Questionable email

Technical Q&A

Topic summary

A user received a suspicious email claiming their Shopify store violates Terms of Service due to malware and misconfigured CRS files, threatening permanent account revocation within 72 hours.

Key warning signs identified:

  • Portions of the email text appear reversed/encoded (backwards text)
  • Creates artificial urgency with a 72-hour deadline
  • Threatens immediate suspension and “irreversible damage”
  • Requests contact through personal email rather than official channels

Recommended action:

  • Do NOT respond to or provide any information to this email
  • Contact Shopify support directly through official channels to verify authenticity
  • This is most likely a phishing scam attempting to exploit store owners’ fears about account suspension
Summarized with AI on November 4. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

I received an email saying this is it real?
Dear Valued Merchant,

This is your first warning that your store is in direct violation of Shopify’s Terms of Service due to the unresolved malware issues and the misconfigured CRS file that we’ve flagged.

If you do not fix these issues within the next 72 hours, your store will be taken offline, and your access to Shopify will be permanently revoked. There will be no further opportunity for you to resolve this.

Please contact the expert team as soon as possible so as to schedule a support.

Note: Failure to do so will result in immediate suspension of your store and potentially irreversible damage to your business.

Act now, or your store will be gone.

Best Regards,
Shopify Trust & Safety.

I was also given a personal email to contact us to resolve the issue, but this happened?

2

Hi Gary,

This email seems suspicious to me at first glance and is most likely a scam! What address is the email from?

If you were worried, I would recommend reaching out to Shopify support directly to confirm. Do not respond to this email or provide any information until you have confirmed with Shopify support!

Ollie