I believe I've been scammed, help getting my money back or investigate?

[LouistheHelms]

I recently made a purchase from one Hobomon (off of hobomon.myshopify, which is now down) and I believe it was not legitimate. My order has not even shipped yet according to the order status, and I find it highly suspicious that the website went down after I only bought the item three days ago.

Also, my order was listed as order# 1001, which I've learned meant I was the first person to order something from the store. This is yet another red flag that I belief points to the store having been a scam. Hopefully I'll get some help with this. If not, I'll most likely take it up with my bank and be able to get my money back through them.

[StephensWorld · Accepted solution]

If you can't get in touch with the owner of the store (you should of received an order confirmation email, that includes the email of the store owner - or their support email address), then you should contact your bank (or credit card company) to initiate a chargeback. 

In the future, I'd recommend not purchasing from stores that don't have a custom domain name. If the store still uses a '.myshopify.com' URL, then it's probably not fully set up yet, or is inactive. It also helps to research reviews for stores before purchasing from them -- this is good practice for any purchases online (not just Shopify stores).

Seeing as how the store is no longer available (if you go to hobomon.myshopify.com), it's likely that Shopify has already acted against the store owner, hence the closure. 

I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. I wish you luck in getting in contact with the store owner, or else filing a successful chargeback. 

[LouistheHelms]

As a matter of fact, I have already emailed the email provided with the order confirmation receipt, hobomon@skiff.com, and have not received an email back. Granted, in my email I was slightly inflammatory and accusatory. 

As long as this shop owner does not use my debit card information further, I don't believe I need to take it up with my bank in order to get the money back, as my purchase was only $70 in cost. I may contact them anyway in order to let them know of the dubious purchase, and if I receive a charge back then that would be a welcome solution.

I am knew to Shopify shops, so I did not know about that fact about the domains. I will definitely keep that in mind if I purchase through a Shopify shop in the future. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

[StephensWorld]

Hey @LouistheHelms 

I'm happy that my post could help a bit. 

If the store owner doesn't get back to you soon, then definitely contact your bank (or credit card company) to initiate a chargeback. Even if the money isn't a big deal, the principal still matters. Guys who try to act dishonestly on the internet shouldn't be rewarded (or get away with shady stuff). 

I just want to also clarify -- the overwhelming majority of Shopify stores are legit. Shopify as a platform does a really good job at keeping the bad actors off of the platform. If you find yourself browsing a Shopify store in the future, just make sure they have a custom domain and at least a few good reviews, and you should be safe to purchase from them. There are 2m+ Shopify stores -- with that number of stores, there's going to be a few 'bad guys' out there, but almost all of the merchants on Shopify are honest, respectable business folk. Don't let this poor experience sour your opinion of the platform or others' stores! 🙂

[jlnelson0]

I had the same issue - purchased an item from a seller and now the shop is pulled down and Shopify will not allow me to submit a form because the url of my confirmation of purchase now leads to a '404 webpage not found' error.  I did initiate a fraud dispute with my credit card company and I anticipate my $190 will be refunded but I am disappointed in Shopify, I no longer trust the platform and I'm deleting the app.  A platform like this should do some minimal effort to verify the legitimacy of their sellers or provide some kind of protection to buyers.  

[LouistheHelms]

Sorry to hear that you're in a similar situation, nelson. I just recently got a response a few weeks after reporting the fraud to my bank, and my payment was refunding and the bank is looking into it for me. Hopefully you get similar compensation from your credit card company!

[Halstep]

Hi, I made a purchase today and used my credit card. Turns out they are a fake merchant on shopify. And they cleaned out my bank account. I only had $250 in there, but they got it. Is there anything I can do?

[Don]

Hi there, @Halstep!

Sorry to hear you're facing this difficult situation.

While we're not able to confirm if a given store is using Shopify, it should not be the case that a Shopify store would have access to your full card number or be able to withdraw more money than the price of the order you have confirmed you wish to make with that store.

I would advise you first to reach out to your card issuer, bank, etc in order to let them know what has happened and that you believe you have been charged incorrectly or illegitimately

If you believe the store you ordered from to be using Shopify in a manner which contravenes our Acceptable Use Policy, you can report an issue with a merchant using this form. 

[Halstep]

Hi...so I unfortunately jumped the gun. My bank account was not cleaned out...the transaction does show up on my account. But there is no record of the purchase other than that. No receipt no email. The store is still up an running and I sent them a message but haven't heard back. 

