Sophisticated 1-Star Review Mercenaries for Hire

[jason_engage]

Everyone is focused on fake or incentivised 5-star reviews, however we also need to pay attention to the fact that there must also be paid, fake 1-star reviews for hire as well - paid for by competitors.

I have identified this merchant - techplus.co.nz - as a fake store with a sophisticated setup designed to appear legitimate while being an operation that in my opinion sells 1-star reviews.

1. Website looks pretty good - but there are still some legitimacy gaps
2. Website is based on dropshipping, so they can easily fill any orders using Ali express, etc. to appear legitimate if someone tries to purchase.
3. They will have a simple google maps profile without any legit details (besides a fake voip phone number that is required by google).
4. They will provide what on the surface looks like to be a passionate 1-star review.
5. They will purchase a membership and then cancel, to allow the review to appear.
6. They will not ask for a refund or engage customer support honestly prior to leaving the review.

Exhibit A: They offer ‘in-store’ pickup:

This store claims to have in store pickup on their website. Either they are lying or they waste too much time on their website.

Here’s their ‘repair device’ section:

Exhibit B: Completely lacking Google Maps profile

The profile lacks any information. They do not have a storefront. This is not a real business that offers in store pickup.

Exhibit C: Google maps reviews from Indians, not from New Zealanders

Given that the reviews are from 1-year ago, means that this store has been setup for at least a year. There must be records of their app store review history available to the Shopify Staff. I must not be the only app they have targeted.

Exhibit D: Fake dropshipping website

Their entire ‘best-deals’ collection has 1 item, most likely meaning they don’t actually spend time on their website.

Exhibit E: Review is extraordinarily vicious, yet passionate enough to just ‘be a disgruntled customer’

Not only does the review make claims that are false, no one else complains about these aspects because the app listing and the app make it clear these are not features that the app offers. Leaving a 1-star review about something the app that not offer is absurd, you would just find an app that offers what you want. There are literally 50+ apps in my category to choose from. And the majority of merchants would simply ask for a refund, which they did not.

Also, the merchant’s timeline of events are incorrect, and fails to mention the extortionary email they sent, and going to the reviews in an effort to squeeze me. They offer to delete the review in an attempt to seem reasonable, but its all fake and ignored. This is all very sophisticated behavior - it can happen with legitimate 1-star reviews, however we all need to be aware that even fake ones will go thru many hoops to appear real.

After cancelling and uninstalling, the merchant actually RE-INSTALLED the app, and still has it installed. They tell everyone to avoid the app like the plague, and keep using it??

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I even think I know which competitor app is behind this tactic, a shady category leader which I will leave unnamed for now.

To Shopify Staff:

1. Please review this specific merchants review history and store sales history. I will delete the post if I am totally wrong.

2. Please scrutinize 1-star reviews as much as you do with 5-stars! Consider that there is a marketplace for 1-star reviews and its probably originating out of india or nearby. Theres a massive market for fake 1-star reviews on google maps as well that extorts business owners. So please be wary.

3. When merchants leave 1-star reviews, check their review history. If they constantly leave 1 star reviews it should be pretty clear they are untrustworthy, fake or not. If they are being careful though, they will probably leave some 5-star reviews as well. But there must be some pattern in terms of the app purchase history, probably always cancelling apps in the first month.

4. Improve the reviews system by displaying the average review score from a merchant next to their store name in the reviews. Let everyone see if they always leave negative reviews or not. Let visitors see a store’s review history or at the least, a past reviews score average. Maybe that will discourage merchants from always aiming for the 1-star button.

5. Merchants that leave nasty 1-star reviews and then RE-INSTALL and keep using the app is super phishy. This screams extortion, or at the very least someone that is emotionally unstable. Maybe send them an email to confirm that they really want to leave a 1-star review - give them a day to calm down before posting it, and ask for confirmation.

6. Merchants that receive refunds directly from Shopify should have their review taken down. Will this merchant actually pay the bill next cycle? Why is the review even allowed to appear PRIOR to actually paying a bill? Sure they signed up a recurring plan (then cancelled), but they haven’t actually paid yet right?

There’s got to be more intelligent measures that can be taken. The reviews system is excruciating - it really is the worst aspect of being a Shopify app partner. I’m not saying its an easy fix, but there’s gotta be more that can be done. I’m sure if Shopify Staff asked the community for suggestions we could provide dozens upon dozens.

[Soufiane_Ghzal]

Does Shopify even care at this point? We will know if they answer this thread and take concrete actions.

Cheers for the amazing investigation work btw Hope you get justice

[Ollie_autoBlogger]

Hey mate,

You’ve hit on two of my special interest topics here, haha. 1. Dodgy reviews, and 2. a dodgy review from New Zealand (where I’m originally from).

