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How to Avoid iGaming Affiliate Fraud as an Operator
As affiliate marketing has taken off in popularity, it is vital for iGaming operators to educate themselves on the risks of fraudulent affiliates.
Affiliate Marketing has become the most popular marketing method used by iGaming operators worldwide. There are many reasons why affiliate marketing is so popular in the iGaming space, such as the pay-as-you-go nature of various commission models, which allows even the smallest of operators to enjoy high-quality promotional campaigns, along with its ability to be mostly outsourced via an iGaming affiliate management service, which offers operators limitless affiliate network expansion opportunities.
Sounds appealing, doesn’t it? But what if we tell you that affiliate marketing also has its drawbacks and we, as your best go-to guide in this industry, are here to share with you everything you need to know about affiliate marketing, so you can avoid the risks instead of overcoming them. Unlike traditional marketing methods, affiliate marketing sees different forms of affiliate fraud. With the help of affiliate marketing, dishonest affiliates trick their partners and make illegal money. If you keep reading through, you will have a full understanding of the topic of iGaming affiliate fraud and ways to protect your gambling business from it.
Table of Contents
What is iGaming affiliate fraud?
iGaming affiliate fraud is a dishonest practice where affiliates make their performance results appear better than they really are. This can be done in various ways depending on the contract’s commission model, both through fake or bot-generated traffic. Now you may ask yourself the following question: 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.
The negative effects of iGaming affiliate fraud
iGaming affiliate fraud can have various negative effects on operators, including poorly performing campaigns, yet for the same cost. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, dishonest affiliates often drive irrelevant or low-quality traffic, which can significantly increase the website’s bounce rate and damage its search engine optimization (SEO), leading to a decline in organic performance and overall traffic. Low-quality traffic not only makes it hard for the operator to have precise access to its real performance but it also leaves its side effects, as high-quality casino traffic is key for an operator’s image, client retention, and, ultimately, revenue generation.
The types of iGaming affiliate fraud
There are many types of iGaming affiliate fraud, with some of them being very simple to execute and spot, while others are much more elaborate schemes that increase casino traffic volumes gradually to remain undiscovered for prolonged periods. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Bot Traffic
Dishonest iGaming affiliates use this method from different IP addresses to boost the performance metrics. Operators rely on commission models that require real deposits from real players. Thus, bot traffic itself cannot generate earnings, and on the contrary, it will be an indicator of suspicious activities.
Stolen IDs and Credit Cards
Another method used by iGaming affiliates to generate fake sign-ups and deposits. This method should not be compared to the method mentioned above, as it is more risky. Companies that get affected by this method will later have to use chargebacks, which will harm the affected business with their high commissions.
Cookie Stuffing
Dishonest operators use this method and generate various fake browser cookies, sometimes with the home that sooner or later the user will make a transaction via the partner’s website. This method generates cookies for all of the operators and affiliate programs affiliates work with, which is one of the reasons why it is the most widespread form of affiliate fraud.
Typo Squatting/URL Hijacking
Dishonest affiliates can often purchase website domains that are quite similar to that of their operator partners, often differing by only a few characters or less, to redirect visitors to the original website of their partners.
Website Cloning
Like in the method mentioned above, only with a few characters difference, dishonest affiliates clone the websites of their partners to steal their traffic. While this may not directly harm the operator, it will leave its mark on the operator’s reputation.
Malware
In iGaming affiliate fraud, malware can be used in two ways. The first one replaces official affiliate links with fake ones, stealing commissions from genuine affiliates. The second method involves directing users to the operator’s website via fake affiliate links without the user’s direct desire.
Other types of iGaming fraud
While iGaming affiliate fraud takes many different forms, operators often need to be wary of and prevent iGaming fraud that doesn’t involve their marketing partners. Let’s briefly explore these other types of iGaming fraud.
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. Thankfully, this type of iGaming fraud is relatively straightforward to detect and prevent if the operator has implemented rigorous identity verification solutions. However, 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.
Chargeback fraud
Chargeback fraud 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 it 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 that keep records of the activity of their players should be able to have enough evidence to dispute fraudulent chargebacks successfully.
How to spot iGaming affiliate fraud
Now that we looked at some of the types of iGaming affiliate fraud, let’s explore how you can detect affiliate fraud to protect your business from fraudulent iGaming affiliates.
Enhance your trackers
The number one thing every iGaming business utilizing affiliate marketing services should do is implement forms of identifying 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. However, many companies, implement very basic forms of tracking systems, which is why enhancing them is the first form of iGaming affiliate fraud detection we’re going to look at.
Sudden jumps or drops in a number of an operator’s statistics, such as clicks, impressions, conversions, chargebacks, and bounce rate, are excellent indicators for detecting affiliate fraud. Having a robust set of trackers that can deliver detailed information on the performance of a gambling firm’s affiliate partners is vital for operators to be able to utilize this technique.
One of the best forms of improving traffic trackers is by using browser and device fingerprinting. These systems will make using bots quite a lot more difficult, as obtaining different IP addresses with a simple free VPN service will no longer be enough to fool an iGaming operator’s website into thinking that it got visits from multiple different locations. While they can get somewhat defeated by blocking all website cookies and setting up specifically tailored virtual machines to get an unidentifiable fingerprint, fraudulent affiliates will not be able to completely bypass these systems easily.
Log and analyze traffic data
Unlike our previous point, logging and analyzing traffic data is not a preventative measure, however, it is still quite important. By logging as many details about the traffic brought by their gambling affiliate partners, operators can carefully examine any changes and detect patterns of iGaming affiliate fraud. Many data points, such as sudden spikes in chargebacks or the website’s bounce rate from traffic brought by a specific affiliate, can be causes of concern, especially depending on their magnitude.
Implement rigorous KYC measures
Implementing top-notch Know Your Customer systems is paramount for industries dealing with higher-than-average levels of risk, with the iGaming one being a prime example of such a sector. A set of high-quality KYC guidelines will help operators immensely with affiliate fraud involving the use of stolen assets, as malicious companies will have a hard time passing several common identity checks without an immense amount of effort. Additionally, as discussed earlier, the use of stolen assets is quite prevalent among fraudulent affiliates, which means that leading KYC solutions can be very effective at identifying, and even preventing iGaming affiliate fraud. Speaking of preventing fraud, let’s take a look at a few ways operators can avoid iGaming fraud altogether.
How to avoid iGaming fraud
While throughout this article we explored ways to detect and prevent affiliate fraud in iGaming, the best way of countering 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. Ask around about prospecting partners
One effective approach to verifying the credibility of iGaming affiliates is to ask those who have previous working experiences 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. Search for scam allegations on the internet
Many operators post their bad experiences with certain iGaming affiliates on various forums and discussion websites on the internet, which is a great tool in determining if an affiliate is fraudulent or not. Many keywords such as “scam” and “fraud” can be used in conjunction with the company’s name on popular search engines, such as Google, for this purpose. Search queries with many relevant results from different operators often signify a troublesome iGaming affiliate that you should stay away from.
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 of engaging in such practices: include warnings, commission loss, or elimination from the program. Use simple language to make sure that all affiliates understand the regulations, and make these terms accessible and update those regularly.
Conclusion
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.
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