So, who’s going to scam me next?

Feb 15, 2006
by

I reached a new low point today. A rouge affiliate tried to defraud one of the programs we manage – and almost got away with it.

Why? Simply because I could not imagine that a nice Midwestern middle aged lady could possibly be engaged in such nefarious activities as submitting fraudulent leads.

Even after I saw her free hosting site I could not bring myself to have her removed from the program – after all – here was an affiliate that stood for all things we value.
The “little guy” affiliate that builds a site (ugly or not) sends traffic to it and then makes good. Who was I to stand in her way – I considered it my duty to help her. We even sent her some tips on improving her site!

So we were elated to see the clicks start increasing over time and the leads start pouring in – eventually we’d accrued more then $1500 in earnings within a month. Only problem was – none of them were converting……

Upon investigation we found out this particular affiliate was simply filling in vintage information – basic stuff really and not very imaginative.

My problem is this – I’m used to dealing with fraud syndicates and foreign fraud rings – but if I can’t even trust Midwestern housewives- what is this world coming to LOL

The reality of the situation is that as outsourced affiliate managers we have to be vigilant when managing affiliate programs. That’s why we verify each affiliate’s SSN, W9 and personally contact any affiliates that join the programs we manage. In addition I advocate that you aggressively manage your conversion rates and police your affiliate program for fraud – because you never know when there might be a rouge Midwestern housewife affiliate lurking in your program.

* Just to be clear – I have absolutely nothing but the utmost respect for affiliates, housewives, middle aged people and people of Midwestern origin. :-)

About Jonathan Miller

I’m the CEO of Forge Media Investments Limited and its Online Marketing subsidiaries including the Forge Outsourced Affiliate Program Management & offerforge.com Affiliate Network.

I’m more talent scout & ambassador than Business Manager. I do strategy, high level planning & client engagement. I love getting my hands on a project, working with clients to figure out what they need then letting my team get on and do it.

I love finding new businesses for us to grow & opportunities for us & our clients to capitalize on.

I’m well known in Performance Marketing circles and judging by the fact that I keep getting invited back, seem to be rather an engaging, or at least a passable speaker.

I live in Johannesburg with my wife, 2 daughters and assorted pets! I travel relentlessly between our markets in the US, UK and South Africa and consequently my kids often refer to me as stranger ;-(

You can find Jonathan on Twitter: @JonathanAtForge .

Filed under: Affiliate Marketing
  • http://www.affiliate-software-review.com Peter

    Why do companies pay per lead? The cost of policing their scheme must be higher than if it was CPA.

  • Johnny

    are you sure she was a rouge Midwestern affiliate? i mean, unless you actually saw her, my guess is she was just a rogue affiliate. ;)

  • http://flamingoworld.com/ Connie Berg

    HEY! Not all of us Midwestern Housewives are rouge affiliates.

  • http://www.forgebusiness.com Jonathan Miller

    LOL – Connie – I just *knew* you were going to beat me up about that one! My sincerest apologies if I've in any way besmirched Midwestern housewives and affiliates of any description :-) Besides that Connie, you're hardly the average housewife – I think FlamingoWorld keeps you pretty busy!.

    ——

    Peter, you asked a good question on why pay per lead. The simple answer is that if you want the traffic you have to offer a better payout alternative.

    One example is FreeDebtAssessment. (http://www.freedebtassessment.com) We only pay $3 per lead – but require no personal information at all!

    In CareOneCredit (http://www.careonecredit-affiliates.com) we pay $13 and higher per lead depending on conversions.

    Pay per lead works and provides us with a competitive edge against companies selling CPA – as the publisher does not need to carry the conversion risk.

    Sure there is fraud risk, but as long as you've implemented the right controls its not difficult to monitor results.

    —-

    Johnny, you're right – I never did see her. But judging from her address, the phone number I called her on and the very pronounced drawl – i'm pretty sure :-)

    My paranoid response is that maybe the fraud syndicates have started blackmailing poor destitute people into fronting their organizations. Now there's a good conspiracy theory for you!

  • http://www.jangro.com Scott Jangro

    I'm sure she was rouge in addition to rogue after that phone conversation.

    I doubt blackmail is required when all is needed is the promise of a few bucks and a lack of a little common sense.

    One of my favorite affiliate network stories involves a housewife, not much different than our heroine above, who was naively laundering the payment of fraudulently gained affiliate earnings to her overseas employers. It was several years ago and went something like this.

    "I…I…I…I don't know where this money comes from. I just get checks in the mail, keep a little, and send the rest to my contact in Asia…Illegal?…FBI?…" *thud*