Shopify Protect: block fraud and win chargebacks with AI

Fraud is a hidden cost for online stores. You ship a product, the payment gets reversed, you lose the product and pay a chargeback fee on top. With the Fall ‘26 Edition, Shopify launches Shopify Protect — a set of tools that actively blocks fraud and handles chargeback disputes automatically.

The three layers of Shopify Protect

Layer 1: PREVENTION → Block risk before the order
Layer 2: DETECTION → Understand why an order is suspicious
Layer 3: RESPONSE → Win chargebacks with AI-generated evidence

Layer 1 — Prevention: block before the order

This is the fundamental shift: high-risk payments are blocked before they become an order.

Previously, Shopify flagged suspicious orders after they were already in your system — then you had to manually cancel. Now, Shopify analyses thousands of signals in real-time and automatically stops payments:

12,000+ high-risk payments are blocked per minute across the entire Shopify network.

What you see in your admin:

Status	Meaning
3D Secure not completed	Customer didn’t complete verification
CAPTCHA not completed	Bot activity detected
Blocked by Shopify	Risk score too high based on behaviour data

Layer 2 — Detection: insight into risk assessment

When an order does come through but feels suspicious, Shopify now shows you exactly which factors raised the risk level. You see a detailed analysis on the order page:

• IP reputation and location
• Browser behaviour and device data
• Payment history of the cardholder
• Match with known fraud patterns

Based on this, you make an informed decision: fulfil or cancel.

Set custom rules: Write your own rules based on the risk signals most relevant to your business. Backtest them against historical orders and set alerts if performance drifts.

Layer 3 — Response: automatic chargeback defences

Handling a chargeback takes an average of an hour. Shopify Protect does it automatically.

What Shopify automatically adds to every defence:

• Delivery photos from Shopify Shipping
• Payment authentication data
• Order confirmation and customer history
• AI-generated response tailored to the bank and the dispute reason

Result: 60% more won ‘product not received’ disputes.

Chargeback protection for all payment methods

Until now, Shop Pay already offered protection on fraud chargebacks. That protection is being extended to all payment methods in Shopify Payments — including credit cards and local payment methods.

What that means: on a fraud chargeback, you get reimbursed while Shopify fights the dispute for you.

Insights via custom reports

You can now build custom reports about your payment security:

• How many fraud attempts were blocked?
• Which payment methods generate the most chargebacks?
• What is the total value of blocked high-risk orders?
• How does fraud pressure evolve over time?

Setting up Shopify Protect

Step 1 → Go to the App Store and install Shopify Protect Step 2 → Connect the app to your Shopify Payments account Step 3 → Review default blocking settings and adjust where needed Step 4 → Optionally set custom rules based on your risk criteria Step 5 → Check the dashboard for real-time insight into blocked attempts

Is Shopify Protect right for your store?

Definitely relevant if you:

• Receive chargebacks regularly and spend significant time on them
• Sell high-risk products (electronics, luxury goods, fashion)
• Handle large order volumes where manual fraud checks don’t scale
• Sell internationally, where fraud patterns differ from domestic orders

Less urgent if you:

• Run low volumes with few fraud disputes
• Already have a solid fraud filter via your payment provider

For most growing Shopify stores, Shopify Protect is a direct time and cost saving.

Questions about Shopify Payments or fraud protection for your store? Get in touch — we’ll help you find the right configuration.