Fraud is a very important factor when setting up a referral program. Improved fraud detection and reporting allow us to quantify and show all fraud attempts, while simultaneously keeping your referral programs safe.
To view/edit your program's Fraud Settings:
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. 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: This type of fraud occurs when the a member refers themselves. This is the most common type of referral fraud, as self-referrals can get rewarded as both the member and the referral.
Duplicate Referrals: This type of fraud occurs when the same person signs up as a referral more than once. Our fraud rules can check for duplicate email addresses, external IDs, and phone numbers.
Blocklisted Domains: Some domains send spam or low quality traffic or are used solely for the purpose of sharing links/codes. We are able to blocklist specific domains. If you would like to blocklist a certain domain, please get in touch with customer support.
Direct Add Referral Limits: While using the Direct Add share block, you can choose to limit the amount of referrals each member can submit per day and per month. These fraud rules are turned ON by default.
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. To view and change these rules, navigate to the Additional Options section of the program editor.
Fraud Detection
Within Referral Rock, you can see the history of all fraud by going to Logs > Fraud Events or by clicking here.
This page gives you detail on which referrals were affected by your fraud rules, and which were allowed or blocked dependent on your rule setup. We suggest reviewing this page periodically to review your fraud rule setup's effectiveness. In addition, if you see multiple fraud attempts from the same user, you are able to warn them or disable their program access.
On your program details page, you will also see a general overview of potential fraud detected within your program.
Fraud FAQs
Why did I get a Referral Add Failure email?
If an incoming referral matched 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.