Reporting a scam store

[Hughgo]

I'm a Shopify store owner, Shopify has for my purposes been a fantastic product. However, as soon as I decided to purchase something from someone else's Shopify store, I was sorely disappointed by a scam website. 

After looking into the site, Strouz, I found that the store owner is operating more than one scam site ripping people off for counterfeit phone cases (Vorus Men, Strouz). In my case, after a product did finally arrive after a month, it's not the same product as advertised, and it wasn't even functional. It arrived unbranded, broken and unable to be used with multiple manufacturing defaults. After attempting to get my money back as per the stores "refund policy", they refused and offered me only a voucher to purchase another case and now will not communicate at all. Upon checking their Facebook, there are only complaints describing the same issues I've had, and they won't allow comments on their Instagram posts for obvious reasons. I tried posting comments on their FB page that were promptly deleted by Strouz.

Why is there no way for us to report scam stores like this?

This kind of store should not be allowed to still be live, scamming more people as is evident by the new reviews on their FB page. Inevitably this kind of deceit only brings down all of the legitimate Shopify operators. Is there some advice someone can give me to have these stores taken down? I don't want more people to have their money stolen and time wasted.   

[AwareWare]

I totally agree with you. I bought several Black Friday items from various Shopify stores on Facebook. I am sorry to say they were all frauds. ALL OF THEM. Most of the sites have been taken down, and they do not answer email. It is worth mentioning that PayPal will refund your payment if you buy through them.

This is giving a real bad name to China commerce. Shopify needs to protect its reputation against fake stores. It needs to protect consumers by providing a list of "malicious shops" the way Google keeps a list of malicious websites. Why not? The threat of legal class action (by thousands of cheated customers) may compel the owners of Shopify to do just that.

[llibutti]

Shopify doesn't really care it seems. There are HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of scam sites on this platform now. AND Facebook allows then to advertise on all platforms. I'm seeing this more and more. 

[MozaikGal]

I got taken by a scam website hosted by Shopify. I have since discovered a 2nd Shopify-hosted website by the same scammers, each of them designed to look like discount clothing suppliers when in fact they're peddling household supplies, to take advantage of people during the coronavirus pandemic. "Lilifashions" and "Ssummers." Watch out for these people. They're based out of China & have been reported on other websites as sending out low quality, counterfeit merch.  I realized they were scammers within minutes of placing my order. I have sent several emails asking them to cancel & haven't heard back. The phone number is fake and their main address is a phony London address. I have submitted a complaint to the FTC.

Shopify has lost my confidence and has no more credibility with me. 

[MozaikGal]

Well the good news is that the 2 scam stores I mentioned here have been shut down. The bad news is that several identical ones with new names are now open & being hosted by Shopify! These scam artists are undeterred. And clearly Shopify has a policy problem if it lets these people get away with this. The new ones, btw, are called "Kikishoees" "Onlyno" and "Faciboo." How they come up with these names, I have no idea!

[TheEmark]

I reached out to Shopify regarding these and other scammy websites, seems they are going to act upon. Let's hope! 

[Sh41]

How do you do that? Because in India I tried reporting but the order id is incorrect which i was shared by merchant, obviously  and without that a ticket cannot be logged in

[trevdad]

I bought some toilet paper from Faciboo the other day then today when I went to check my order the site was down. What should I do? I used paypal for the purchase is it possible for them to steal my information from there?

[Hughgo]

If you can't reverse the charge through your Paypal account, you should contact your credit card company/bank to reverse the charges. They'll sort that pretty quickly. Your other info should be fine, Paypal is secure and doesn't pass on any info, they just handle the payment.

[Jamesbtex]

Contact your credit card company first!
Their customer service is a real person, they issue you a refund immediately while they invested the claim and you can call them back about your case it you need to.
PayPal takes forever and their customer service stays hidden behind their website walls. You can NEVER talk to someone if you have questions.

PayPal tends to favor the seller which is why they are getting away with this.
If you file a claim with your credit card company the sellers don’t like working with them and most likely won’t even respond to the charge back!

James

[MozaikGal]

Hi... I went through the exact same thing. I used Paypal & Paypal would not cancel the transaction. I emailed the seller multiple times & got no response. I then called Bank of America, explained the situation. They said I had to wait for the charge to clear, to see how much they actually charged, and then wait a week or so to see if I received any goods. If in 2 to 3 weeks time, I still haven't received anything, I should call them back and then they'd go after the seller for fraud. Problem is, they are almost certainly based in China & there's no valid contact info. These guys are making a killing right now!

[Jamesbtex]

If they can’t contact the seller then you have won your case and the credit card company should refund your money!