First up, here’s their review history: Shopify App Reviews Detail | LetsMetrix.

The interesting thing to note is that they’ve left the exact same positive review on three different apps, run by three different partners, with identical wording praising the same support person. Two of those reviews have since been deleted. Very strange! Might be worth checking whether any of those apps are direct competitors of yours.

Secondly, I’ve done a bit of digging into the business itself. It appears to be operating out of a residential house in Auckland. You can actually find the full address quite easily: just add a product to your cart, head to checkout, and select the pickup option. That reveals the full address.

All the phone numbers I’ve found are NZ numbers too. I’ve also tried looking them up in the NZ business registers, but haven’t been able to find a matching New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) or identify the registered business behind the website. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not legitimate, but it’s another interesting detail.

Unfortunately, I now live in Scotland, otherwise I’d be tempted to give one of those numbers a text for you, haha.

Happy to do some more digging if there’s anything else you’d like me to look into, but my impression so far is that this could be a real, albeit rather amateur, online store. It could also be a pretty convincing fake! If it is real, perhaps someone is paying the owner to leave a few fake reviews, or alternatively, it could be part of a wider network of stores being used to manipulate app reviews. Pure speculation, of course, but definitely something worth investigating!

As for the review on your app, the circumstances certainly look suspicious. Using an app for just four hours and claiming you’ve already had a poor support experience seems rather questionable, particularly alongside that unusual review history. It’s not conclusive proof of a fake review, but I’d definitely be pushing Shopify to investigate the account and its review activity.

[jason_engage]

@Ollie_autoBlogger

Wow thanks bro, you’re a sleuth.

WOW - The FIRST REVIEW IS LITERALLY THE COMPETITOR I DID NOT NAME!!

Somehow Shopify allows them to have “#1 SEO” written in their app name!

They are pissed at my app because I figured out how sketchy they were and I notified Shopify App Store with detailed screenshots of their app.

Their name should not be allowed by the rules, and they were listed as a “free app” to get the bonus app store ranking from it, while having user limits in the app, AND while requiring users to MESSAGE THEIR LIVE CHAT TO UNLOCK THE PAID FEATURES.

So they use the live chat to not only bypass the in app pricing, but also to REVIEW MAXX. That’s how they get so many reviews.

I’m going to go even this far - they are an Ontario based app developer - and in my opinion they are ex-shopify employees. Thats why they get away with it.

This is out of control!

[jason_engage]

@Soufiane_Ghzal I hope theres justice. But the app competitor in question that is directing the reviews mercenary may have ties to the Partners Governance board. The fact that they can get away with having “#1 SEO” in their app name is beyond comprehension. You can’t even write “#1 in XXX” anywhere in the descriptions, let alone the name.

The most likely motive for retaliation is that they were forced to change from “Free” to “Free plan available” sometime after I reported them. They used the “Free” status to game the app store for months, maybe longer to gain a top position.

I also think they caused my app to be delisted for a few days due to an issue that could only be found if you were looking hard and had an axe to grind.

I don’t mind real competition, but when other developers are bending the rules, and outright cheating, and Shopify doesn’t take action, what can we do?

Will Shopify Staff pull the thread on this and go down the rabbit hole? Lets hope so!

They have all the data, its not that hard to figure this out.

Here’s the screenshot of all reviews Techplus left just in case the page disappears. The 2nd one is for an app by the the same developers as the 1st one. Looks like they made some sort of test, and they probably thought deleting the reviews would hide their tracks. I don’t know what their game is exactly, but its not just some random coincidence - something is going on here.

[Soufiane_Ghzal]

@jason_engage

Ontario based app developer

is it legal in Canda/Ontario to fake reviews? If not legal actions could be taken.

[Paige-Shopify]

Hi @jason_engage,

Thanks for documenting these concerns in detail. I’ve flagged this information for internal review. I won’t be able to share further about that process or its outcome, but I wanted to confirm that the concerns have been raised internally.

[jason_engage]

@Paige-Shopify

Thank you Paige, I appreciate that very much.

I reported my findings at the end of March 2026 to the app store team, so it’s possible that there is at least one other 1-star review that may be tied into this that I didn’t catch. I haven’t gone thru and checked yet, but I would assume the first thing a vindictive developer would do is to hit my listing with a 1-star review. Maybe the evidence will be as clear as the last screenshot I posted - I don’t think they realized that tracking website exists.

On another note, I think you should take @Ollie_autoBlogger notice about New Zealand seriously. He’s noticed this in the past, and it lines up with this case as well. There might something deeper about some “syndicate” running fake reviews out of New Zealand. Clearly, it seems easy enough to get listed on Google Maps in that country - and perhaps thats part of the strategy.

