HELP: Fraudulent Website is Pretending to Be Our Online Store

[ASUCrystal]

Over the summer, we discovered that a fraudulent website copied everything about our online store (the same products images and descriptions, similar website URL, logo, etc.) and is pretending to be us. People order from them because their prices are way too good to be true and get scammed. When someone orders from them, they don't send them an order confirmation, and they of course come ask us for assistance.

We contacted their US domain registrar, but they told us that they're not able to do anything because they're located in China. I've been so stressed out about this - any suggestions on how to stop them would be greatly appreciated.

[BrianCoff]

Hi ASSUCrytal, 

What a pain, sorry to hear that this is happening.

Have you taken the steps with Shopify's legal department to have the site taken down? This is assuming that the fraudulent website is being run through Shopify of course.

I'll link you to more information below, it also contains a form you can use to contact Shopify's legal department :

https://help.shopify.com/en/legal/dmca#/form

Hopefully this comes to a positive conclusion soon!

[ASUCrystal]

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, they don't use Shopify. I've been super stressed out about this because they're tarnishing our reputation and hurting our sales. I just thought they'd be shut down by now with getting so many chargebacks, but they're still chugging along and even added a Merry Christmas banner to their website. It's insane how they were able to copy EVERYTHING about our website.

[JacobG7]

Hello BrianCoff,

Im having a similar problem, there is a website using my registered business address and Trading name. can you or someone else please help me?

[Shay]

Hi @ASUCrystal 

I am very sorry to hear about this situation and I understand how concerning it is to have to go through something like this. 

If this copy-cat website is hosted on Shopify as well then the DMCA takedown notice that @BrianCoff shared (thank you!) is definitely the next step to take. 

I understand that you have been in contact with the domain registrar about the domain they are using, but have not met much success there. I would also contact the payment gateways being used on the store to report the account with them also. If the store is unable to accept payment it will not be able to have orders placed or will have to move to less secure options that many customers will turn away from. 

If you believe this is causing damage to your own store and brand then I would also consider looking into legal assistance for the next steps. 

[ASUCrystal]

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it. Great idea about contacting their payment gateway - how would I find this information?

[Shay]

If you are able to share a link to the store I'd be happy to have a look and see if I am able to find that information. 

They may have it listed or it may be searchable using the browsers inspect tool. Do you know what platform the website is hosted on?

[ASUCrystal]

@BrianCoff helped me identify their payment gateway, and we messaged Stripe about their scam. Hopefully, Stripe will drop them so they won't be able to collect payment information. I just fear that they will find another credit card processor. Thanks for all your help! 😊 

[Gamerseo]

try to contact your web host and ask for a photo of the website.