[Jamesbtex]

Contact Shopify, PayPal and your Credit Card Company, Shopify, then PayPal in that order because I found that PayPals support stays hidden behind their website walls, are slower then ever and tend to favor the seller.

With the Credit Card company I had someone to talk to, can call back again to check the status of the claim, add more info, etc.

Plus they issued and immediate refund while they investigated the claim.

[Jamesbtex]

Keep reporting them!
Sooner or later Shopify is going to have to make some improvements to prevent this if they don’t want to have to keep dealing with these crooks!

[RonelS]

Shopify - why are you not doing your due diligence? 

[lio53]

this site (https://italiansmart.it) has been scamming users for months without anyone intervening, even shopify has been alerted but obviously it is not of interest

[pdescham49]

Another reported shopify scam scite.

https://harlandco.com/

Honestly though... this vendor. 'CHICV HONG KONG HKG' and 'CHICV UK' just spins up another site every 2-6 months and starts all over again. 

Chekout the list of sites I wonder how many of these are / where shopify sites (below)

However...

if shopify added some mechaism to "verify" the merchant and log fraud complaints. They would be blocking a revenue stream. 

Feels like Shopify may be a part of the problem. 

Here's a list of sites by 'CHICV HONG KONG HKG' and 'CHICV UK

2SBest

Airydress – This scam site habitually steals photos from Lulu’s and attempts to pass them off as their own.

Annie Cloth

AreaLook

ArielAvenue – They have stolen photos AND scammed people by charging them for products they never actually bought.

Azbro

Balanla

Beachside Bunny

Beachsissi

Beaulite

BelleLily

Bellizo

BerryLook

BerryModa

Blongdays

Boho Beach Hut – Stole photos from Lulu’s and other retailers.

BohoLady

BohoFactory

Bonboho

BooBeauty – Stolen images from bloggers and other reputable stores.

Boots N Bag Heaven

Brielle & Co – Steals photos and deletes negative comments from people.

Callbeau

Carine

Charmeric

ChicBoho – I’ve added them to the list because they stole one of these photos from a blogger that features a dress from VICI, a reputable boutique, and used it on the front page of their website.

Chicbohodress

ChicHola

ChicKeep

Chiclila

ChicMe

ChicMolly

CHICNICO

ChicNora

ChicNowa

ChicPopo

ChicTale – Steals photos from bloggers.

Chicylook

Choco & Cream

Choies

Ckdress

Cichic

CICI lookshop

Colabingo

Comfyfree

Cucumoda

Cupseek

Dekorhea

Depway – Lots of stolen photos.

DressLily

Dresslim

DressLink

Dressshelike

DressTours

Ecochee (formerly known as Colabingo)

Elmily

EricDress

Eavah – Stolen photos from bloggers.

FairySeason

FancyWe

Fanysun

FashionMia

FloryDay

Shop FORGE – This photo was stolen from a blogger. It’s not actually a dress, but a top and maxi skirt paired together.

Fray – This photo was stolen from a blogger.

Girlish Avenue

Girlonstyle

Gracy Bee

HelloCloth

Hesimple

HeyJue

HiMrsCoco

IndieFit

Inslace

Jojocici

JollyChic

Joyshoetique

JudeDress

Jullymart

Jumia

JustFashionNow

KayaBop 

Kingsstart

LacieLara

Launiq

Lemonapparel

Lemonbaker

Lemonscoca

LilliGal

LinkShe

Liviane

LookDora

LooselyStore

Lopezdress

Loracmoon

Lukalula

LuluLike

LuluNina

Luula

Luvyle

Milanoo

Milk And Choco – Added to the list because they stole this photo from the Nordstrom website as well as other photos from popular bloggers.

MissArty

MissingBay

ModCurvy

ModFancy

Moditown

ModLily

ModMiss

Mollyca

MollyStylish

MolyPretty

Momnava

MookyBoutique

MyBestHoney

My Complete Boutique

MyLadyStar

Nananova

Narachic

NastyDress

Neobeau

NewChic

Noracora

Nossa Vida

NovaShe

Oasap

Oflike

Orsle – This picture advertising a jumpsuit was taken from a blogger’s Instagram page. The actual jumpsuit is available for sale at Revolve for a considerably higher price.

OShopLive – This “boutique” features the exact same product images as ChicBoho.

Perimiss

PickMyBoutique

PinkClassy

Pinkinshe

Pinsdaily_us

Popgirlmart – 

PopLuna

Popmira

PopPoly

Popzora

Romful

Rosegal

Roselinlin

RoseWholeSale

RoseWe

Rotita

Saletolady

SammyDress

Serengel 

Shecici

Sherop 

Soarswe

Souisee

StayBoho

StayingSummer – Stolen photos.

