Sprusify

Fraud & Disputes

This page outlines common fraud patterns, recommended prevention rules, and a structured dispute-handling workflow for merchants.

Common fraud indicators

  • High refund rates tied to a single affiliate.
  • Excessive clicks from the same IP or a narrow range of user-agents.
  • Rapid series of test orders and reversed transactions.

Prevention recommendations

  • IP throttling: limit crediting multiple clicks from the same IP within a short window.
  • Refund-threshold flags: mark affiliates with refund rates above a configured threshold for review.
  • Manual hold: automatically place holds on payouts for flagged affiliates until investigation completes.

Dispute workflow

  • File: affiliate or merchant opens a dispute ticket with evidence (order ids, click timestamps).
  • Investigate: merchant reviews click logs, coupon usage, and fulfillment/refund history.
  • Resolve: approve, reject, or partially adjust the credit and record the decision and rationale.

Communication

  • Notify both merchant admins and the affiliate of status changes using templated emails.
  • Preserve a public-facing explanation for the affiliate and internal notes for auditors.

Developer notes

  • Keep an immutable audit trail of clicks, conversions, disputes, and resolution actions.
  • Provide tooling to bulk-flag suspicious conversions for an investigator to review.

A combination of automated heuristics and clear manual workflows helps reduce false positives while protecting merchants. Investigating a suspicious affiliate

  1. Review click and conversion logs for timestamps and source IPs.
  2. Check payout accounts for duplication.
  3. Temporarily suspend the affiliate while you investigate.

Dispute workflow

  • When a merchant marks a transaction as disputed, Sprusify creates a dispute record and notifies the affiliate.
  • If a reversal is necessary, issue a negative adjustment and attach an explanation for audit trails.

Prevention tips

  • Use rate limits for coupon creation and automated heuristics to flag abnormal patterns.
  • Keep a manual review queue for high-value affiliates and large payouts.