How can I handle my website being hijacked with my product designs?

[oldmariner]

someone created website using my products (shirts / designs) and just changed my domain name to "shop".  I would recommend to everyone to check your domain by adding shop instead of com and see what happens. Their server is called livgrill.  What can we do about this?

Seems very difficult to reach shopify by phone these days and this kind of sucks.

[Elias]

Hey, @oldmariner.

Thank you for reaching out and bringing this to our attention.

If someone is infringing on your intellectual properties on Shopify, then you don't need to contact our live support team as you can report an intellectual property infringement using our online form. This method allows you to upload documents and attachments, so this is our recommended process for handling these types of situations. Once that's done, our Legal team will be able to review the case and follow-up with you directly if needed. 

If you have any other questions on this topic, don't hesitate to let me know.

[Anasmd]

HI Elias

Followed the above steps , but Shopify sent an email that they cannot send DMCA notice because the content is not hosted on Shopify ?

Any further help please ? They have hijacked my site as well

[Elias]

Hi, @Anasmd.

Thanks for joining the thread.

If the website you're reporting isn't hosted on Shopify, then we wouldn't be able to shut the store down. Instead, you'll need to report the store for copyright infringement through their hosting platform. For example, if the store is hosted on GoDaddy, then you can report the store using GoDaddy - Trademark/Copyright Infringement.

If you have any other questions on this topic, then don't hesitate to let me know!

[jalderma]

Had the same thing happen to our site several times.  Had to search who the domain was registered with using whois.com.  They will have an email listed to submit a complaint.  I've noticed it takes about a week to shut one of these sites down. Keep an eye open for more fraudulent sites showing up.  I'm on my third one all with the website ending with .shop...  I'm starting to wonder if they are getting the data through one of our apps?  I'll be digging in on this thought further...

[Glasss_Station]

Any update or additional info on this? I just found a .shop copycat of my website hosted by webnic.cc. I tried contacting the copycat website via their contact form and via the customer service email and got nothing other than an "undeliverable" notification. I just sent an email to webnic.cc and am awaiting their response. Thanks!!

[jalderma]

I haven't had anymore (or located) any additional fake sites pop up for us.  Make sure you include some screenshots of the site as it pertains to copyright infringement.  We have registered trademarks of our logo and business name so we included the registration numbers as well.  I found that I needed to follow up before any action took place.  Usually, the day after a follow up email, the fake site got taken down.  Just to make sure you got the correct email address... It should be compliance_abuse@webnic.c

Good luck!

[Glasss_Station]

Hello,

Thanks for the info! Yes, I sent an email to that address yesterday. They responded and said the site should be taken down within 24-48 hours.

[Antje_WILDHOOD]

Hey all, we are having the same problem. It happened to us for 4th or 5th time. I always make screenshots, report them to the police, try to find who is hosting the domain using whois, but mostly end up being semi successful. Some of the clone sites where protected by whoisprotection.cc where you can also file a complaint and it takes like 24-48h hours until they shut it off.

I am actually about to close my shop after 8,5 years. And this scam / clone shop problem is one of the main reason. We had a huge drop in traffic and sales over the last 2 years and next to others reasons I guess our reputation suffered through this scam sites. As you know Google does not like duplikate content and stuff and I do not know if there are poeple out there (like potencial customers) who filed a complaint about us or the fake shops with google who is now kind of blacklisting us.

I would be very interested in more information from Shopify why this is happening and how one can prevent this. How can small business owner protect themselves?

[jamscraftcloset]

I would also like to know how and why this is happening and how I can protect myself and my small business.  

[toys2learn]

Hi

Jodie from Toys2learn.  My site has also been copied. They have taken my domain name and added and extra n.shop.  Has anyone had any luck fighting this??

Jodie Sanders

[KatieKoo]

Our website has been done too. Looking through they all seem to be Shopify stores. So for Shopify to wash their hands of this isn't great. It's quite clearly a problem with their software - or a bogus app. I contacted the domain hist who has told me the IP address is a country where they can't do anything about it. 

[jamscraftcloset]

This also happened to me on livgrill and also on Shoplazza Inc.  Because they are in China, I have heard that there is nothing that can be done.  Think of all the customers that may order from these fake companies and the money they are making, and not having the merchandise to send to the customer.  So far, I have only found two websites that have duplicated my store... the funny thing is that they have everything 50% off and have nothing to ship.

[michaelbois]

We were notified yesterday by a customer about a fraudulent copy of our site. It’s by Livgrill and they copied all our product, everything is 50% off, and the Whois registration is all set to private. 

We’ve filed complaints with the registrar, hosting site, Wordpress, etc. and waiting on replies. Of course the “customer support” email listed on the spam website bounces back. 

How can Shopify be totally helpless with its customers like this?!

[Brakecrafters]

I have had a similar incident with my site being duplicated.  We are using two factor authentication with Shopify and our other site, but am wondering if the breach occurred with Google Ads?  Just a thought.

I submitted a complaint with my state attorney general and with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center(IC3) | Home Page

Also, I was advised by the hosting provider for the fraudulent site to refer to the  The Digital Millennium Copyright Act | U.S. Copyright Office and provide six specific elements of notification to the hosting provider listed on the domain registry (either whois or icann or other).  This was pasted directly from the hosting provider (Linode in my case) email reply to my complaint.

1) Identify the copyrighted work(s) in question. Depending on the nature of your complaint, links to your original work may be helpful.

2) Identify the infringing material that should be removed, as well as all relevant information needed for hosting provider to locate it.

3) Provide hosting provider sufficient contact information to reach you regarding your complaint. Your address, telephone, and e-mail address are all acceptable.

4) Provide a statement that you, in good faith, believe that the use of this material in the manner mentioned in this complaint is not authorized by the copyright owner, their agent, or by the law.

5) Provide a statement that the information you’ve provided in this notification is accurate and under penalty of perjury that you are the owner, or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner regarding exclusive use rights that are allegedly being infringed.

6) A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or the person authorized to act on their behalf.

[jamscraftcloset]

If the shops being duplicated are mostly Shopify shops, then there has to be some connection...that is just common sense.  Shopify needs to be looking into this for us.  My sales have been down for almost a year and I am hoping this is not the reason why.  I have loved Shopify since I moved from Etsy.

[KatieKoo]

We've managed to get our LIVGRILL duplicate store taken down. We contacted Cloudfare who gave us the Hosting provider as Digital Hosting. We emailed abuse@digitalocean.com filled out a quick form and whilst the Front page is still live, all out products have been removed, all within 48 hours. 

I hope this helps.

[GoWestyDanica]

I've been on a journey this week trying to get rid of our livgrill duplicate. I've been to Shoplazza, Wordpress, Whois, Cloudflare, and so many other sites tracking down everything I can see in the code to get this fraud site removed. It's looking like AWS is hosting this one and in true Amazon fashion, they're being less than helpful, they told me they would forward my request to the scammers and if I have any further concerns to take it up with the scammers. Thanks, Amazon...

I've contacted the registrar (webnic.cc) and am hoping that will get this fraud site taken down. I'd like to avoid going to our trademark lawyer, but it's looking like that might be the next logical option if it's still up in a couple of days!