[Paige-Shopify]

As an Aussie, I’d like to think our Kiwi mates across the ditch wouldn’t do this sort of thing

Jokes aside, we appreciate the heads-up. I’ve forwarded this information internally as well.

[jason_engage]

In case anyone still isn’t totally convinced something shady is going on:

Their email address prefix is “techplusstore123@” (at a major free online email provider).

1. Although many merchants use free email accounts linked with their shopify accounts, most use their personal emails.
2. I would create an email like techplusstore123 if I was creating several emails for different stores if my primary goal was to get it done fast and to make sure it would be unique.
3. Adding “123” at the end of a string, is something that software developers do routinely. This is something I have done in many cases and still do.
4. If this store owner is in fact a real guy that sets up many dropshipping websites, he knows how shopify apps work - he knows the game. He’s not going to waste his time leaving that kind of review. He’s not a newbie.

[Ollie_autoBlogger]

@Paige-Shopify

As an Aussie, I’d like to think our Kiwi mates across the ditch wouldn’t do this sort of thing

Haha, if anyone was going to be up to something like that, it’d be you Aussies!

Just to clarify though, I’m definitely not suggesting there’s some sort of NZ-wide fake review ring! I’ve seen suspicious reviews coming from all sorts of countries. If anything, I’d suspect they deliberately mix things up to make the activity look more legitimate. I can however confirm that the details on the store in question here, are legit NZ details.

[Ollie_autoBlogger]

Just to add a few more thoughts on this whole thing.

#1: It’s incredibly suspicious that @jason_engage’s negative reviewer has left and then deleted two identical reviews across two of his competitors’ apps, before leaving a third identical review on yet another app. That’s a pretty concerning pattern, and I think the developer behind those apps deserves a much closer look.

#2: Slightly off-topic, but since it’s been brought up, having “#1 SEO” in an app title seems pretty clearly against Shopify’s rules. Section 4.3.3 states:

“Don’t use stats, data, or unsubstantiated claims such as guarantees in the listing. Do not use any statistics or data in your app’s listing content, overview of the app, and/or app introduction. This includes verifiable and unverifiable information. Focus on your app’s benefits when rewriting your listing and avoid using terms like ‘the first’, ‘the best’, or ‘the only’.”

Surely “#1 SEO” falls squarely into that category?

And while we’re on the subject, their other app has both “Claude” and “ChatGPT” in its title. That seems pretty questionable from a branding and trademark perspective too, doesn’t it?

P.S. Just to be clear, this isn’t intended as an attack on any particular app or developer. I’m simply sharing my observations and raising a few concerns that I think are worth looking into.

[jason_engage]

@Ollie_autoBlogger

This review tracking site is wild.

This guy left a 2-star review a couple months ago:

https://letsmetrix.com/dashboard/review?reviewer_name=healthcare%20nt%20sickcare&reviewer_location=India

This guy is like a professional reviewer. I don’t want to imply here that he’s being paid, but he’s left like 60 reviews. And the #1 SEO is in the list as well… but so are a lot of other SEO apps.

Whenever I check all the other stores that have left reviews, they have a total of like 3 to 6 reviews (that looks normal to me).

I didn’t realize there’s some people who taking reviewing this seriously… and from India as well, really?

Somebody needs to run some algos on the data on this site, there’s gotta be some wild patterns to uncover.

[jason_engage]

@Ollie_autoBlogger

I found the view deleted reviews option.

Incredible, Shopify has deleted maybe a hundred or more 5-star reviews over the last few months. No wonder our numbers were just sitting still for a year. Did you mention that we can send them an email with the deleted review and a chat log to prove that it was a real review that we fought for? Who do we email?

Does the store still need to be installed or simply active to have it reversed? Will they reverse it for closed stores as well?

[Ollie_autoBlogger]

@jason_engage

Somebody needs to run some algos on the data on this site, there’s gotta be some wild patterns to uncover.

I’ve actually got my own platform that runs all sorts of analysis on app reviews Unfortunately, it’s not available for public use at this stage!

@jason_engage

Did you mention that we can send them an email with the deleted review and a chat log to prove that it was a real review that we fought for? Who do we email?

https://help.shopify.com/en/partners/help-support/faq/reviews#what-if-i-think-one-of-my-reviews-was-removed-incorrectly

Just start a live chat with Shopify Support, and they’ll point you in the right direction.

As for evidence, I’d suggest providing email conversations with the customer, proof that they’re a genuine paying user of your app, and any other correspondence that helps establish the review’s authenticity.

[Ollie_autoBlogger]

Also, another good tool: https://appnavigator.io/ - it’s not quite as detailed as Lets Metrix, but I like the layout better for simple checks.