Possible Affiliate Scam?

4 replies
I had something strange happen with one of my affiliate sales recently. I have one affiliate who got a few sales for me last month. Although, one of the buyers was not in my target market at all... a woman. My ebook has advice for men. Also, none of the buyers referred by this affiliate have registered their ebook yet. I can tell because I use ebook software that requires registration after purchase.

So, yesterday I receive a Paypal claim. Apparently it was initiated by Paypal and after speaking with them I was told that they typically do this when something about the buyer is fishy. Sure enough, it was related to the "female" buyer of my ebook.

I'm wondering if there is a scam going on here. Maybe this affiliate is somehow generating fake sales and then will wait until he gets his mass payment (commission) from me and then bolt. I use e-junkie and payments are made via mass payment with Paypal the month after affiliate sales are recorded.

Has anyone ever experienced something similar to this??

I'm holding off on paying this affiliate until this is resolved.
#affiliate #scam
  • Profile picture of the author Brad Gosse
    Could be that or sometimes people just hand pick you to test their fraudulent payment attempts.
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  • Profile picture of the author CmdrStidd
    I would inform the affiliate that he has "one or more" transactions that have been flagged by Paypal and that he will not receive credit for them until they are cleared up. It may be that he is unaware that someone is using him like this.

    Also, since none of the ebooks has been registered properly, you have a legit argument for not paying him at all, if you truly suspect him of trying to defraud you.

    Mind you that these are just one person's opinions and they probably don't amount to a hill of beans in the grand scheme of things but that is what I would do.
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  • Profile picture of the author forous
    Some people will try anything to make money. Either fair or foul means so beware.
    Inform the affiliate of the situation and let him or her know that he cannot get money for the flagged purchases.
    This might also be a genuine mistake so try to help him or her out to resolve the issue with paypal.
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  • Profile picture of the author Christophe Young
    Thanks guys for the advice. Always appreciated!
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