Buckets
| Bucket | What it groups | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| On block / suspect list | The referrer’s IP, cookie, or email is on a manual block / suspect list. | High |
| Looks like the same person | Identity overlap between referrer and referee: same IP, cookie, name, surname, postcode, or similar enough to look the same. | Medium |
| Red-flag email | Email looks disposable, the referrer and referee emails are unusual or near-synonyms. | Medium |
| Suspicious timing | The referee acted suspiciously fast after the share, or registered just before referring. | Medium |
| Unusual purchase value | The referred purchase is unusually low or unusually high (5×, 10×, 20× average). | Low |
| Hit referral velocity limit | A volume cap fired: too many referrals / referees in 24h, month, or year, or value caps hit. | Low |
Signal catalogue
The exact set of signals the platform can fire today. Each signal maps to one bucket:On block / suspect list
| Signal | What it means |
|---|---|
| IP address on suspicious list | The referrer’s IP address is on the suspect list. |
| Cookie or device belongs to suspected gamer | The referrer’s cookie ID is on the suspect list. |
| User marked as suspected of gaming | The referrer’s email is on the suspect list. |
Looks like the same person
| Signal | What it means |
|---|---|
| Both use same IP address | Referrer and referee used the same IP address. |
| Both have same cookie or browser identifier | Referrer and referee share a cookie. |
| Both use same name | Identical first name. |
| Both use same surname | Identical surname. |
| Both use similar or identical postcodes | Identical postcode. |
| Both have similar full names | Names are similar (Levenshtein / phonetic). |
| Both have similar first names | First names are similar. |
| Both have similar surnames | Surnames are similar. |
| Referee could be same person as another referee | Referee record is suspiciously similar to another referee under the same referrer. |
Red-flag email
| Signal | What it means |
|---|---|
| Email from a throwaway service | Email domain is on a disposable / temporary email list. |
| Referrer and referee have similar emails | Emails are close enough to look like the same person. |
| Referrer and referee use synonym email addresses | Emails are functionally synonymous (e.g. foo+1@gmail.com vs foo@gmail.com). |
| Both email addresses look unusual | Both look unusual (low-trust domains, odd patterns). |
| One of the email addresses looks unusual | At least one of the two looks unusual. |
Suspicious timing
| Signal | What it means |
|---|---|
| Purchase within 10 minutes of referrer signup | Referee acted within ten minutes of the share. |
| Purchase within 1 hour of referrer signup | Referee acted within an hour. |
| Purchase within 24 hours of referrer signup | Referee acted within 24 hours. |
| Registration within 10 minutes of referrer signup | Referrer registered within ten minutes of making the share. |
| Registration within 1 hour of referrer signup | Referrer registered within an hour. |
Unusual purchase value
| Signal | What it means |
|---|---|
| Purchase value below average threshold | Purchase value is unusually low relative to your average. |
| Purchase value 5x above average | Purchase value is 5× your average. |
| Purchase value 10x above average | 10× your average. |
| Purchase value 20x above average | 20× your average. |
Verdict thresholds
The verdict shown in the Assessment cell is a function of the fraud score and which buckets fired:| Verdict | Triggers |
|---|---|
| Likely fraud | Any “On block / suspect list” signal fired, OR fraud score ≥ 67. |
| Possible fraud | A medium-severity bucket fired (Looks like the same person, Red-flag email, Suspicious timing), OR fraud score ≥ 34. |
| Worth checking | A score exists, but no severe buckets fired, and the score is below 34. |
| Manual review | The referral was held by an approval rule without any fraud-score component. |
See also
- Fraud Review. The queue where signals show up.
- Approval rules reference. The other half of why a referral lands in the queue.