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How do you protect your identity when leaving an affiliate program.

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positivecarry

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Hi everyone,
I am sure there are many affiliates here who have given their information(Name , EIN, SSN, phone, address) to numerous affiliate programs and either left them or stayed with them. So, what measures should affiliates take to ensure that their information is as secure as possible. I am sure there are some steps you can take to make sure you get involved with a legitimate program, but what about after you leave a program. Is their some formal process you can go through to attempt to make sure that they delete your information, etc?

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated as identity theft is a huge problem , and we as affiliates have tons of online accounts everywhere.
 
Hmmm... you know that's probably a good issue to raise. I had not thought about it before or heard of anyone that had a problem. However when you think about it, many affiliates are logging into a ton more places, entering more personal info like SS or EIN, than average Joe shopper ever would online and Joe shoppers get identity stolen.

I'm not sure of the answer to the question - what happens when you leave.
However there is another security issue newbie affiliates should be aware of.
It's fairly rare but I have seen numerous times an affiliate app that requires SS upfront and the application isnt' even on a secure server. Some affiliates feel like there should not even be a request for SS on the main app and that AFTER you are accepted it should be requested and added later.
 
Hi Linda,

Didn't you have your identity stolen and hackers used your accounts to apply for programs? I thought I heard you mention that before. Analyzing how thefts like that occur would help all affiliates. And when your business is humming along and then all of the sudden you get your identity stolen it all comes crashing down. Time must be spent hiring attorneys to free your name from the hands of others. My suggestions is that there be a section to discuss identity theft and how to protect yourself from it on the forum. I also think there should be a section about net neutrality as most people here are making a living from the internet and the very fabric of how the internet works is being threatened.

If anti net neutrality regulation passes small affiliates will not be able to present their brand new sites to the world free of charge.
 
positivecarry, here is how Linda described what happened to her:
Realize that fake affiliates sign up pretending to be me for instance. They list my site, my home address and everything. There's a Chinese affiliate fraud ring that a year ago joinined over 50 programs on most of the main networks pretending to be me. Then they made sales with bogus credit cards, changed the pay-to address and collected the checks. I was accused several times of fraud. These fraudsters do fake apps pretending to be Shawn Collins or the Wall Street Journal or littlejoesmomandpopshop.com.
http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5...areasale-chicken-egg-situation.html#post17832

When you mentioned "section" do you mean something such as an "Identity Theft and Protection Forum" and a "Net Neutrality Forum" like our General Topics Affiliate Forum, Newbie Affiliate Forum and Search Engine Marketing & SEO Forum. Is that what you are suggesting?

Of course, as you know, you can always start threads on such topics, just as you did with this one about net neutrality http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5...tiered-interent-affiliate-marketing-gone.html
 
Hi Larwee,

Yes, thanks for clarifying, I meant having sub forums where people would discuss those two topics. I did post about net neutrality and not one person responded . From what I've read it looks like it would make it very hard for the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive if the internet were tiered and access slowed for certain sites.

I see people post about how long it would take for them to quite their day job and make the transition to working on affiliate sites. I think this community would be a great place to discuss preserving the ability to launch sites and share information like this. If the internet were to be so fundamentally changed these communities and their members may not be able to thrive like they are today. Just some thoughts.
 
Yes a Chinese affiliate fraud ring stole my identity to join a ton of affiliate programs. I tried getting the FBI involved to no avail. Then took matters into my own hands and sorta gave them a pay back. Not sure if it stopped them, but it cost them a bunch of money and scared them at least. Hope it slowed them down. At any rate I don't think they are doing it any more, at least not with my name. Havent had anything come up for awhile.

As far as a sub-forum as you experienced on the thread you started, I just don't think we have enough interest for a sub-forum. So start threads on topics like that. What we probably do need though is a forum for general Internet issues that don't fit anywhere else.
 
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