Affiliate fraud glossary: 5 terms that explain where attribution goes wrong

Cookie stuffing means dropping an affiliate cookie without a genuine referral, often through hidden pages or forced redirects. Click injection is similar in outcome: a fake or strategically timed click claims credit just before a legitimate conversion, especially in mobile flows.

SDK spoofing fakes app events such as installs, opens, or purchases by imitating the data sent by a real app. A bot farm is a controlled group of devices, browsers, or accounts used to generate repetitive clicks, visits, installs, or leads that look human at first glance.

Lead flipping happens when a submitted lead is recycled, sold, or redirected without permission, making one user appear to be several conversions. Warning signs include duplicate contact details, identical timing patterns, impossible conversion speed, and leads that fail basic verification.

For review, compare click-to-conversion time, IP and device reuse, sub-ID performance, landing-page behavior, and post-conversion quality. One weak signal proves little; several signals repeating across a publisher or placement deserve investigation.

Define the term before judging the partner: accurate labels make audits faster and help honest affiliates fix tracking problems without being treated like fraudsters.