[Imogen]

Thanks for that context, @Halstep. The business may need some time to follow up with your support request, so keep an eye out for any communications coming from them! If 30 days since the day of purchase pass, and you don't hear back from the business regarding the order, or receive your goods, let us know, and we can assist you with reporting the order if needed.

[Jibby]

I dont believe I can trust Shopify. Found a store that was fake (called the actual store who confirmed it was a scam) and it was tough to find support from Shopify. You’d think they would want to know when fake stores are putting their reputation at risk and offer support. 

[Jibby]

Don’t order from https://lochenmow.myshopify.com/

It is a scam

[MsBBB]

Hello,  Maybe you can also help me.  I believe I have been scammed by a so called Shopfiy store:  I received a "thank you for your order with a shopify email. KINDEL Store <store+64215253145@t.shopifyemail.com. However, at the end of the email it states 
If you have any questions, reply to this email or contact us at CroffieDuong@gmail.com.  I have written at least 5 times, with no response. It will now be a month.  I finally was able to contact shopify, but it was a nightmare because I am a buyer and do not have a store.  They stated they are unable to access this store.  I even provided the link to the store which now looks extremely like a fake page :   https://1f131e-13.myshopify.com/?syclid=8ae7f2df-da55-4a74-a5e9-27322576bb66

At this point, I assume I have just been scammed.  I'm now afraid to shop from shopify shops.  There appears to be no protection.

Thanks

 

[Lindberg007]

This also happened to me through tranquilsanas.myshopify.com    I will never order anything from a Shopify store again there is no accountability from Shopify to guarantee there customers don’t get scammed. First time I have ever ordered from Shopify and it was a scam.  What a bunch of **bleep** $550 my bank has to not figure out 

[zaxstarr]

This just happened to me. Charged $71, never received an order, and now the shop says it’s no longer available on the platform. I cant even raise a flag with them since theres now no URL to fill in the blank with and also I’d have to wait 30 days even though there’s no hope of the merchant ever replying (I’ve tried multiple times).

I don’t trust shopify at this point, and I’ll likely never make a purchase through this platform again. If someone can just set up a bogus shop that easily and then it gets deleted once they get their scam money, and I can’t even follow up with shipify itself, then this platform is totally untrustworthy. Super disappointed.

[fercho2]

I have been scammed by SHOPIFY! I opened a store with shopify, two months later they decided to close my store. I have been trying to get my funds from Shopify for three months now and they are giving me the run around. It looks like they will keep my funds. Total Scam! 

[EthanH]

I was also just scammed in a similar manner by biking4orever.myshopify.com. Reading through this thread, it seems like this is a frequent & repeatable strategy to scam customers. How does Shopify not have a verification system for vendors by now? 

[Jloff1010]

SHOP/SHOPIFY  has violated its own policy as well as consumer laws of CANADA and USA. Legal class action is investigating this violation. Consumers who placed orders through SHOP/SHOPIFY and were unfulfilled,  had no communication with the store or learned the store does not exist on SHOP/SHOPIFY should contact a attorney.  This is fraud,theft and violations of unfair,dishonest business practices. SHOP/SHOPIFY has help and chat for the stores and those who use SHOP/SHOPIFY to sell to consumers and even teach them how to do this but no help for the consumers who SHOP/SHOPIFY took money from with false advertising, reddit to their sights for products search and claim SHOP as the payee to the store that does not exist on SHOP/SHOPIFY. It is SHOP/SHOPIFY who took your money and says they paid the nonexistent store...This is fraud and theft being performed by the person or program taking your money. Go through legal services or even your local claims court. File with the ATTORNEY GENERAL OF YOUR STATE. GO THROUGH CANADA  GOVERNMENT AND FILE A COMPLAINT SHOP/SHOPIFY FOR DEFRAUDING CONSUMERS ALL OVER THE GLOB AND REFUSING TO RETHRN MONEY TAKEN BY SHOP/SHOPIFY WHEN THE STORE DOES NOT EVEN EXIST.

[Jloff1010]

WHY don't you tell this to consumers before taking their money. I am starting a lawsuit after being DEFRAUDED of money through SHOP. This is a common problem. Scammers are shown how to scam consumers and SHOP/SHOPIFY protects these criminals.  July 29,2024,DEFRAUDED out of 56.98 through SHOP,advertising for fake stores. Now SHOP thinks they are protected by their own legal terms and takes no responsibility consumers return of their money when they learn its a scam within hours. Timee to pay back scammed consumers.