Thursday 27 March 2014

Understanding Affiliate Fraud

Though the internet has proven an invaluable part of our everyday life, it has also (unfortunately) led to a dramatic increase in fraud. Online fraud is a rather terrifying reality and (in truth) the only way to be 100% sure that you're avoiding it, is to not do any business online whatsoever. However if you're an affiliate marketer, and have built up a decent secondary income or even career for yourself, defeat will simply not be an option. Thankfully, there are measures you can take to prevent affiliate fraud, and here we'll be underlining not only the different types of affiliate fraud, but how you, as an affiliate, merchant or affiliate program manager, can best avoid them.
Types of Affiliate Fraud
1.       Cloning – When a legitimate affiliate site's content is duplicated onto a scam site.
2.       Spamming – Mass emails being sent under the guise of a legitimate brand.
3.       Squatting – Creating a site that uses a common misspelling of a legitimate, popular site as its own domain name.
4.       Diverting – Deceptive links that don't actually lead to the intended affiliate being paid.
5.       Faking – Using duplicitous means to artificially inflate a CPC programs number of referrals and clicks.
6.       Stealing – Using stolen credit cards to earn false commissions.
How Affiliates can Avoid Affiliate Fraud
Whilst there is (in truth) very little that affiliates can do themselves to avoid fraud other than simply remaining vigilant and looking for subtle 'tells', there are ways affiliates can help one another. One of the most proactive things that affiliates can do to root out frauds is to remain active on forums where they can share details on fraudsters by sharing links and information. Many forums will have 'blacklists' of phoney sites that should be added to on a regular basis, so if you find a good blacklist, make sure to bookmark it. Otherwise however it's largely up to the merchants and program managers to make sure their affiliate partners are safe from the scam artists.
How Merchants and Program Managers can Prevent Affiliate Fraud
·         The affiliate program agreement should make it abundantly clear exactly what constitutes an affiliate action.
·         Thorough research should always be conducted on all new affiliates before they are approved for a program. This can be done by checking on their web presence (social media, blogs etc), asking what methods they intend to use to generate traffic and deciphering whether these methods will be detrimental or complimentary to your program.
·         If there is a sudden, unexplained surge in traffic or conversions/clicks/leads then don't celebrate just yet, always be wary of it and check it out.
·         Keep a keen eye out for fraudulent transactions such as fake leads, obviously stolen credit card numbers and cancellations of self-referred transactions. If any one affiliate is caught with a fraudulent transaction more than once, the affiliate in questions should be contacted and disciplined. If they are caught a third time, they should be banned from the program completely and definitively.
·         Analyse all referred URLs in order to catch out any potential squatters.
·         Closely monitor your online brand, making sure that there are no spammers using your name without your permission.
·         Keep up to date on noted 'cookie stuffing' affiliates and make sure you don't partner with them. These are affiliates who use nefarious means to essentially falsify web cookies to make programs think that users clicked on their links, when they actually clicked on another affiliates link. They are essentially stealing commission from other affiliates.
·         Keeping scam artists at bay is a job that requires frequent policing and enforcement. So make sure that any restrictions and guidelines you placed in your programs agreement are being enforced and adhered to, even if it means hiring somebody to do so.

Of course, there is no way to 100% avoid fraudsters, but by following these tips you should at least stand a better chance at keeping them at arms length.