A niche UK store reports a sudden ~50% rise in email subscribers over 1–2 months, many with a ‘+’ in the address and marked as “Online Store created this customer.” They suspect bot activity or the Shop app.
Replies explain that ‘+’ is commonly used for email aliasing (e.g., Gmail), so not inherently spam. The “Online Store created this customer” note suggests sign-ups via a storefront form, which could be legitimate or automated by bots.
Suggested actions:
Check for patterns across addresses (similar structures) and review customer activity/engagement to spot fakes.
Enable CAPTCHA on signup and contact forms to deter bots.
Use anti-spam apps (e.g., Shop Protector, reCAPTCHA) to block automated account creation.
Contact Shopify Support for investigation if uncertainty remains.
Another viewpoint notes there’s no definitive way to verify every email’s authenticity; visually inspect for realistic patterns.
No final resolution; the thread provides mitigation steps and advises monitoring to confirm whether the growth is legitimate or bot-driven.
Summarized with AI on December 20.
AI used: gpt-5.
I doubt if I should be complaining about this but our email subscriber list has increased by about 50% over the last month or two!! We’re in a bit of a niche market and only operate in the UK so the increase has taken us by surprise.
A lot of the email addresses have a ‘+’ in the address which I find strange and most of them have this in the history ‘Online Store created this customer’.
Does anyone know - are these being generated by some bot somewhere? Can only think that the Shop app might be creating them? If so, how do I stop them?
The presence of a ‘+’ in email addresses is not necessarily an indication of spam. This is a common technique known as email aliasing. Many email providers, like Gmail, allow users to add a ‘+’ followed by additional text to their email addresses. For example, username+alias@gmail.com will still be delivered to username@gmail.com. This can be used for filtering or tracking purposes.
However, the note “Online Store created this customer” could indicate that these email addresses were generated automatically, possibly through a form submission or a bot. Here are a few steps to help you determine if these are spam:
1. Check for Patterns- Look for patterns in the email addresses. If many of them follow a similar structure, it might be a sign of automated creation.
2. Review Customer Activity- Check the activity associated with these customers. If they have no purchase history or engagement, they might be spam.
3. Enable CAPTCHA- To prevent bots from creating fake accounts, enable CAPTCHA on your forms. This adds an extra layer of security.
4. Use Shopify Apps- Consider using apps like Shop Protector or ReCaptcha to help identify and block spam accounts.
5. Contact Shopify Support- If you’re still unsure, you can reach out to Shopify Support for further assistance. They can help you investigate and take appropriate action.
I hope that they all authentique, while there is no definitive way to check if an email is real or not. You could take a look at it and notice if it looks like a real email a person might have and spot any patters that large influx of emails might have.