Streettide

StyleWe

Stylishmolly

Stylish Vovo

Summer Bring – Stole photos of this Lilly Pulitzer swimsuit and tried to pass it off as their own.

SunnyMeet

Swellshe

The Calibar Collection

TheStyleMode

Tidebuy

TopAbove

The Boho Boutique

TrendsGal

Villeio

Vivimuses

VeniDress – One of their dresses is being advertised with a stolen photo from this blogger’s Instagram. The actual dress is available at Forever 21.

VSChic – This dress they are advertising for $19 is actually a $158 dress by Eliza J sold at Nordstrom. I couldn’t find any reviews on them, as they appear to be relatively new, but many of their photos are stolen from other bloggers/websites.

Wanelo

Wish

Wotoba – Tons of stolen images.

YEEZIM – Has stolen images from several reputable online stores.

YOINS

YouKime – Tons of stolen images.

ZoeSweet

Zoyne

[pb-cat]

Thank you for the long list @pdescham49 ! That's exactly what I was talking about. One or a few companies spinning up duplicate sites and running the same scams. I hope your post comes when shoppers search for info about those companies.

@WmH2 It would be safe to take that stance, but there are companies on Shopify who are trying to run an honest company and don't have the budget for development of a custom site. I do wish that Shopify would take more of a stance against these scam stores, though, since it erodes trust with shoppers like you and could hurt their legitimate store owners in the long run.

[Julien40]

Is there any Shopify employee looking at those posts? 

What's the official Shopify position on this topic ?

Do they just ignore all reports of scam stores their solution supports?

[WmH2]

Their official stance is that they have a contract with the seller. They will not intervene. So it is on us to contact the seller to resolve our issue. Regardless of how much proof that I have supplied in the past to them of corruption was going on. They believe that we can always file a dispute with our credit card companies.

Which makes me wonder if we should be reporting Shopify to the credit card company as the corrupt entity to shut them down.

[Skipiduweinau]

Perhaps Shopify will start do something about it soon before they start lose the important customers.

Look what Financial Times wrote about them

https://www.ft.com/content/0280592d-0adf-4dcb-a831-4f8a85f414bc

21% of the shops are risk to the shoppers!

The Shopify itself is a bit scam overpriced.

[Skipiduweinau]

I also think this is what Shopify and Facebook do with your customer data not only by the scammers. 

Shopify has been one of the big corporate winners of the pandemic, with brick-and-mortar retailers rushing to the platform — which offers tools to quickly start selling online — as lockdowns took effect. But con artists have been just as nimble. Some shops appeared to be fronts for collecting personal data without any intent to actually deliver a product, FakeSpot said. It also identified a range of other issues including brand infringement and extremely poor customer service.

[MrMagpie]

This one has popped up too - I've removed the hyperlink to prevent accidental clicks through. They've ran a sponsored facebook ad on the 23rd December going to this same link, which is a pretend article imitating a UK newspaper website. All links on the site go to the same place and the article is fake too. I've reported to Facebook, but shocked that Shopify have no reporting function for stores that I assume are breaching some T&Cs. 

Hopefully me putting this here might provoke someone at Shopify to investigate further to ensure their reputation isn't suffering: 
https://travel-bench.myshopify.com/apps/lpao/bsab/?fbclid=IwAR0JHWL6SVZ5sRJoYDTQacZc01uK_Kv9bPvLhqYmFLl-moj0OV6qJTsTK1I  

Actually just as I write this there's now a redirect to http://ww6.ilovechaina.com/ from the above link, so the person behind this is likely still active. 

[MrMagpie]

Another one and seemingly no response from Shopify on this thread:
https://enprofrira.myshopify.com/products/singita-sweni-game-lodge?fbclid=IwAR0BxRDYzCOYugLdf3enTVc8tXzVjnDk7MohrZGQY_R7x1kEURFrq6XHaww  

Ran on a Facebook sponsored ad (which clearly looked fake) and links to a fake Daily Mail article hosted on Shopify. This is harming the reputation of Shopify! 

[GirlRosette]

How about reporting shopify to the FTC or the Attorney General of the state their offices are located in.  Since they are being notified of scam websites, they are ignoring it and knowingly allowing people to get scammed.  That makes them an accessory.   That's like me seeing someone getting robbed and I have every power to stop it and I just stand there and watch. I am just as guilty.    As for the contract, i can GUARANTEE in their ToS it say they have the right to terminate any contract at their sole discretion.  I have yet to find a company who DIDN'T have the power to end a relationship.   

[Ninagt33]

Seems like we are all being ignored.

