You probably know that the global network opens up almost unlimited opportunities for making money. And perhaps the best thing you can do is to earn profits by promoting products and services that you like. Having been around for quite some time, affiliate marketing is still one of the best ways to promote products to earn commissions. Given that there is no major entry threshold – making affiliate marketing accessible to almost any internet user – here there is always a risk of fraud and dishonest parties.

We’re here to talk about affiliate marketing scams that both newbies and seasoned marketers can encounter. Unfortunately, there are many ways in which scams targeting affiliates make undue profits by directing traffic and generating leads. Working with such affiliates can significantly harm an affiliate program. In addition, there are also many fraudulent schemes used by some affiliate networks and programs that threaten affiliate marketers. So, sit back and keep reading this article to learn how to avoid common internet marketing scams.

Is Affiliate Marketing Legit?

There is no law or by-law prohibiting affiliate marketing in any country in the world. Therefore, affiliate marketing is seen as a completely legitimate business model based on the principles of promotion and advertising. Moreover, over 80% of brands have realised the power of affiliate marketing and are using this technique to attract new customers as well as keep existing ones engaged.

So, whether you are promoting a flower business, dating apps or iGaming platforms, your activity is perfectly legal. However, before you start promoting any offers, you should carefully study the specifics of legislation regarding your chosen niche in particular regions. For example, in some countries, direct advertising of online gambling entertainment may be prohibited by law. Once you know the ins and outs of the vertical, you will be able to benefit from affiliate marketing without having any repercussions.

Types of Frauds that Affiliate Marketers Can Be Exposed to

The more developed any sphere of activity is, the more opportunities open up for dishonest people who want to enrich themselves through illegal actions. Affiliate marketing today is a huge industry where scammers can be waiting for you literally at every step.

Speaking of online marketing scams, they can be divided into two categories. The first category includes scammers forcing marketers to pay a high price for access to resources that are free (or much cheaper). The second category includes dishonest affiliate programs and networks offering you to promote businesses operating illegally. So, below are 6 affiliate marketing fraud schemes that marketers should avoid.

Instant Enrichment Schemes

Although many people are distrustful of flashy advertising with stacks of crisp notes, expensive cars and yachts, it still works. When it comes to affiliate marketing, some affiliate networks and programs may tempt you with lucrative terms of cooperation with high commission payouts. However, if you agree to such an offer of cooperation, you will not only fail to get what you were promised but also risk being left with nothing at all.

Many people dream of getting rich with minimal time and effort. However, to succeed as an affiliate marketer, you will have to work hard, constantly learn and improve your skills to keep up with the ever-changing industry trends. So, to avoid becoming another victim of an affiliate marketing scam scheme, pay attention to the following things:

• The income level offered. If you are promised a a wealth of money for simple actions, you are probably just being scammed. Learn more about the program and the products it offers from reputable resources to protect yourself from scammers. People are much more likely to share negative experiences than they are to trumpet their success in any venture. So, just a few negative reviews and complaints are enough to bypass the affiliate program.
• You don’t have access to information about the business model and the promoted products. You should agree that a fair affiliate program – that has nothing to hide from you – will gladly tell you about all the features of cooperation.
• The terms of cooperation do not contain any guarantees that you will receive commission payouts. Read the T&Cs carefully and highlight the possible subtle points before you start cooperation with an affiliate program or network.
• Imposing urgency. If you’re offered to do something “right now”, you’re probably just being rushed into making a decision that’s disadvantageous to you.

So, instead of giving in to the desire to get rich instantly, you should question any promises and scrutinise the legitimacy of the business and the products it promotes.

Pay-to-Join Schemes

If the affiliate program of your choice is asking you to pay some fee to join, then you need to at least be wary. Although this method of fraud is not common today, you will still come across it from time to time. So, if you are asked to pay a fee to join or to purchase their product, you’d better choose another affiliate program.

Keep in mind that this also applies to marketing materials and tools. For example, an affiliate program aimed at mutually beneficial relationships with affiliates will not charge you for using landings, creatives or the S2S Postback feature. However, keep in mind that honest affiliate programs may require you to know the promoted products and how they work.

Fake Training Materials

You don’t need to be online for a long time to come across some training courses. There are a lot of people on the global network who call themselves experts in various fields. However, there are a huge number of scammers among them who want to sell you training materials of no value.

At best, you will get access to guides or tutorials containing outdated and irrelevant information. At worst, your chosen coaching program will cause you to suffer negative consequences by using unethical affiliate marketing methods. Here are some tips to help you recognise courses and tutorials that are not worth your attention and investment:

• Get-rich-quick schemes with minimal effort.
• No guarantees or proof of effectiveness.
• No research to support the relevance and usefulness of the information offered to you.
• Overly aggressive adverts and appeals to buy the courses now.
• Untrustworthy – most likely paid – testimonials.

Keep in mind that really effective affiliate marketers probably don’t have much desire to share their marketing techniques or time to create training materials at all.

MLMs and Pyramids

Affiliate marketing is a very competitive field where the best affiliate programs and – unfortunately – fraudulent ones survive. Thus, there are many affiliate networks on the internet that are essentially financial pyramids or those utilising multi-level marketing schemes. Here are a few things you should look out for so you don’t fall for the trick:

• Attracting new affiliates is a top priority. Give preference to affiliate programs that are very selective about their new affiliates.
• Overly complex business model. This may indicate that the affiliate program is focusing on something else instead of selling products.
• There are negative reviews on thematic forums. Don’t be lazy to search the internet for information about the affiliate program you are considering to find out what people are saying about it.

So, if you don’t want to become just a small link in a big pyramid scheme, then don’t accept requests to buy a product and always check the details of the affiliate program carefully.

