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How to Detect and Prevent iGaming Affiliate Fraud as an Operator
It is no surprise that in 2025, affiliate marketing walks hand-in-hand with iGaming affiliate fraud. Fake websites, fake leads, and even fake revenues can at any second collapse one’s iGaming business. To avoid this, operators need effective fraud detection nd prevention strategies.
Being your go-to guide in this industry, we are here to share with you everything you need to know about iGaming affiliate fraud.
Table of Contents
What is iGaming affiliate fraud?
iGaming affiliate fraud is a dishonest practice when affiliates make their performance results appear better than they are. This can involve fake traffic, bots, etc., depending on the commission model. Why? The reason is simple: less action and more money, in one word, illegal profit. This will not only make the iGaming operator spend its money in vain but will also bring many negative effects to the table, which we will cover next.
How to detect iGaming affiliate fraud?
As we have already seen, iGaming affiliate marketing is created to boost operators’ traffic with genuine player engagement. But how to check if it is truly genuine or not? The most effective way for iGaming fraud detection is the utilization of specialized tools designed to monitor suspicious activity.
By focusing on these red flags, operators can combine human resources with automated tools and prevent iGaming affiliate fraud.
Suspicious traffic
Noticing a huge increase in traffic may sound good. But it is crucial for operators not to forget to enhance their trackers. The number one thing that operators must do before turning to iGaming affiliate marketing is to implement forms of identifying their traffic sources. After all, the knowledge of which affiliate was responsible for which portion of the company’s traffic is vital for the iGaming affiliate marketing system to work. Suspicious traffic is the first red flag signaling a corporation with fraudulent iGaming affiliate fraud.
Multi-accounting
Duplicate IP addresses, matching personal information such as repetitive surnames or email address formats, signal connections with dishonest affiliates.
URL hijacking
Dishonest affiliates can often purchase website domains that are quite similar to those of their operator partners, often differing by only a few characters or less, to redirect visitors to the original website of their partners. With manipulative content, these sites may feature promotions, bonuses, or offers that appeal to visitors, often making them click through to the actual partner site, where the affiliate earns a commission.
Casino bonus abuse
One of the most common types of iGaming fraud is bonus abuse. This is where a player will create multiple playing accounts at a particular online casino only to take advantage of bonuses. Gambling firms offering more private experiences, such as through the use of cryptocurrencies, may need to offer less attractive bonuses to protect themselves from bonus abusers. Check out our guide on casino bonuses to learn more.
A large number of chargebacks
This is another popular type of iGaming payment fraud through which malevolent players can negatively affect gambling operators. This type of iGaming fraud usually involves a player depositing funds, using them all to gamble in a short amount of time, and then requesting a refund from their financial institution using a false reason for the claim. Fortunately, operators who keep records of the activity of their players should be able to have enough evidence to dispute fraudulent chargebacks successfully.
The main consequences of iGaming affiliate fraud
The word “fraud” itself already carries heavy implications. Now, let’s imagine you face an iGaming affiliate fraud. What will happen next? The first and most important thing is that you will lose your reputation, which will cause a lack of confidence for players to use your platform.
By understanding all that will come together with iGaming affiliate fraud, operators can take all the necessary measures to avoid it. Now, you may ask yourself how? Easy!
How to avoid iGaming affiliate fraud?
Throughout this article, we explored ways of iGaming affiliate detection and prevention, but the best way to counter them is to avoid these frauds in the first place. One of the best ways of making sure that your business is not at risk of iGaming fraud is to work with only reputable iGaming affiliates. Companies that have established names for themselves are less likely to risk damaging their reputations for a momentary gain. However, finding these types of iGaming affiliates can sometimes be tricky. Let’s take a look at how you can find top casino affiliates and ensure the legitimacy of your existing partners up next.
1. Check affiliates’ reputation
One effective approach to verifying the credibility of iGaming affiliates is to ask those who have previous working experience with them. Depending on the size of the company, a few subpar cases may not be an immediate red flag, especially if, for example, the affiliate delivered their promised traffic and was slow to respond at times. However, a large number of complaints about its delivered traffic or major and consistent delays in communication should be a cause for concern.
2. Explore iGaming affiliate fraud cases beforehand
Operators often share their bad experiences with certain iGaming affiliates on various forums and discussion websites on the internet, making the internet a strong tool for iGaming affiliate fraud detection. Try searching keywords like “iGaming scam” and “iGaming fraud” together with the company’s name on popular search engines, such as Google. If your search queries bring many relevant results from different operators, it’s a strong red flag.
3. Check the affiliate’s website and traffic
This one is unlikely to be the sole factor in determining the legitimacy of an iGaming affiliate. However, it is a major factor that can help operators in the process. Checking the domain authority and website quality, as well as assessing the quality of the delivered traffic, are great ways to identify and stay away from fraudulent or subpar affiliates.
4. Search for iGaming affiliates on established directories
For iGaming operators looking to expand their affiliate networks, various established directory websites should be the first place to visit. Many of these companies, such as AffPapa’s directory, have vast lists of reputable affiliates and are quick to remove any fraudulent firms.
5. Make use of affiliate management services or affiliate networks
An excellent way of ensuring that your gambling business never has to deal with fraudulent affiliates is to utilize the services of affiliate networks or affiliate management solutions that offer iGaming fraud protection. These services will often integrate robust fraud detection software and carry out extensive risk assessments to offer an integrated fraud protection solution to their clients, allowing operators to focus their efforts on their core businesses.
Additionally, many high-quality affiliate management services partner with reputable and established affiliates to further ensure that they and their clients are protected from fraudulent iGaming affiliates. However, it is important to note that not all affiliate networks and management services will offer iGaming fraud protections, which means it is important to conduct extensive research before selecting a particular solution for your business.
6. Establish clear terms and conditions
Create clear and precise terms and conditions for your affiliate program. Fully explain what constitutes fraudulent activity, such as utilizing fake clicks or stolen information, and specify the penalties for engaging in such practices, including warnings, commission loss, or elimination from the program. Use simple language to make sure that all affiliates understand the regulations, make these terms accessible, and update them regularly.
To summarize, iGaming fraud is a phenomenon that is becoming more widespread as the industry continues to grow. Because of this, it is important to learn the most common types of iGaming fraud and, most importantly, how industry businesses can protect themselves from fraudulent iGaming affiliates and other types of malicious actors.
FAQs
What is iGaming affiliate fraud?
iGaming affiliate fraud is the practice of iGaming affiliates faking their performance metrics in a way that shows better results to their operator partners than delivered in pursuit of illicit monetary gain.
How to avoid iGaming fraud?
One of the best ways of making sure that your business is not at risk of iGaming fraud is to work with only reputable iGaming affiliates.
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