Affiliate fraud is rampant in our industry and all of us that generate leads need to take extreme action to prevent these from getting into the ecosystem. Billy.com has figured out the solution and I'll gladly share it, with the hopes that you will implement these same steps.
Let's first clarify what these advanced fraudsters are doing - they are obtaining large consumer lists and having real people physically go to websites and type in the information OR they are providing a script and having real people call into your advertised phone number and providing fake information and/or stalling in order to hit a duration.
Almost all of this fraud comes from Pakistan and India, where they are using technology to make it appear they are in the USA.
There is a ton of low-level fraud going on, such as bots, but that is easy to detect and this solution is not needed for that.
You can screen your affiliates until your face turns blue, they will lie and do whatever it takes to make it into your affiliate program, still screen like crazy, just know it's not enough.
For your web leads:
-First line of defense is Anura - they are great at detecting fraud, but not everything they let pass is still a real lead
-Next, your webform must require user verification (allow the user to choose to be texted or emailed a secret code) (this is KEY, as it is very hard to get around this step) (Yes, you will lose a percentage of good leads due to the extra friction)
-Your lead management system must be able to do data validations to ensure the user didn't input incorrect information, they are not a known litigator and ect. I recommend Phonexa and can speak as to why offline if needed.
For your inbound calls:
-move to a webhook/pixel with your buyers if possible, this eliminates paying out on duration.
-hire someone to listen to all call recordings to find these issues, and be strict with removing the affiliate from the program.
-use a service like pipedream to annotate all calls and look for keywords/phrases
Direct Advertisers are hurting, business is down. We, as lead gen providers, have an obligation to help them make money, not the fraudsters.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!
Web Dev: Full Stack Software Developer | LeadGen Specialist | WORK BDM | AI : Machine Learning | Lifestyle Luxury Living Realtor
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