Guide
Affiliate fraud detection means checking commission claims against your own order data so you don't pay for sales a partner didn't earn. Here are the most common types, the signals that reveal them, and a repeatable process to catch them before payouts lock. New to affiliate programs? Start with our affiliate program reference for the vocabulary and how attribution works.
A coupon site or browser extension inserts its tracking link at checkout, taking last-click credit for a sale another partner (or no partner) drove.
Signals: Referrers from known coupon or extension domains, codes that aren't approved for that partner, very short gaps between the affiliate click and the order.
A partner drops tracking cookies on visitors who never clicked a real promotion, so later organic purchases get credited to them.
Signals: Blind referrals with no landing page context, unusually high conversion rates, many orders from one IP range in a short window.
When a brand runs more than one network, the same order can be claimed on each, so you pay commission twice.
Signals: The same order ID appearing in claims from two or more networks or partners.
Not strictly fraud, but a common leak: an order is refunded yet its commission is still pending and goes on to be paid.
Signals: Refunded or cancelled orders whose network claim is still pending or approved.
Codes meant for one creator or channel spread to coupon aggregators, and whoever posts them earns commission.
Signals: Private codes used by partners they were never issued to.
Pull your store orders (order ID, total, discount codes, referrer, landing page, refund status) and each network's commission claims.
Reconcile by order ID across all networks. Flag duplicates, claims with no matching order, and refunded orders with active claims.
Check coupon use against your approved-code list, referrers against known coupon and extension domains, and order velocity by IP range.
An alert is a reason to investigate, not proof. A manager checks the evidence and program terms before requesting a reversal or preparing a dispute.
Most networks only allow changes while a commission is pending. Prioritise flagged claims by how soon they lock.
Sale Defend reconciles your store orders with network claims, flags coupon hijacking, duplicate claims and unreversed refunds, and shows how many days remain before each commission locks. You can upload a 90-day order export to run a retroactive audit. Findings are signals for your team to review; results aren't guaranteed.
Where the record is thin, AI-assisted triage helps. After the deterministic checks, AI reviews behaviour patterns across your partners to surface suspicion that deserves a closer look — then drafts a reversal or dispute explanation with an evidence checklist you can edit. AI output is always labelled as needing review: it is a starting point for your own check, not proof.