This article goes in-depth into the ways that affiliate fraud hurts both merchants and affiliates and what the industry is doing about it. As some of you may know I am currently the victim of affiliate fraud and have blogged about it. Someone has been signing up for affiliate programs and networks using all my personal info, my good name and 5 Star reputation fraudulently. Then once they are approved they change the payee address. Below is a good article about the problem from eCommerceTimes.
"In the e-Commerce world, Affiliate Fraud is defined as "Bogus or unlawful activity generated by an affiliate in an attempt to make money." While SPAM generally angers consumers and click fraud is more geared toward the merchant, affiliate fraud causes casualties on both sides of the industry, affecting both affiliates and merchants. Frauds steal from merchants by generating false leads or sales. They also cripple affiliates by stealing their traffic via replacing their affiliate IDs in links, so that when a buyer completes a transaction, the credit for that transaction goes to the thief and not the actual affiliate who worked so hard to acquire that buyer. These traffic stealers are also known as parasites."
Read the rest here: E-Commerce News: E-Marketing : How the Affiliate Marketing Industry Is Dealing With Fraud
Then come back here to discuss it.
"In the e-Commerce world, Affiliate Fraud is defined as "Bogus or unlawful activity generated by an affiliate in an attempt to make money." While SPAM generally angers consumers and click fraud is more geared toward the merchant, affiliate fraud causes casualties on both sides of the industry, affecting both affiliates and merchants. Frauds steal from merchants by generating false leads or sales. They also cripple affiliates by stealing their traffic via replacing their affiliate IDs in links, so that when a buyer completes a transaction, the credit for that transaction goes to the thief and not the actual affiliate who worked so hard to acquire that buyer. These traffic stealers are also known as parasites."
Read the rest here: E-Commerce News: E-Marketing : How the Affiliate Marketing Industry Is Dealing With Fraud
Then come back here to discuss it.