How to block customers on Shopify to protect your store from fraud and harassment

It may seem counterintuitive to want to block customers from being able to purchase from your Shopify store. Isn’t any sale a good sale? Well, not always. In the past 5 years, ecommerce fraud has skyrocketed. The 2024 figures for chargeback schemes alone were around $165 billion USD. No matter how long you’ve been in the business or how successful your shop is, the risk for ecommerce fraud has never been higher. Sometimes the best decision to protect both the health of your brand and your bottom line is a swift block. 

Let’s get into why you may want to block certain customers from your Shopify storefront, how to do it, and why you should also block PO boxes while you’re at it.

Why you should block certain customers from Shopify

To prevent fraudulent activities like chargebacks

A chargeback occurs when a customer makes a purchase from your store and then disputes it with their bank, generating an automatic refund from the vendor’s payment processor. While there are steps you can take to dispute a chargeback claim, they’re extensive and rely on a great deal of information about your customer. Chargebacks can either be made intentionally by the fraudster, or by the rightful owner of a stolen credit card. Either way, if you see a pattern arising, blocking the address is the smart thing to do. Remember, chargebacks will cost you both your product and its value.

To protect your team (and brand) from abuse and harassment

Anyone with customer experience knows that once in a while a frustrated customer can escalate into abusive behavior like violent or discriminatory language. This, accompanied by repetitive contact, can easily make you or your team members feel unsafe. Blocking customers like this from your Shopify storefront can foster a healthier work environment for your customer service team. 

To stop resellers in their tracks

Sometimes there’s a good reason for a customer to buy your product in bulk. Clothing for sports teams, decorations for events, whatever it may be—you know your product the best, and bulk orders aren’t always bad news. But if a customer is exhibiting a buying behavior that sets your resale alarm bells off, it may be worth getting in touch with them to clarify what’s going on. (Blocking doesn’t have to be step 1, but it is the most effective way to cut off someone trying to make a buck off of your work). 

How to block customers on Shopify

Block customers that have never made an order

This can be done in your Shopify admin portal. Once you’ve logged in, click “Customers” on the menu to the left. From here, you can look up the customer you’d like to block via their email address or name. Select “More actions” in the upper right corner, then click “Delete customer” from the bottom of the dropdown menu (it should be in red). This is useful for occasions where merchants have had negative experiences with buyers in the past and want to prevent them from interacting with their new store. It also works if you’re able to identify someone making serial accounts. 

Block Shopify customers that have made orders with your store

This scenario is a bit more complex. While there isn’t a solution built into the Shopify admin system, there are a number of apps that are designed to cover the gap. The most commonly used is Fraud Filter, which allows you to set up “rules” for customers that seem suspicious and prevent them from purchasing products in the future. It’s worth noting, however, that the app has a relatively low rating and no active support team. BM: Country Blocker seems like a more robust option for blocking IP addresses altogether, meaning the targeted customer won’t even be able to load your page, much less buy something from it.

Why should I block PO boxes on Shopify?

Ecommerce fraud takes many forms. Most of them occur through PO boxes. 

PO boxes are harder to trace

They aren’t connected to any residential or business addresses, and can typically be opened with minimal identification. This makes them the go-to option for people interested in receiving stolen packages. Remember: they’re also useful for chargeback schemes, because if you plan to dispute a refund claim you will need to prove that the product was in fact delivered to the address in question. If it’s a PO box, you’re not going to be able to do so. 

It’s risky to ship valuable products to PO boxes

This is because logistic companies that offer tracking services and delivery photos (like DHL, FedEx, and UPS) do not ship to PO boxes. This not only increases the chance that the package will get lost in the mail and you’ll be on the hook for the reimbursement, it also allows for fraudsters to claim that they never received expensive merchandise that they actually did, leaving you without your product or its cost.

How to block PO boxes on Shopify

Download the Ultimate PO Box Blocker Shopify app

Really, that’s it. There’s no manual setup required and a free 30 day trial. Once downloaded, the app will seamlessly integrate into your Shopify admin platform and automatically disable customers from entering PO boxes as their shipping destinations. There’s a variety of customization options, but the default version is likely all you need to protect your store from lost packages, failed deliveries, reshipping costs, and fraud. It’s the easiest way to take control of your shipping processes. 

Before you block a customer on Shopify

Remember, blocking someone from your Shopify store is a serious decision, and it doesn’t have to be the first thing you do when dealing with a problematic customer. As we mentioned earlier, a lot of completely healthy customer behavior (like buying in bulk for an event) can be misconstrued as fraud. Assess every incident case-by-case to make sure you’re making the right call before you hit the block button. It’s a powerful tool to be used wisely. Good luck!