Continuous fake inquiry mails

Shopify Discussion
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1

Hi all,

I am very sorry if this has been discussed before. My search only showed results related to actual Shopify impersonators or customer account settings.

My store has been up for a couple of days, and since yesterday, I continuously get mails from random addresses asking something along the lines of:

“Is this store open for orders”

“Is this the right way to talk to the store owner”

“I have a question, is this a good time” etc.

And of course “let me help to grow your business” (see screenshot preview)

Is this normal? I have activated the Shopify Spam check and the Captcha for actual accounts…

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Any tips, or do I have to live with this?

2

This is unfortunately pretty common when a store first goes live bots scrape new sites and send these is this store open or grow your business spam messages through your contact form.

A few things that usually help

  • Enable reCAPTCHA on contact forms (sounds like you’ve done this — keep it on).

  • Use a spam filter app (e.g. Shop Protector, Hulk Form Builder with spam protection).

  • Add keyword filters in your email client (filter out messages with grow your business etc.).

  • If it’s overwhelming, you can replace the contact form with a direct email link, or use a third party form app with stronger spam protection.

It usually calms down after the site’s been live for a while, but spam never fully goes away filters and apps are the best way to manage it.

3

I use BM Country Blocker to only allow countries that I sell to to visit my website. I also have it set to block bots and any VPN/Tor connections. I have to say it helped a lot.