Q: I have no fraud monitoring — where do I even start?

Q: I have no fraud monitoring — where do I even start?

The mistake is waiting for a fraud "solution" before doing anything, so you do nothing. You don't need an enterprise tool on day one — you need a baseline so anomalies stand out.

Start simple:

— Establish normal ranges per partner: conversion rate, refund rate, order size, geo mix. Fraud shows up as a partner far outside the pack.

— Flag spikes: a sudden 10x in conversions, a flood of orders from one IP range, or refund rates that dwarf everyone else.

— Hold first payouts for new partners through a lock window so you can review before money leaves.

— Keep a simple block list and actually check new applicants against it.

Caveat: don't over-rotate into paranoia and reverse legit commissions on thin evidence. False positives cost you good partners. Investigate, ask, then act — and only automate blocking once your baseline is solid.

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