Fraud is an important factor when setting up a referral program. Improved fraud detection and reporting allows you to see all fraud attempts.
To view/edit your program's Fraud Settings, open the Program Editor > Select the Gear Icon in the Top Right Corner > Fraud Rules
For testing, it's recommended to allow Self Referrals and Duplicate Referrals.
Types of Referral Fraud
We have a variety of rules set to block different types of fraud.
When a new program is added, we apply default fraud rules. These defaults are considered to be a good balance of security without a high risk of false positives.
For security purposes, we will not be describing our fraud detection methods for each type of fraud in this article. If you have questions about a specific method of fraud detection found inside your account, please contact support.
Self Referrals
When a member refers themself, in an attempt to get instant rewards. This is the most common type of referral fraud, as self-referrals try to collect both the member reward and the referral reward.
Fraud rules block self referrals based on email address, IP address, and session cookies.
Duplicate Referrals
When the same person joins as a referral more than once. It also means that only one member gets credit for the referral (see Conversion Tracking Settings to change attribution rules).
Fraud rules check for duplicates based on email addresses, external IDs, and phone numbers.
Coupon Spam Domains
Some domains send spam or low-quality traffic or are used solely for the purpose of sharing links/codes. The Coupon Spam Domain Filter automatically blocks referrals from domains that fall into this category.
This list is maintained by Referral Rock and includes coupon and affiliate code aggregation websites. If you would like to blocklist a certain domain, please get in touch with customer support.
Direct Add Referral Limits
When using the Direct Add option, you can limit the amount of referrals each member can submit per day and per month. These fraud rules are turned ON by default.
Fraud Detection
We don't give specific fraud error alerts to the members, but admins can check the Fraud Detection pages for details.
You can see the history of all fraud by going to Logs > Fraud Events or by clicking here.
This page gives you details on which referrals were affected by your fraud rules, and which were allowed or blocked, depending on your rule setup:
Blocked: The referral was not added because of the indicated fraud rule
Allowed: The referral triggered the indicated fraud rule but was added because the fraud rule was turned off
Not Triggered: The referral did not trigger this fraud rule
We suggest reviewing this page periodically to review your fraud rule setup's effectiveness. If you see multiple fraud attempts from the same user, you can warn them or disable their program access.
Fraud FAQs
Why did I get a Referral Add Failure email?
If an incoming referral matches any of your enabled fraud rules, you will receive an email notifying you of the failed attempt. Oftentimes, fraud is blocked by multiple rules, so we suggest checking the fraud detection log in your account for specific details on the attempt.
You can edit who receives these emails by going to Logs > Notifications > Settings under Notification Management or clicking here.
Will my fraud rules affect testing my program?
Yes. Prior to testing your program, double-check that all fraud rules are set to "Allow".
If you don't disable your fraud rules before testing, your test referrals will likely be blocked by our fraud rules.
Be sure to re-enable your fraud rules prior to publicly launching your program!
If you have any questions about your program's fraud rules, please contact Support.