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WarriorPlus and JVZoo aren't joking. DON'T accept iffy affiliates. UGH.

by Ross Cohen
21 replies
Hey WarriorPlus and JVZoo users,

So I've been using both for some time now and never had any problems with affiliates. I know they both have that disclaimer ("don't accept affiliates you don't know!") though I accepted numerous affiliates I didn't know.

When using WarriorPlus, I DID check the affiliates background slightly prior to acceptance. I wasn't willing to accept them if they had 0 posts on the Warriorforum unless their note made sense and was legitimate.

Well, I woke up yesterday with 4 or 5 PayPal chargebacks and they all came from the same affiliate. I've NEVER been asked for a refund out of hundreds of sales. Clearly something was up.

Then I started receiving emails from these people letting me know they had no idea who I was... that they didn't purchase anything from me... and would like a refund ASAP.

Moral of the story is... don't accept affiliates you don't know (unless they have SOME sort of reputation to base their legitimacy on). This affiliate must have gotten access to other people's PayPal accounts. Not good.

Only a small headache caused from this matter, but if expanded to 100+ sales and then 100+ refunds, I can't imagine.

Just a piece of advice going forward. I know I'll be using it.

Ross Cohen
#accept #affiliates #iffy #joking #jvzoo #ugh #warriorplus
  • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
    Originally Posted by Ross Cohen View Post

    Hey WarriorPlus and JVZoo users,

    So I've been using both for some time now and never had any problems with affiliates. I know they both have that disclaimer ("don't accept affiliates you don't know!") though I accepted numerous affiliates I didn't know.

    When using WarriorPlus, I DID check the affiliates background slightly prior to acceptance. I wasn't willing to accept them if they had 0 posts on the Warriorforum unless their note made sense and was legitimate.

    Well, I woke up yesterday with 4 or 5 PayPal chargebacks and they all came from the same affiliate. I've NEVER been asked for a refund out of hundreds of sales. Clearly something was up.

    Then I started receiving emails from these people letting me know they had no idea who I was... that they didn't purchase anything from me... and would like a refund ASAP.

    Moral of the story is... don't accept affiliates you don't know (unless they have SOME sort of reputation to base their legitimacy on). This affiliate must have gotten access to other people's PayPal accounts. Not good.

    Only a small headache caused from this matter, but if expanded to 100+ sales and then 100+ refunds, I can't imagine.

    Just a piece of advice going forward. I know I'll be using it.

    Ross Cohen
    That's pretty scary. Did you notify Warrior Plus (or JVZoo, whichever one it was)? They should be banned from the site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ross Cohen
    Yeah - I sent a message over their way (W+). They're good... I'm sure they'll take care of it.
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  • Profile picture of the author rehtheis
    That's because somebody is accepting
    such affiliate or is it because that persons
    access to other people's PayPal accounts?
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    • Profile picture of the author Ross Cohen
      It was both. The affiliate couldn't promote the offer unless I allow him to. And he was able to do what he did because somehow he got access to other peoples PayPal accounts.

      Originally Posted by rehtheis View Post

      That's because somebody is accepting
      such affiliate or is it because that persons
      access to other people's PayPal accounts?
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  • Profile picture of the author Arief Ramadhan
    That's really scary. It's really unbelievable that Warrior Member use black hat tactic to promote the WSO. Maybe next WSO you should accept War Room member only.

    Anyway, Hope the affiliate gets banned from the W+ ASAP. Thank you for reporting that affiliate.
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    • Profile picture of the author Thomas Smale
      Originally Posted by ariefrizkyr View Post

      That's really scary. It's really unbelievable that Warrior Member use black hat tactic to promote the WSO.
      That's not "black hat". That's straight up fraud. Bit of a difference...
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Carbine
    Did you also contact pay pal? I would be worried about your name being draged through the mud along with this guys if pay pal thinks that you are associated with him.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ross Cohen
      Originally Posted by Robert Carbine View Post

      Did you also contact pay pal? I would be worried about your name being draged through the mud along with this guys if pay pal thinks that you are associated with him.
      I didn't contact PayPal, but I did contact WarriorPlus. It's not their fault, but the result kind of sucks.

      So all of the sales were for a $27 product. I offered 80% commissions. It looks like I'm going to have to refund the $27 via PayPal, and the affiliate will be keeping the ~$22 per sale. That's right, losing like $50 per sale. REALLY sucks. No one's fault except that [insert lots of not-so-nice words] affiliate. The affiliate would lose their commissions if the money was in their PayPal balance. Chances are the scammer has all of that sorted out to a tee.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mark Alan
        Keep in mind another way to minimize problems is to sell low priced items. Most of these guys are looking for a quick hit and run as they know they are going to get caught quickly. $22 a sale looks pretty attractive to them, but under $10 not so much.




        Originally Posted by Ross Cohen View Post

        I didn't contact PayPal, but I did contact WarriorPlus. It's not their fault, but the result kind of sucks.

