I received an email from Google alerting me that my domain, pothaholic.com, is being used by some other party. My Shopify store has been inactive for a few months (since around February 2024) but my domain (which I purchased through Shopify) was renewed in December 2023, and is still mine. Now, when I go to pothaholic.com, it shows some other party’s ecommerce page. How do I report/rectify this issue?
Topic summary
A domain owner received a Google alert that their domain (pothaholic.com) is being used by an unknown party. The domain was purchased through Shopify, renewed in December 2023, and the owner’s store has been inactive since February 2024. When visiting the domain, it now displays someone else’s ecommerce page.
Recommended Actions:
- Contact Shopify support directly
- Access the Shopify account’s domains section to review and modify DNS records
- If not currently using the domain for Shopify: Delete all A records and CNAME records
- If using the domain for email: Preserve MX records and any email-related records
The issue appears to be DNS misconfiguration allowing another party to use the domain, which can be resolved through Shopify’s DNS settings management.
I would reach out to Shopify support.
You can check your Shopify account and go to your domains section and change the DNS records so they do not point to the new store.
https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/domains/managing-domains/edit-dns-settings
If you are definitely not using the domain right now and not selling on Shopify, I would delete all the A records and CNAME records.
If you are using this domain for emails, leave the mx records and any records that start with mail. or anything like that.