Everything was going great.
Sales up. Conversions climbing. The boss was happy. You even high-fived the marketing team for that “brilliant” affiliate program.

And then… the chargebacks started.
First a trickle, then a flood. Suddenly you’re throwing money at chargeback mitigation companies, paying for pricey alerts, and holding your breath hoping you don’t cross Visa’s or Mastercard’s thresholds.

We’ve seen this movie before. Spoiler alert: the villain is almost always the same.

The Plot Twist You Didn’t See Coming

Nine times out of ten, the surge in fraud chargebacks is tied to your affiliate program — either that brand-new one you just launched, or the dusty old one that’s been quietly leaking fraud for months (or years).

Here’s how it plays out:

1. Fraudsters sign up as “affiliates” — no real vetting required.
2. They process stolen credit cards through your site to generate “sales.”
3. They collect their sweet 10% commission before the chargebacks hit.
4. You’re left holding the bag (and the fines).

With a brand-new program, fraudsters are attracted to the lack of history, loose controls, and “fast growth” vibe. With an older program, they exploit the fact no one’s really been auditing affiliate activity closely — they know they can hide in plain sight.

At first, it’s exciting. You see a spike in affiliate sign-ups and sales, and you think, “Our social media strategy is crushing it.” Fast-forward 60–90 days, and your acquirer is on the phone asking what in the PCI-DSS is going on.

Why You Didn’t Catch It

Most merchants have fraud screening for transactions.
Almost none have fraud screening for affiliates.

That means you’re protecting your checkout page but leaving the front door to your marketing program wide open. Fraudsters love low-friction entry points — and an affiliate signup form with no monitoring is basically an “All you can eat” buffet.

Stop Buying Band-Aids

Chargeback mitigation services and alert tools have their place, but they’re a short-term painkiller, not a cure.

The real solution?

• Track the data. Measure sales-to-affiliate-to-chargeback ratios. Spot the patterns before they become fires.
• Vet your affiliates. KYC isn’t just for banks. Make it harder to join than just filling out a form.
• Add affiliate fraud screening. There’s tech for this — use it.
• Tighten your commission payouts. Delay payouts long enough for potential chargebacks to surface.
• Leverage your data. Technology is your friend! Dig into the details — maybe it’s a rogue user-agent, maybe the IPs are hiding behind VPNs, maybe your “affiliates” all have the same device fingerprint. The patterns are there if you look.

Fraudsters aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel — they’re looking for the lowest hanging fruit. Your job is to make your tree just tall enough that they move on to someone else’s orchard.

Need Help Building Your Defense Without Killing Sales?

Putting together an airtight fraud reduction strategy that stops the bad actors without scaring off legitimate customers is a balancing act. We’ve written the playbook — and we’re more than happy to share it. If your affiliate program has turned into a chargeback nightmare, let’s fix it before your acquirer puts you in the penalty box.