Promotion of Products with Questionable Legality

As mentioned above, the affiliate marketing business itself is legitimate. However, you should also be aware of whether the product you are promoting is legal. From adult websites to soft drugs, there are many products and services that should be avoided by affiliate marketers who care about their reputation.

To ensure your affiliate marketing safety, strictly adhere to the tips below:

• Only work with trustworthy affiliate programs promoting products with no doubts regarding their legality.
• Try the products yourself to make sure they are of high quality.
• Carefully study the terms and conditions of cooperation with the affiliate program of your choice and do not deviate from them even one step.
• Monitor the latest trends in your industry to be aware of any legislative changes and adapt your marketing campaigns.

  Thus, for your long-term success, you should focus only on legal affiliate programs and products.

  Promotion of Counterfeit and Substandard Products

  Another way of making easy money that will lead you to serious problems is promoting fake products or goods with properties and characteristics that do not correspond to the stated ones. Therefore, before promoting offers from affiliate programs, check the reliability of the products, carefully study the reviews of real customers and make sure that the information provided about the product does not contradict scientific facts. By deciding to promote fraudulent and fake products or services, you risk quickly saying goodbye to your career as an affiliate marketer with no chance of getting back into the business.

  Scams Targeting Affiliate Managers

  As an affiliate marketer, you always bear some risk of getting scammed as in the examples above. However, there are often cases where the affiliate manager is the victim. Typically, affiliate managers can get hurt by dealing with dishonest affiliates who promote offers by fraudulent methods. Below, you will find 6 internet marketing scams that affiliate programs suffer from.

  Unfair Traffic Schemes and Fake Clicks

  To minimise the chances of falling victim to rogue affiliates, affiliate programs set requirements for affiliates as well as traffic sources and marketing tools used. From click farms and botnets to malware that clicks on adverts on users’ devices unaware, there are many ways to scam clicks and traffic today. To prevent troubles, affiliate managers should verify traffic sources, track IP addresses, carefully study the behavioural traits of the target audience and compare conversion rates.

  Lead Scams

  Poor quality leads or scamming potential customers is another major challenge for affiliate managers. From reselling low-quality leads to using fake accounts to redirect traffic, some affiliates go to various tricks for quick profits. That’s why affiliate programs set clear criteria for leads, regularly check the quality of potential customers using various tools, and strive to keep in constant communication with affiliates to always be aware of possible issues.

  Statistical Data and Payment Frauds

  Under the affiliate marketing model, affiliates receive a commission in the form of a portion of the advertiser’s profits. This makes them very incentivised to get their referred customers to take targeted actions, such as purchasing the promoted products. Some affiliates – in an effort to get the highest profit – use fake or stolen payment tools and manipulate conversion data. To protect themselves, affiliate programs only accept secure payment methods, monitor transactions and return rates to identify abnormally high numbers of dissatisfied customers, and check billing and shipping information to make sure addresses match.

  URL Hijacking

  As an affiliate manager, you want your affiliates to bring maximum value to your company. However, some affiliates may grab domains very similar to the promoted brand to maximise traffic and conversions. As a result, such affiliates earn high commissions without expanding the company’s user base or generating revenue. To prevent such fraudulent actions, you should carefully analyse domain names and traffic, check possible typos and be constantly in touch with affiliates.

  Cookie Stuffing

  Being illegal, this scheme is a type of fraud where dishonest affiliates manipulate users’ cookies to inflate leads and sales. It works as follows:

  • The affiliate runs malware capable of secretly tampering with users’ cookies.
  • When visiting a website, the malware performs cookie substitution associated with affiliate links.
  • When purchasing on an advertiser’s site, the target action is attributed to the fraudulent affiliate.

  In order not to pay commissions to affiliates who do not make a real contribution to attracting customers, managers should monitor the actions of affiliates, prohibit the use of fake cookies and employ advanced tools to detect abnormal user behaviour.

  Site Cloning and Google Ad Hijacking

  Some affiliates use more advanced fraudulent schemes involving spoofing an advertiser’s website to place affiliate links to manipulate traffic and earn larger commissions. In addition, using malware and social engineering techniques, fraudulent affiliates can intercept traffic from your brand’s paid ad impressions to sell fake products. The latter type of fraud can cause irreparable damage to the affiliate program, so managers should monitor cases of unauthorised use of brand resources as well as paid ads in Google Ads for keywords relevant to the promoted product.

  Affter Affiliates

  If you are looking for a reliable and trustworthy affiliate program, Affter Affiliates could be a great choice for you. Working only with highly high-performing affiliates using honest marketing techniques, it provides exclusive gambling and betting offers in 60+ GEOs worldwide. With well-designed and transparent terms of cooperation, vast experience in iGaming, a lot of advanced marketing tools and creatives and experienced managers always in touch with affiliates, the iGaming affiliates Affter program is a great option for those who want to earn good commissions in a secure environment where there is no room for affiliate marketing fraud.

  Affter affiliate program co-operates with both major iGaming brands with an impressive track record, as well as young and promising operators of online casinos and sportsbooks having all chances to break into the leaders soon. So, by joining the betting affiliate program Affter, you will be able to test several exclusive offers including Nomad Games casino and Sultan Casino, fast-growing iGaming platforms with quality products including online slots, live dealer games, table casino games and sports betting. By applying exceptionally honest marketing techniques, you will be able to promote these and many other iGaming offers to generate solid profits.

  Bottom Line

  Affiliate marketing is evolving from year to year, and there are more and more creative people inventing new marketing techniques to generate passive income. However, there are also more and more new fraud schemes that affect not only affiliates and affiliate programs but also advertisers, brands and consumers. Taking various forms, these scams involve manipulations of cookies, traffic, leads and financial transactions. Fortunately, there are effective fraud detection tools in place to make the industry greener and safer, thus ensuring its continued growth.