Why am I getting so many unsolicited messages after starting my Shopify store??

Topic summary

New Shopify store owners are experiencing a flood of unsolicited marketing messages through email, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Shopify Chat. These messages primarily come from people claiming to offer marketing and social media services, with many reportedly originating from Nigeria.

How they get your information:

  • Public WHOIS data from domain registration (if privacy protection wasn’t enabled)
  • Scraping bots that pull new store information from Shopify directories
  • Facebook Pixel and business page data
  • Some claim Shopify Partners receive lists of new stores, though this is disputed

Attempted solutions:

  • Uninstalling Shopify Chat/Inbox (though this removes a valuable customer communication tool)
  • Adding anti-solicitation notices to Contact Us pages
  • Removing contact emails from the store (reduces customer accessibility)
  • Blocking individual senders
  • Setting up email filters for common spam keywords like “SEO”

Key warnings:

  • Legitimate Shopify experts don’t cold-message store owners
  • Use only the official Shopify Partner Directory to find verified experts
  • Some scammers pose as genuine customers or wholesalers

Shopify support has acknowledged the issue but offers limited solutions beyond blocking or uninstalling chat features. The problem often intensifies after domain changes or new store launches, typically subsiding after a few months as stores age out of “new” lists.

Summarized with AI on October 27. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.

They are getting even more aggressive. I get messages on the app, email, and social inboxes, so disabling chat will not necessarily help me. I am so frustrated that I am seeking a developer to develop me an independent site. It’s just too much- all day everyday. Can’t focus on the store for this madness.

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Did this approach

If you installed the Shop Chat app, that is what you will get. I
uninstalled mine. I never got anything useful. All I ever got was ‘spam’.

i’m getting the same thing. social media and my email that’s listed on my site. i know scammers are a problem everywhere but i think shopify need to step in and at least show they’re doing something. it’s only happening because we’re linked with shopify

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most of them are from nigeria and i dont know where they found our information , i ask one of them where he got my info , he said Bootleads . they asking to help you get sale and everything, i ask one why don’t you open your own store and make this money that you say you can make me do, he said shopify limit them from having a store on nigeria , i told him im not paying a dime for any services, if he can make me doing sale we’ll be partner , i’ll give him limited acces to do what he said he can do and if he can make sale as he said i l’ ll give him 30% of my net profit, don’t judge me i was desperate .lol i gave him access dude ask to install 2 apps, install a new theme . i just installed one cuz i didn’t want my store to be slow and the second one i had the same type of app installed, all set , new app new theme, ps : theme was premium but he couldn’t even customize it as a pro , i customized my store with his theme, he did nothing now im on my second weeks, he have acces , but i cant even have one sale, i even give him acces on my ads manager as collaborator, Nothing. when he realised that he cant do sh*t he said oh the theme is premium you would have to pay for it , i say nope, as you agreed that you will be my partner consider this as your investment in the business. he beg to have even 30% of the theme price, the theme is 300$. i said no.

so now imagine if i gave this dude my money with hope that will make sales, i would pay for a 300$ copy theme and for an inexistence service. just don’t care about them, they can’t do nothing, if they could , they would open their own shopify store and make good money.

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I’m so sorry you got sucked in!
That channel shouldn’t even be allowed to show.
I deleted it a long time ago because of the scam.

I’m having the same issue. Mostly scammers from India asking me for help with their new “store” and then they give me someone else info for me to contact them. Allegedly they’re are e-commerce experts who wants to help me with my store. :person_pouting:

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What happens if I uninstall the app. Does it mean my customers can’t reach out to me for refund requests, etc? What are the other perks that go away with it?

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I know what you mean. It’s disgusting. Just delete that app; it’s worthless.

Yeah I am getting them as well and it’s very annoying. Mine are all coming from Facebook and Instagram. I but no soliciting on my website and on my fb and Instagram messaging reply. But they just ignore it and message anyway. They even continue to message after I say I’m not interested even argue with me.

Ah, yes! And, where Instagram is concerned (for me) I have the problem with
bleep being sent with the messages. I am sooooo disgusted and I don’t know
where to go to get help for this problem.
They talk about FB and Instagram harming kids with images but the rest of
the population and us business owners are being harmed too!
What a mess!

Happened to me too so I had to delete the contact button so now even customer can’t even message. And I don’t trust anyone to even get help promoting my store.

Happened to me too. I paid Fiverr to help get followers for women’s clothing and they added everything that doesn’t relate to my niches and now the followers are messaging and and want to send me bleep and others thinking it’s a dating site. Hard to keep going when you can’t trust anyone to help or who’s actually following you.

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Oh, gosh, I didn’t think of deleting the contact button. Otherwise, there
are some reputable apps in the Shopify store that can help you get the word
out.

I use Seguno within the Shopify App Store to help me promote and like them
a lot.

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While it is a good idea in theory, I don’t see how that blurb is going to work since the majority of these annoying emails are the result of bots.

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I had to delete that app entirely. It was so annoying.

I don’t even have that app! I’m getting these through my business email and there doesn’t seem to be any way to stop them!

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It’s ridiculous. I’m getting spammed by everyone except customers. I’m getting pretty mean and nasty to them, I know it’s unprofessional but so are they. And I block them. Does anyone ever get freelance work this way? I wish it would stop.

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It won’t stop - just delete the app associated with it.