I’m seeing a new pattern in my store where a digital gift card is purchased with a low value physical item to be sent. Nothing seems unusual but shortly after this order, a new order is placed by someone different for a physical product the same value using the gift card. No fraud detection was picked up on either order.
there are signs they are fraudulent, a $2 item shipping with $10 delivery on tue first order with a gift card. When I saw it the first time, I called the digital gift card order customer and she said she was hacked.
Are there ways for Shopify to detect these orders? Or it just seems the scammers have all of the compromised persons details.
What you’re seeing is actually a fairly common gift card scam, the cheap physical item is really just there to make the order look legitimate, while the real goal is to grab and use the digital gift card straight away. Because all the customer details match genuine accounts, Shopify’s fraud analysis often won’t flag it.
In situations like this, Shopify itself can’t automatically detect that exact pattern, but you can make it harder for these orders to slip through. For example, some merchants temporarily limit or pause gift card sales, or set up Shopify Flow rules so any order with a gift card and a low-value item gets flagged for review before fulfillment. Others bring in fraud prevention apps that dig deeper into behavioural patterns than Shopify’s default checks.
It’s also worth brushing up on Shopify’s own guidance on fraud prevention and fraud analysis, so you know exactly what the system is looking for, and what it isn’t. That way, you can put extra eyes on the kinds of orders that slip past automated checks.
If this gave you something useful, feel free to mark it as a solution so others can find it too.
You’re making a great deal of sense here. This helps greatly how we manage our gift cards in the future. Thank you for taking the time to write and respond to my post.
We also checked the shipping address on the order using the gift card, it’s a vacant lot in an industrial park which also was a red flag.
Glad to hear my earlier comment was helpful! Scammers often pick locations where no one’s actually there, then try to intercept or reroute the package before delivery. Catching that upfront can save you a lot of trouble.
If you’re looking for an extra layer of visibility, we also provide ParcelPanel Order Tracking, which gives you a clear, real-time view of every shipment. It won’t block a fraudulent order on its own, but it can help you spot unusual patterns early and keep a complete record if you ever need to follow up with Shopify or the carrier.
We’d love for you to give it a try and see if it makes your post-purchase monitoring easier