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5 Star Fraudster

Linda Buquet

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affiliate
Affiliate Managers - I DID NOT Sign Up for Your Program

Help, I'm on the other end of Affiliate Fraud. Just got calls from XY7 and Neverblue Affiliate ad networks to verify that I signed up for their programs. Someone is signing up for programs using all my personal info and web sites. I have their IP address. It does not feel good being on THIS end of affiliate fraud and I'm pissed someone is using my good name and reputation fraudulently.

Don't know if they could do something fraudulent that I could get blamed for.
They used my name, web site, mailing address, everything. Hey maybe I'll get some checks!!! (Kidding!) These guys do this and then after they get approved change the address. I know there was a big ring of affiliates from China doing this awhile back.

Lucky for me these 2 companies call every applicant to be sure the app is real. The guy from XY7 said they get 3-4 fraud apps a day. But I know a TON of programs that don't take the time to do this level of verification. Who knows how many programs this fraudster signed up for using my name and web site? Not sure what to do next. What can/should I do???

Thanks for letting me vent.
 
I wouldn't think that they would get very far with this ploy, since they obviously won't be able to promote anything on your sites that they have listed.

Seems like a pretty pointless act to me. Not sure what their motivation is, except just to be jerks...?
 
Actually it's a common ploy. There was ring of a bunch of people in China doing it and it happens all the time. They sign up with a popular or nice looking site that is not theirs. Then after they are approved they send a bunch of bogus leads and change the payee address in hopes they get a check. Some programs get TONS of these bogus apps a month. Sometimes they even sign up pretending to be very high profile sites like WebMd or whatever. Crazy!
 
Same thing happened to me, at Befree. What crap, aff manager happened to know me, said welcome to our program, but how are you going to promote us? I was like huh, I never applied.

What really pisses me off is Befree never addressed the issue, they accept no phone calls, never respond to emails, even though I got their number ;) and called they would not help, said it was CJ's responsibility and CJ "their sister" company, essentially was suppose to help but months later still no resolution. Many phones calls, emails and seems like CJ and befree are like step siblings who never talk.

I'm over it now, what can I do? I called the FTC, unless someone is using your SS#, not much you can do.

Venting feels good doesn't it :)
 
Thanks for the heads up - never realised that this happened.

I don't know how practical it is, but some kind of guide to affiliate companies detailing such points could be very useful - flaws and criticisms, as well as good points.

Obviously, when I sign up for programs, it would be great to know that if there's any problems, that they can be simply and easily rectified. Sounds like the phone call is a great defence for everybody, but sad to hear not everyone is so helpful.

Have you written any general commentaries on affiliate companies, Linda? Comparison's, personal reviews, etc?
 
Hi DFL,

That sucks that they weren't helpful. I did call CJ yesterday to make sure the fraudster didn't' sign up there using my name. She was very nice, did some searches while I was on the phone. Then did some more research and talked to quality assurance then called me back to report that the guy has not signed up there under my name.

I did find a way to sort of plug the hole in the dyke though. The email address he used was not valid. I had never set it up. So I set it up yesterday and now I'm getting WELCOME emails for all the networks he's signing up for, so at least I know which ones he is hitting, even if they don't call me and I can contact them to let them know it's fraud and have him canned before he can do any damage.

Hi I,Brian

Have you written any general commentaries on affiliate companies, Linda? Comparison's, personal reviews, etc?

Nope I haven't. But have to say I have always gotten fantastic phone support from CJ customer service from the merchant side. There are lots of pros and cons to each network, but phone support from CJ well I could go on and on and even rave about it. That's from the merchant side, though so not sure how supportive they are when affiliates call and have challenges. Too bad DFL didn't get better support when he needed it.
 
Great catch of an interesting problem. I just took a look through my hosting, since they have a catchall email box. Anything to an address I haven't set up as a real email address goes there. Lots of spam, couple of mistyped legit emails. You might want to see if you can set up something of the same and just check it every month or two. That's all I do with mine, then clean it out.
 
WOW Linda that really stinks. I can call a couple of guys I know from New Jersey to take care of this for you. Free of charge of course.

Seriously though, I have to say this is the first time I'm hearing about this problem. I'm glad the above networks in your case actively screen their applicants. Unfortunately, many do not.

DFL:

That's a crappy response from the FTC :confused: Affiliate marketing identity theft....what next?
 
We have been talking about this issue a lot in the affiliatemanager forum. It happens a TON. In fact one company paid out 70K in commissions before they realized it was a fraud affilaite. Crazy they didn't catch it before that.
 
Update - just got an email saying commission was earned on some Nettraction deal the guy signed up for. The email included the new snail mail address he changed the payee info to. It's right in Huntington Beach 10 minutes away. Felt kinda spooky at 1st to think the guy was right here local. Then I realized must be a mail box address. Googled it and sure enough. "We specialize in worldwide mail forwarding." So the guy was smart enough to find a LOCAL mail box, assuming that if he changed his payee address and it was still local, then it would not red flag the networks like doing a quick switch to an overseas address might.

I know the guy's password. I should go in - change the payee address back to my own and then change the address and get all his checks. That would teach him to screw around with someone else's identity!
 
MI
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