I work in the Fintech industry and my company will never partner with this type of business.

[Accountability]

I understand your pain. It's why I started this petition, which will go to the desks of the executive team once we reach a decent about of signatures. Please take a look here and share: https://www.change.org/shopifytransparency

[Jamesbtex]

I totally agree that Shopify needs to do a better job screening their sellers!
I wonder if they even read these postings?

For now we need to just keep on reporting them!

To do that:
Login to your account in the upper right corner click on the three bar box, scroll down in that menu, click on contact, then at the bottom of the next window click contact support.
Easy!

They were very helpful to me and took down the fraudulent website. Unfortunately a few days later there’s a duplicate site that popped up!
MAKE SURE YOU REPORT THESE SO OTHER CUSTOMERS DON’T GET RIPPED OFF!

I hope this helps you all,
James

[RonelS]

Shopify - when are you responding to this post. I am interested in seeing your response. If this platform is not secure and facilitated scammers.

[Jamesbtex]

I found PayPal to favor the seller even though I had rock solid evidence and it took so long I got tired of waiting.

CallEd my credit card company and I was refunded immediately and the seller never responded to their inquiry because they don’t like dealing with credit card companies!

But they know that they more often get away with it through PayPal!
Plus PayPal’s system of reporting sucks!
You have to submit a claim and then set back and wait, If you should happen to get more information to prove your case there is no way to enter it. You just have to wait for their decision.

With a credit card company you get to talk to a real person, you can call back and update your claim if you get more information and they can send you a way to upload screenshots, pictures, receipts, etc. Much better customer support then PayPal!
James

[BossBeauty812]

I am going through this right now with a page on here that was advertised on Facebook. It said they were located in the USA and I would have my items within 5 to 7 business days. I placed this order on 04/20/20. I just got a tracking number last week. The item was sent out on 04/30/20 and here it is 05/13/20 and I still haven't recieved my item. I've also found very bad reviews for their page. So before the item was even sent out I contacted them did not get a reply and they only had a email listed. So then I reached out to PayPal and they are pretty much told them to have the seller refund me before the items were even sent. They wouldnt do it and wouldnt refund me. Then today I find out the items are coming from CHINA which is fine but dont lie about it but i already know they wont look anything like the photos based on reviews. But PayPal will not and would not refund me. Saying they have to give the seller an opportunity to defend themselves but yet PayPal has pulled funds from my account before for an item i sold on Ebay that a woman was scamming people and lying about the products to get her money back and not only did they refund her they also let her keep my item. PayPal wont help hardley anymore.

[NSM1223]

Hi AwareWare,
Could you advise me in brief on how to go about getting the refund from PayPal.

I have contacted them, however I’ve received a message saying it will take longer than expected to respond due to the Covid19 situation.

Thanks!
NSM1223

[MozaikGal]

Paypal couldn't assist with the situation but I was able to get a refund through my bank. Just contact their customer service line & explain the situation & they'll tell you what steps you need to do to get the ball rolling. 

[Jet2020]

I got something 4 Valentine’s Day on Instagram and I’m still waiting and I am so upset about it because I wanted what I thought I was getting I go 2 website and it is gone it shows up Shopify now and looks shut down I’m so mad I can’t believe that 

[NSRAJU1966]

I am a victim of paying to https://goshopper.online/products/oppo-f19-pro-5g-fluid-black-8gb-ram-128gb-storage?fbclid=IwAR3wZ1u...  through https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/coimbatore/search/?query=used%20mobile%20phones%20for%20sale and they have a commercial web page in Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Mobzia-e-Shop-103430751833486/reviews/?ref=page_internal. So am posting this on 23-04-2021 becoming victim on 22-04-2021. When I was searching used mobile phones in Coimbatore District, Tamilnadu State, India., through my Facebook Id by then I have crossed an advertisement sponsored about limited time offer for oppo mobile and clicked that it redirected to goshopper.online web page and I filled all my details and paid the amount of Rs. 6497/- INR through my debit card and the web page displayed as my order is confirmed and shortly I would be contacted or communicated about my order on 22-04-2021 but till 23-04-2021 no response from them so I tried calling their given Phone number 09411868082 on 23-04-2021 4 pm  but there was a reply from the mobile service provider saying there is no sufficient balance in this number so no incoming or out going facility. Now only I have realized am a victim under this scam  Then started sending recovery complaint to my bank authorities and local Police and National Cyber Crime Dept.

So pls be aware that scammers and fraudsters are everywhere posing them selves very genuine with proper websites and with the support of Facebook and Shopify they have easy way to swindle our money. Will shopify interfere in this kind of issue if shopify itself properly genuine.