Suspicious email from Shopify Team

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

A store owner received a suspicious email claiming to be from “The Shopify Team” warning about theme configuration issues, robots.txt errors, and threats of permanent blockage unless fixed within 2 days. The email requested payment for fixes and provided a Gmail address (mikeexpertatservice@gmail.com) for contact.

Key red flags identified:

  • Sender used a Gmail address instead of official Shopify domain
  • Portions of the email text appeared reversed/garbled
  • Demanded payment for “free” configuration services

Official response:
A Shopify representative confirmed this is not legitimate communication from Shopify. Users are advised to:

  • Not respond or click any links
  • Download email headers and forward to safety@shopify.com
  • Learn about phishing protection measures

Status: Multiple users reported receiving identical scam emails. The issue has been flagged to Shopify’s security team for investigation.

Summarized with AI on November 6. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

I am suspicious regarding the legitimacy of this email received today:

"Dear Store Owner,

We’ve identified a theme configuration issue on your Shopify store, leading to non-compliance with our Terms of Service (TOS). This has restricted:

  • Live visitor tracking
  • Sales increment tools
  • Google search visibility

Errors in your robots.txt file need addressing within 2 days to avoid permanent blockage. While configuration is free, fixing the robots.txt file incurs charges. Our experts can assist at an hourly rate.

Please provide your website URL and collaborate code if you choose our service. Contact us at [mikeexpertatservice@gmail.com] for help.

Thank you for your prompt attention.

Best regards,

The Shopify Team"

When I replied that I had set up management through Simprosys and asked if issue was rectified, I received the following:

"Dear Store Owner,

We’ve identified critical errors in your Shopify store’s robots.txt file and back-end code, affecting visibility and functionality. To resolve these issues promptly, we recommend contacting our senior expert at [mikeexpertatservice@gmail.com]. They can help fix these issues before August 12, 2024. Please act quickly to avoid disruptions to your store.

Thank you for your prompt attention.

Best regards,
The Shopify Team. "

Please advise as to validity of these emails.

Thank you,
Vinochka

2

Hey, @Vinochka !

Thank you for flagging this email. After reviewing its content, I can confirm that it is not an official communication from Shopify. The email address ‘mikeexpertatservice@gmail.com’ is a clear indicator that it’s not from us. I advise against responding to this email, clicking any links or providing any information. You can learn more about protecting your account against phishing here.

Please download the email headers and forward them to safety@shopify.com, so our security team can investigate further.

3

Thank you so much! I will send the info over to the safety team tomorrow.

Have a good night!

4

I received the same email right now but when i saw gmail immediately i new it was a scam . Thanks for sharing

5

You’re most welcome :hugs: