Fraudulent store opened with my information today. Unable to reach customer support.

[Limabean100]

I am at my wit’s end and am ready to contact an attorney tomorrow morning to help me contact this useless company and determine my options due to my inability to reach a human being on any level to resolve my fraud issue. I received a series of emails today confirming that a Shopify store was opened, with credit, using my email address (and possibly my name/social, but I have no idea). I tried changing the password so I could view the account but was unable to do so bc the person opened this account using my email address used second factor authentication that I can’t get past. There is only a useless AI bot that resolves nothing. It directed me to open a new account so I could reach customer service. I did so. In the new account when you click “contact customer support,” it takes you back to the AI bot. It’s a LOOP where all roads take you back to the AI Bot. It’s completely unacceptable that this company is making millions of dollars yet has ZERO customer support via chat or phone. To me, it seems this company is supporting, and even encouraging, fraudulent activities on its platform. If you are the victim of fraud, yet can’t report it to the company in any meaningful way, you are facilitating fraud. The bot also told me to use the link to “report merchant fraud” or something to that effect. Well, you need the store link (!) to do so. I don’t have the store link. Please Help. I do not run a store on Shopify nor do I want to. I need the account using my information deleted asap before I suffer real financial harm (if I haven’t already.)

[digital_201]

@Limabean100 

I understand your frustration...Here’s what you can do for solving this issue

1. Contact Shopify Support via Social Media: Reach out on Twitter (@ShopifySupport) or Facebook for faster fraud-related assistance.
   
   

2. Report Identity Theft: File a report with local authorities or an identity theft protection service to secure your personal information.
   
   

3. Submit a Merchant Fraud Form: Use Shopify’s fraud form and provide as many details as possible, even without the store link
   
   

4. Consider Legal Action: If unresolved, contact an attorney to protect your financial information.

These steps should help you address the issue quickly

[Limabean100]

The response is not helpful at all. I don’t have a twitter account and should not have to engage with twitter and open an account to access a human being with your company. I messaged Shopify on FB messenger and, what a surprise, no one responded. This is such a wonderful company. I love that this company freely supports allowing third parties to fraudulently open accounts using a person’s identity and then shuts down the victim’s ability to contact a human customer support representative to get help with resolving the issue. Contact local law enforcement? Golly gee, that’s so incredibly helpful. Thanks Shopify! Hire a private attorney? Wow, again, great advice - thank you so much. It’s awesome that Shopify’s offer of help is for me to hire a private attorney to address fraud issues on Shopify’s platform instead of proving a basic mechanism to have my concerns addressed directly by Shopify. 

[Limabean100]

And one more thing - as I stated in my original post, Shopify’s website does not allow you to submit a report using the merchant fraud form unless you have the link to the store link. This is a mandatory requirement to complete the form (or I would have competed the form). Shopify will not allow you to submit a report without this information. 

[digital_201]

Here’s what you can do to resolve the issue. First, I recommend reaching out to Shopify directly by emailing their support team at support@shopify.com, explaining that your personal information has been used to create a fraudulent account. Be specific about the situation, making it clear that you're not associated with the store in any way and are the victim of fraud. If you're unable to make progress through the standard support channels, I suggest escalating the issue by contacting Shopify’s legal team at legal@shopify.com. This approach often gets more immediate attention when it comes to fraud-related cases. Additionally, you may want to bypass the AI bot by visiting Shopify’s Help Center in a private or incognito window, as this can sometimes lead to more direct support options without being stuck in the automated system. In the meantime, I strongly encourage you to file a fraud alert with the major credit bureaus to protect your financial information while Shopify investigates the matter. By following these steps, you should be able to get in touch with the right people at Shopify and have this issue resolved swiftly. Let me know if you need any further assistance as you move forward.