You open an order and the IP address looks wrong: it belongs to a web hosting company, a proxy service or a VPN, or it's nowhere near the billing address. Shopify's own fraud guidance treats this as a reason to check the order before you ship. This guide covers what it means, why it happens, how to find these orders, what to do and how to handle them going forward.
What a proxy or VPN IP means
A proxy or VPN hides the shopper's real location behind another server. Shopify's "Preventing fraud" guide asks three questions about an order's IP address: is it in a different general area from where the customer claims to be, is it a web hosting company, and is it a proxy service address. If any answer is yes, Shopify says to contact the customer to verify the order.
- Different area: IP far from the claimed location
- Hosting: IP belongs to a web hosting company
- Proxy: IP is a proxy service address
- Shopify's advice: Contact the customer to verify
Why it happens
Plenty of honest shoppers use VPNs, so the IP alone doesn't prove fraud. Shopify's fraud analysis page says an IP address or location description by itself isn't a fraud recommendation. What matters is what else is on the order.
- Privacy: Shoppers who keep a VPN on all the time
- Work: Company networks that route traffic elsewhere
- Travel: Customers ordering from abroad
- Fraud: Someone hiding their location while using a stolen card
Find the affected orders
Open an order and go to the Order risk section, then open the risk evaluation. Shopify lists the IP address there, separate from the indicators. Medium and high risk orders show a warning icon in your orders list, so start with those. Look up the IP with a free IP lookup tool to see who owns it.
- Where: Order risk section of the order
- Start with: Orders that show the warning icon
- Check: Who owns the IP and where it is
Verify before you ship
Don't decide on the IP alone. Shopify advises against judging by a single indicator, and to look at the overall recommendation instead. Then check the rest of the order.
- Addresses: Do billing and shipping match? See billing and shipping mismatch
- Phone: Shopify says calling the customer is always a good idea, since fraudsters often use invalid numbers
- History: A returning customer with good orders is a different case
- Decide: Fulfill, verify further, or cancel and refund
Our guide on verifying a customer before shipping has the questions to ask.
Handle them going forward
Set a routine so you don't cancel good customers or ship to bad ones. Shopify suggests manual payment capture so you can review high-risk orders before funds are collected, though it adds a step to fulfillment.
- ✅ Check every order with a hosting or proxy IP
- ✅ Weigh the IP against the other signals
- ✅ Write down why you shipped or canceled
- ❌ Canceling every VPN order automatically
Doing this at scale
RiskClarity reviews each paid order, explains the risk in plain English with the fraud signals behind it, and recommends allow, verify or hold. You decide with one click, and every decision is logged in an audit log you can export for chargeback disputes. See RiskClarity.