Fraud Review Playbook
Review suspicious affiliates, referrals, and commissions before payout.
Use this playbook when an affiliate, referral, lead, conversion, or commission needs manual review before approval or payout.
The goal is not to block good partners. The goal is to separate normal affiliate activity from patterns that may create unfair commissions, refund exposure, or brand risk.
When To Open A Review
Open a review when you see one or more of these signals:
| Signal | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Self-referral match | The affiliate and customer may be the same person or household. |
| Very fast conversion | The customer converted immediately after the click, which can indicate a test, coupon misuse, or self-referral. |
| Shared IP or device pattern | Multiple affiliates or customers appear to be using the same network context. |
| Refund-heavy activity | Commissions may be generated from revenue that does not settle. |
| Sudden conversion spike | New affiliates with unusual volume should be reviewed before payout. |
| Unverified promotion source | The affiliate cannot show where they are promoting the campaign. |
Review Sequence
- Confirm the campaign rules. Check whether the campaign allows coupon sites, paid search, existing-customer referrals, self-referrals, incentives, or high-risk promotion methods.
- Inspect the affiliate context. Review the affiliate profile, application details, traffic source, website, newsletter, community, or social presence.
- Compare customer details. Look for matching or similar email addresses, shared domains, repeated names, unusual customer metadata, or short-lived accounts.
- Check timing. Compare referral visit time, lead time, conversion time, refund timing, and payout timing.
- Review financial exposure. Check amount, currency, refund or chargeback status, and whether the commission is above your normal review threshold.
- Ask for context if needed. Request the promotion URL, audience source, campaign post, invoice, or customer context from the affiliate.
- Decide the status. Approve, hold, reject, void, or escalate based on the campaign terms and the evidence collected.
Decision Guide
| Decision | Use when | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Approve | The activity matches the campaign rules and customer details look normal. | Move the commission into the approved payout workflow. |
| Hold | More evidence is needed or the refund window is still open. | Keep payout pending and set a review date. |
| Reject | The referral breaks campaign rules before payout. | Tell the affiliate which rule applied. |
| Void | The conversion was refunded, charged back, fraudulent, or otherwise invalid. | Update commission records before payout reconciliation. |
| Escalate | The pattern may affect multiple affiliates, campaigns, or payouts. | Share the affected IDs, timeline, and evidence with support or an admin. |
Affiliate Message Template
Subject: We are reviewing a recent referral
Hi [affiliate name],
We are reviewing a recent referral before commission approval. Please send the page, post, email, or campaign source where this referral was promoted, plus any context that helps us confirm the customer journey.
This review does not automatically mean the referral is rejected. We use this step to protect valid affiliates, customers, and campaign owners before payout.
Thanks, [owner name]
Evidence To Save
Save enough context that another teammate can understand the decision later:
- Affiliate name and email.
- Campaign name.
- Referral visit, lead, conversion, commission, or payout IDs.
- Customer email or customer reference.
- Promotion source URL or screenshot.
- Refund, chargeback, or cancellation notes.
- Decision, date, reviewer, and reason.
Success Metric
Track the percentage of reviewed commissions that are resolved before the payout run. A healthy review workflow should reduce paid-out reversals while keeping legitimate affiliates from waiting indefinitely.