There are several different types of preventing affiliate fraud, but one of the most common involves fraudulent marketers using stolen IDs and credit card information to generate fake leads or sales. This is called CPA fraud, and it can cost your business significant chargeback fees. Another common form of fraud is click spoofing, where a fraudulent affiliate claims traffic they didn’t actually drive. This can lower the ROI of your program and can hurt the hard-working affiliates in your network.
Fraudsters also employ a variety of techniques to circumvent affiliate programs, including the use of human fraud farms that operate in sweatshop-like conditions to generate fake clicks or fill out fake lead generation forms. This type of fraud is difficult to detect, but you can prevent it by implementing 2FA for all affiliates and requiring them to verify their identity.
Defending Your Affiliate Program: Proactive Strategies for Preventing Fraud
It’s also important to establish clear and comprehensive terms and conditions that communicate what is and isn’t allowed in your affiliate program. This can help deter fraudsters from attempting to exploit your program and will also give you something to reference if you need to dispute commissions related to fraud.
Finally, it’s important to perform regular audits of your affiliate data and use automated tools to identify abnormal behavior. This can help you quickly spot new trends and patterns, such as suspicious spikes in traffic at odd time intervals or shady regions that could be indicative of bot traffic. Also, look for unusual transaction numbers that suggest credit card fraud or other criminal activities.