Another Advertiser Cracking Down on Fraud

[SunshineGirl]

I just got my third email in less than a week from an advertiser whose agency is cracking down on fraud in reward sites. Of all of the guidelines that they gave, the only one that we do not follow at SR is that we send out rewards immediately rather than once a month. My fear is that pretty soon, they are only going to allow us to pay out once a month. That would make me very sad. But I wrote them back to see if there are ways that I can get around it and still comply with their rules.

But as a heads-up to all of you (especially those who do other rewards programs that are NOT compliant with the rules), here are some things that they are now looking for. One advertiser actually kicked out 12 sites from its program this week. Do not be surprised if you see changes in these areas:

• Payout Minimums
• Payout Frequency
• No cancelling of offers
• No duplicate IP addresses (including AOL)
• One account per postal address
• No P.O. Boxes
• No use of prepaid credit cards
• Verifying telephone numbers

I don't think it is necessarily that the "sky is falling," but I do think that the recent proliferation of what I consider to be "cheap" rewards programs is now causing a meltdown of sorts in the online advertising industry. Be very careful who you trust because you don't want to have a lot invested in a site that goes belly-up all of a sudden because it gets caught cheating.

[m 'n c]

Hmm this is getting a lil unnerving. Do you think this new crackdown will cause people to have to choose between reward sites? I usually only do 3 seriously due to good customer service and different offers on each site but it almost seems like there will be a point where that isn't allowed even if you do different offers.

I've heard of reward site fraud before. Would you mind clarifying exactly what is considered fraud (besides using stolen cc's and such)? I would hate to be contributing and not knowing!

[SunshineGirl]

I've heard of reward site fraud before. Would you mind clarifying exactly what is considered fraud (besides using stolen cc's and such)? I would hate to be contributing and not knowing!

Here are what the advertisers consider to be fraudulent signups:

1) Signing up for the same offer at multiple rewards programs
2) Signing up for an offer with the intent to cancel as soon as you get credit
3) Husband and wife signing up for the same offer at separate rewards programs
4) Signing up with a prepaid credit card or debit card where there is no money in the account
5) Signing up with any inaccurate information (including home phone or address)
6) Signing up under the name of someone else in your house (like your kids) to get credit multiple times for the same offer
7) Answering pre-qualification questions dishonestly to increase your chances of being chosen for a trial or survey
8) Buying a product with a stolen credit card in order to get rewards
9) Buying a product, getting your rewards, and then quickly returning the product

On OUR end, we consider it fraudulent to have multiple accounts on the same computer or in the same house. Advertisers don't care how many accounts you have in different places as long as you are not doing the same offers.

And surveys are not included. Two people in the same house can do a greenfield survey in the same day and as long as they are answering the questions honestly, it is fine.

[m 'n c]

Thank you for the clarification Tricia. I think I'll start being more diligent in keeping track of these smaller offers that I do so I don't do them across multiple sites.

[wilsonfamily4]

It is so hard with the small offers to know which ones I have done, and so I may have duplicated at different sites. This will certainly take more work. I guess I too will have to write every offer down. I do not want to be fraudulant. I also don't want any of my "fraudulant" practices to hurt SR.

I feel a bit like the banks are closing their doors and I want to ensure I get my money!!! And I really don't have that much money out there I just have it already spoken for.

[~Kathie]

Thanks for the info Tricia. As usual, there are always a few companies that spoil it for the rest.

I'm guilty of not putting my correct phone number for most offers.

For Scholastic, Netflix, Blockbuster, ones I thought I would keep, I used my correct phone number. But for the little offers, I didn't. Why the heck do they need your phone number anyway. Bad enough they have my email address. If an offer asks me for my SS#.......forget it. I don't do it.

I'm going to check all the rewards sites I belong to and make sure my phone number with them is correct. Looks like I may just get that phone deal someone posted where you have a phone number and you can call and get your messages. Anyone remember the name of it??

[SunshineGirl]

I haven't actually gotten any complaints on the little offers like the "Give us your email address and you might get a $500 gift card if you complete 100 other offers." That's a whole industry unto itself that is in trouble...

The major fraud seems to be coming with things like Scholastic, Blockbuster, all of those Hoodia and Sleep things, Passport to Fun, etc. Essentially the ones where you pay a small amount for something to get a whole lot more back.

[Kycha]

Looks like I may just get that phone deal someone posted where you have a phone number and you can call and get your messages. Anyone remember the name of it??

I think you are talking about www.************.com. So far it is working great for me. They will send you an e-mail each time you have a new message and they embed the voicemail in the e-mail. So, you don't need to call anyone to get your messages.

[wilsonfamily4]

I haven't actually gotten any complaints on the little offers like the "Give us your email address and you might get a $500 gift card if you complete 100 other offers." That's a whole industry unto itself that is in trouble...

The major fraud seems to be coming with things like Scholastic, Blockbuster, all of those Hoodia and Sleep things, Passport to Fun, etc. Essentially the ones where you pay a small amount for something to get a whole lot more back.

OHH, GOOD
I really only do those. I have done a few others but some I have kept. Like blockbuster, Zooba, scrapbooking book club, etc. But I need to get myself a NEW phone number.

[mollyeilis]

That phone number thing is driving me batty. And I personally have noticed that many sites already have something in place to prevent people from using weird phone numbers. I *routinely* get the message that my phone number doesn't match my address. Which it doesn't. I live in one area code, but have a cellphone, and a cell phone ONLY, with a different area code (where most of our friends live, so they don't have to dial long distance). Had it since '02, not changing it anytime soon. But I can't sign up for some things, because of that.

And I've tried to just "cheat" by giving the "correct" area code, and it instantly knows that it's not a real number, I assume because of the prefix.

I never answer my phone anyway unless it's DH, doesn't matter much WHAT number I give, but I suppose they don't know that.

But my point is, they seem to already have phone number stuff figured out...at least for some sites I've tried to sign up for!