Affiliate Fraud ExamplesAffiliate Fraud in the Wild
Affiliate Fraud Examples: Real-World Cases to Give You a Better Look at Performance Marketing Scams
Statistics and broad examples are one thing, but seeing how affiliate fraud plays out in the real world makes this threat much more tangible.
Virtually every publisher or platform is vulnerable to affiliate fraud. But, hearing what some sellers and business owners have to say can help put a human face on the threat.
In this article, we share stories from real merchants and marketing agencies to show what affiliate fraud looks like in the marketplace.
Affiliate Fraud
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at affiliate fraud. We’ll examine common tactics used by fraudsters, talk about how it harms merchants, and explore how you can protect yourself from this type of scam.
Real-World Testimonials From Digital Ad Pros
One issue we're currently facing is an affiliate who is also a direct partner with our client. They drive more traffic via the affiliate channel but have a lower payout on the affiliate program. In an effort to get the most ROI, this affiliate is redirecting its traffic to the hard-coded partner landing pages for essentially a higher payout.
How about fraudulent affiliates who post fake job opportunities on Craigslist? They ask a potential job seeker to, ‘Call and pretend to be a real customer. Stay on the phone for at least three minutes.’ The fraudulent publisher says that this call is part of the interview process and that if the job seeker does a good job, they will be called in for an interview,' which never happens, of course. It's all just a way of simulating traffic.
On one program, a certain affiliate seemed to be consistently performing at a small but steady level. However, upon reviewing the daily timing of his activity, it turned out that he was hand-entering the leads into our program and our competitor’s programs as well. To keep his conversion rate realistic, he generated clicks during his coffee breaks while working his day job.
We had a publisher who was stacking several campaigns and serving each one to the same user. We determined that multiple leads were coming from the same affiliate on different campaigns using an identical timestamp. Identifying this issue quickly allowed us to pause the affiliate, notify all advertisers who were impacted, and offer a full refund for media spend.
Why Are Affiliate Programs Vulnerable to Fraud?
So, why exactly are scammers so intent on attacking your ad campaigns?
Affiliate programs can be particularly susceptible to fraud for several reasons, including the anonymity of the internet and the challenges associated with authentication. After all, scammers can spoof realistic-looking profiles by sourcing real people's headshots and names from social media platforms like Facebook. They can also use social media botnets to build a fake following, making the profile appear more genuine.
Additionally, fraudsters can purchase content on platforms like Fiverr to establish a convincing presence as an emerging social media influencer. This can help them better deceive businesses looking to partner with genuine influencers.
You don’t typically have face-to-face interactions or specialized expertise in detecting social media bot fraud. So, it’s hard for businesses to verify the authenticity of an affiliate account holder.
Beyond these issues, many affiliate programs receive a high volume of applicants, which can strain their vetting process. The larger the program, the less time and resources there are to scrutinize every account individually. As a result, fraudsters can exploit this lack of thorough vetting to slip through the cracks and become part of the program.
