GoDaddy is a domain registrar and a web host. It has separate online forms for phishing, malware, trademark and copyright, and other illegal content. Pick the form that matches what the fake store does and what GoDaddy provides to it.
Checked against GoDaddy’s public help and legal pages on October 14, 2026. This is not legal advice. GoDaddy can change its forms, so check the linked pages before you report.
When should you report a fake store to GoDaddy?
Enter the clone’s domain at ICANN Lookup. If the registrar is “GoDaddy.com, LLC”, GoDaddy registered the domain. If the site’s IP address belongs to GoDaddy, it may host the site too.
| What the fake store does | GoDaddy form |
|---|---|
| Asks for login details on a fake page | Phishing |
| Uses your photos, text or registered mark, on a site GoDaddy hosts | Trademark and copyright claims |
| Another illegal use, such as a scam checkout | Other illegal content |
| The domain name itself uses your trademark | UDRP, via udrpdisputes@godaddy.com |
Read the phishing rule carefully. GoDaddy says: “The website must be live and contain a login area.” Many fake stores have a checkout but no login. If the clone has no login area, use the other illegal content form and describe the fake checkout.
GoDaddy’s copyright and trademark rows cover content “hosted on GoDaddy’s products”. If GoDaddy only registered the domain, send your copyright notice to the real host.
How do you report a fake store to GoDaddy?
- Save the evidence first. Take dated, full-page screenshots of the clone’s home page, a product page and the checkout or login. Do not enter real card details or passwords.
- Check the registrar and the host. Use ICANN Lookup for the registrar. Check who owns the site’s IP address for the host.
- Start at the GoDaddy abuse portal and pick the form from the table above.
- Fill in the fields. The phishing form asks for your email, the “Company or Brand Being Impersonated”, the “URL, Website, or Domain”, whether you saw it on a mobile device, your viewing country and a description. You confirm the report is in good faith.
- Paste the description below.
- Log the report. GoDaddy will not send updates, so your own log is the record.
What evidence does GoDaddy ask for?
- The “full domain path” of the page, not just the home page
- The company or brand being impersonated: your brand name and real store address
- Whether you saw it on mobile, and your country
- Dated full-page screenshots, with the time zone
- For trademark claims: your mark and its registration number
- For copyright claims: links to your originals and to each copied page
Copy-paste description for GoDaddy
Paste this into the description field. Only include statements that are true for your case.
This site impersonates our store, [Your Brand] (https://[your-store.com]).
Impersonating page: https://[clone-domain.com]/[path]
What the site does:
- It uses our store name, logo, product photos and descriptions.
- It asks visitors to [log in / enter payment card details at checkout].
- It is not connected to us. We have not authorised it.
Screenshots taken [date, time, time zone] show the clone next to our
real pages. Other clone pages:
- https://[clone-domain.com]/products/[product]
- https://[clone-domain.com]/checkout
Please take action on this domain under your abuse policy.
[Your name], [Title], [Your Brand]
[Email] / [Phone]For a copyright claim, use the full notice from the DMCA takedown generator instead.
What happens after you report to GoDaddy?
GoDaddy decides what to do.
- Updates: GoDaddy says: “You will not receive updates regarding the evaluation or outcome of the complaint.”
- Contact: GoDaddy says: “We can not guarantee any particular outcome, but we’ll review your complaint and contact you only if necessary.”
- Possible action on trademark or copyright claims: GoDaddy’s policy says it “may… lock down the domain name(s), redirect the DNS, and/or if it is solely stored on a GoDaddy server, temporarily remove” the material.
- Timing: not stated by GoDaddy.
Check the clone yourself every few days.
What if GoDaddy does not act?
If the clone is phishing, ICANN requires registrars to “promptly take the appropriate mitigation action(s)” when they have actionable evidence of DNS abuse. After a fair wait, you can file an ICANN DNS abuse complaint. For a domain name that uses your trademark, GoDaddy points to the UDRP. See UDRP complaints.
Other reports to send
- The host, if it is not GoDaddy, with a copyright notice. Use the DMCA takedown generator.
- Google Safe Browsing and Microsoft.
- See how to report a fake Shopify store for every channel, and download all the templates.
Let Recon prepare the reports
Recon is a Shopify app that watches for clones of your store. On every plan, it finds who to report each clone to and writes the notices for you to review and send. Early access on Pro: one click, and Recon files the reports for you. GoDaddy or the host still decides whether to remove a site. Recon never removes sites itself.
Add Recon to Shopify, or run a free website check first.
Sources
- GoDaddy, reporting abuse: godaddy.com/help/reporting-abuse-27154
- GoDaddy abuse portal: legalportal.godaddy.com/abuse
- GoDaddy trademark and copyright infringement policy (revised May 28, 2026): godaddy.com
- ICANN 2024 registrar agreement amendment: icann.org
Explore Recon’s Shopify brand protection tools
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