before escalating the issue and taking it to Etsy. I thought it was the right thing to do. Boy, was I wrong. What followed was hands down one of the most bizarre exchanges I've had in my entire life. Top 5, I'd say.

"Hello, I'm the owner of Weird City Taxidermy and you need to stop what you're doing." (not in those exact words but you get the idea)

Her reply?

"I'M the owner of Weird City Taxidermy and I have the paperwork to prove it. Where's yours?" (again, paraphrased, but it gets the point across)

She then proceeded to spew legal jargon at me (some blatantly false) and threatened me with legal action for a number of things. She tried very hard-- and quite skillfully, I might add-- to bully and intimidate me into handing over my federal taxpayer ID as "proof" that I am who I say I am, even going so far as to instruct me which government tax form I should show her! Which I most certainly did NOT. That is confidential info, similar to giving out one's social security number. With that she could potentially obtain a loan or line of credit in my business's name. She even claimed that by not releasing this info to her I was breaking the law! LOL

From there, when she didn't get what she wanted, she began accusing me of running an "illegal, unregistered" business and evading taxes and so on, none of which is true. I sparred verbally with her for a bit because her outrageous claims were infuriating. It was clear she wanted something from me, something I was under no obligation to give, so I stood my ground and refused to hand her any ammunition for her broken gun. Backed into a corner, she shared these allegations with other Etsy users too, users who had already reported her for her fraudulent listings. I'm just sad that 7 sales were made because of this person's trickery; the same white wolf rug was "sold" multiple times for just $53!

Anyway, it's really chilling when you think about it. At first I thought she was just messing with me, then I thought there might be something wrong with her, but now I suspect this may have been a calculated attempt at identity theft. Gotta be so careful out there, y'all!

(She did stop using my name and logo and took down her taxidermy listings, by the way, minutes after I filed a report with Etsy for infringement of intellectual property rights... for unauthorized use of name and trademark. This business is my livelihood and I will defend it.)