        So all of the sales were for a $27 product. I offered 80% commissions. It looks like I'm going to have to refund the $27 via PayPal, and the affiliate will be keeping the ~$22 per sale. That's right, losing like $50 per sale. REALLY sucks. No one's fault except that [insert lots of not-so-nice words] affiliate. The affiliate would lose their commissions if the money was in their PayPal balance. Chances are the scammer has all of that sorted out to a tee.
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        • Profile picture of the author atlantarobin
          Ross,

          So sorry to hear you were targeted by criminals posing as legitimate affiliates. Let's make sure these kinds of things are reported to our state attorney generals or our governor's offices of consumer affairs (as well as Clark Howard, lol) because ... well... that's what they're there for... to help protect people and businesses from getting defrauded by crooks.

          Unless or until you find out who and how they pulled off this scam, there's not a lot you can do... except as you said, tighten your internal security and affiliate "hiring" or "screening" or "vetting" practices... and cross your fingers.

          But, wow... this is necessarily a big blow for newbies and offline marketing professionals finally trying to make it online. I don't know how many affiliates you usually approve or work with, but perhaps following up with a short phone call (if you don't know them or they don't have an established verifiable presence on or off-line. Sad, but $22 could have bought a security background check. Something to consider maybe, despite the cost. I know most affiliates would balk at paying for their own, but if you at least got them to sign a release to do a criminal and credit background, at least you'd have a papertrail of some sort. Yeah, they'd probably fake that, too...

          Again, so sorry for your financial losses, but moreso about the loss of your feeling of personal trust and security. Betrayal of any kind is so soul wounding.

          Robin Carlisle
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  • Profile picture of the author IWelcomesocialmedia
    You have to be always on the look out for people like these
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Alan
    It has happened over and over again at all the big affiliate networks. That’s why they screen so hard and reject so many applicants. A few years back I had a guy that got a hold of my identity including my full name address and social security number. He registered domains in my name, opened numerous bank accounts in my name and then signed up for numerous affiliate programs while trying to pass himself off as me, but the worst of it was he was able to convince many affiliate programs that I did business with for years to manually reset my passwords upon which he changed the payment address and started running stolen credit cards through the affiliate links.

    Stuff like this happens all the time and is rarely discussed publicly in any venue. There are groups in the Philippines and Vietnam that are actively targeting large affiliates for identity theft purposes. What your describing is just the typical run of the mill carder.
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  • Profile picture of the author footbag_man
    I always thought that the reason for not accepting affiliate that you didnt know is that they would jsut buy through their affiliate link. I never knew something like this could happen.

    Thanks for the advice OP
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    • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
      Originally Posted by footbag_man View Post

      I always thought that the reason for not accepting affiliate that you didnt know is that they would jsut buy through their affiliate link.
      The biggest reason (in my opinion) is because all it takes is one "shady" affiliate to send a bunch of low-quality traffic to your offer (ie safelists), and then your overall conversion rate will drop like a rock. And the more your conversion rate drops, the harder it will be for you to attract the better affiliates. Which ultimately means that you will make less profit than you otherwise would have (and very possibly a LOT less).

      And as Ross unfortunately found out, you put yourself at a much greater risk of refunds/chargebacks, which can create a whole new can of worms with your payment processor.
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      • Profile picture of the author footbag_man
        Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner View Post

        The biggest reason (in my opinion) is because all it takes is one "shady" affiliate to send a bunch of low-quality traffic to your offer (ie safelists), and then your overall conversion rate will drop like a rock. And the more your conversion rate drops, the harder it will be for you to attract the better affiliates. Which ultimately means that you will make less profit than you otherwise would have (and very possibly a LOT less).

        And as Ross unfortunately found out, you put yourself at a much greater risk of refunds/chargebacks, which can create a whole new can of worms with your payment processor.

        Thanks for the heads up on this guys.. I will defo be more careful next time with who accept as affiliates.

        Fergal
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  • Profile picture of the author bizoppmaster
    There is so much fraud in our industry, it's sad. Have to watch out for affiliates from India and China unfortunately.
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  • Profile picture of the author GSX
    Good call, it's always tempting to get as many affiliates as possible to convert as much as possible, but with that kind of hassle, definitely not! Thanks for sharing!
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  • Profile picture of the author Val Wilson
    I had exactly the same thing happen to me with one affiliate who was using stolen paypal addresses - though thankfully the first sale was reported right away by the owner of the paypal account, so it was stopped in it's tracks.

    Don't know about WarriorPlus, but JVZoo allow delayed payment, so that does stop this problem - if you are not 100% sure about an affiliate, put him or her on delayed commission. Fraudulent Paypal transactions will usually be spotted quite quickly, so can be refunded before the affiliate gets paid. Instant commissions should only be for people with a good track record who you totally trust.
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  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
    Yes, it is very important to check your affiliates.

    The other day I even had a guy apply that was banned and still had the nerve to apply.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill Hugall
    That is S$%T sorry to hear about that. I don't get some people. I mean I love money but what the hell is that. Great tip though.
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