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affiliate fraud

Affiliate Fraud in MENA: How to Protect Your Brand from Lead Generation Fraud

Ad Fraud, Blog, MENA /

4,000 Leads. 18 Real Buyers. That’s the Problem.  “More leads = more business” is one of the most expensive myths in affiliate marketing, especially in the MENA region.  Affiliate campaigns promise scale, speed, and volume. Dashboards light up. Weekly reports look impressive. But when those leads hit your CRM, the reality is far less glamorous: duplicates, unreachable contacts, irrelevant users, and leads generated purely to meet affiliate targets, not to convert.  Karim Bekka, Business Director at Assembly Global, shared a perfect example of how this gap plays out in the real world. A real estate brand demanded 4,000 leads every week. What they actually got? Just 18 genuinely qualified prospects. The rest clogged CRMs, wasted sales hours, and quietly eroded trust between marketing and revenue teams.  This isn’t an isolated incident. As affiliate ecosystems in MENA scale, fraud and low-intent traffic scale with them. Incentivized sign-ups, lead recycling, form-filling bots, and publisher shortcuts are becoming more sophisticated—while many marketers are still optimizing for volume alone.  The cost? Budgets spent on numbers that look good on reports but contribute nothing to pipeline or revenue.  In this blog, we unpack the real risks behind affiliate lead generation fraud in the MENA region—and the must-have safeguards brands need to move from a volume-first mindset to a quality-led affiliate strategy that delivers leads your sales team actually wants to call.  How Fake Leads and Cheap Lead Offers Increase the Risk of Affiliate Fraud in MENA Cheap leads are one of the biggest traps in affiliate marketing. Especially in competitive industries like real estate, fintech, education, insurance, etc., the promise of getting ‘leads in 3 dollars’ is the most common red flagof lead generation fraud by affiliates. Such claims always indicate low-intent traffic. Here’s how they do it:  Fake lead submissions Affiliates recycle the same data, use automated bots, scripts, or employ click farms to produce volume.  Duplicate leads Fraudsters submit the same lead multiple times using slight variations like different email formats, altered spelling, or the same user across multiple affiliate IDs.  Click hijacking Affiliates steal last click attribution right before a real user completes an action, hijacking users that were actually driven by your paid, organic, or social campaigns.  Event spoofing Fraudsters fake user actions like pageviews or form submissions, tricking marketers into believing signals that distort conversions and make campaigns look falsely successful.  Bulk low-intent traffic Affiliates buy cheap, irrelevant traffic just to hit lead targets. These users have no interest in your brand, submit low-quality forms, and never convert into real customers.  Coupon fraud Fraudsters may offer small rewards, cashbacks, coupons, or points to users for filling out forms to earn undeserved payouts.  Moreover, brands unintentionally worsen this problem by using weak internal setups like:  Using outdated SDKs unknowingly  Leaving MMP fraud controls under configured  Missing integrations between CRM, MMP, and affiliate tracking data  The result? Unqualified, fake leads enter the dashboards, leading to wasted spend, efforts, misleading optimizations, and ineffective campaign efficiency.   Why “Guaranteed ROI” Claims by Affiliates are Misleading in Lead Generation Campaigns The idea of ‘guaranteed ROI’ also seems promising, but in affiliate marketing, it’s completely misleading. As Karim Bekka mentions, affiliates can guarantee actions (clicks, impressions, form submissions, leads, installs), but they cannot guarantee outcomes (qualified appointments, conversions, or revenue). No affiliate partner controls user intent, brand trust, market maturity, or competitive context.   Yet marketers in MENA frequently fall for these fake promises of guaranteed sales or predictable acquisition costs across every campaign. These are especially problematic for newer or low-traffic brands. Without adequate awareness and consideration built through mid-funnel channels, affiliates have nothing to work with. They may resort to aggressive discounting, incentivized traffic, or low-quality sources to meet guaranteed numbers of leads, further diluting brand value, and corrupting attribution data.  Therefore, Bekka recommends brands to follow a staged funnel approach – invest first in awareness and consideration, then bring affiliates in at the lower funnel once there is brand demand and baseline volume.  This approach ensures affiliates operate on top of real intent signals rather than generating irrelevant volume. By setting realistic expectations and aligning affiliate activity with brand maturity, marketers avoid costly inefficiencies and inflated performance metrics.  Check out the full episode here How Brands Can Build a Fraud-Resilient Affiliate Lead Generation Ecosystem A sustainable affiliate strategy requires a balance of rigorous validation, selective partnerships, and a strong technology backbone. This approach blends operational discipline with the right layers of verification to create an affiliate marketing ecosystem built for quality, not lead generation fraud or inflated metrics. Here’s how it works:  Lead scoring as a quality filter Lead scoring ensures that every submission is evaluated for completeness, behavioral relevance, intent, and device integrity. A simple (high, moderate, low) scoring system helps teams instantly separate high-value leads from noise. It allows marketing teams to optimize budgets, prioritize leads for sales, and maintain consistent quality benchmarks.   Advanced ad fraud detection solution: Tracking, detection & human review Brands must leverage a combination of real-time tracking, multi-layer fraud detection, and manual analysis to run high-performing affiliate marketing campaigns. Key layers include:  Visit-intent scoring to evaluate the quality of each visitor before they become a lead  AI-based detection to identify unusual behavioral patterns  Human-led investigations for nuanced or emerging fraud behavior  Lead validation integrated directly into CRM to automate prioritization  The ad fraud detection tool should track users across every step – from clicks to visits to leads and finally to sales, ensuring that only legitimate leads are forwarded to sales, lowering churn in CRM and protecting revenue.  Build selective, vertical-specific affiliate networks Instead of onboarding dozens of broad-reach affiliates, brands should curate partners based on vertical expertise and verification ability.  For real estate, this means affiliates with call centers or pre-qualification teams who verify user details before submission. For B2B, it means niche content partners or appointment-setting specialists that influence mid-to-bottom funnel outcomes, not just lead volume.  Real-time blocking Fraud prevention isn’t only retrospective; it must be real-time. Brands should implement:  IP & placement blacklisting to stop

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brand protection

Why Your Brand Needs An OSINT-powered Brand Protection Tool?

MENA, Blog, Brand Protection /

As brands shift further into digital channels, the threats are rising too. These risks reveal an alarming statistic with 3.6 million products getting seized for trademark violations in the MENA region.  Even the most prepared brands are surprised by how fast digital threats evolve. Traditional guardrails provide a foundational protection, but fraudsters are now using AI to fasten the process, which can be missed by manual checks. This doesn’t mean your brand is vulnerable; it simply means it’s the right time to upgrade your protection.  These challenges not just hit your revenue but also impacts your brand reputation, which you had taken years to build. Due to the strict regulatory guidelines for advertisers in the MENA region, it is imperative for brands to ensure that their communication and assets are protected and compliant. Relying solely on manual checks makes it difficult to spot these sophisticated tactics in time.  As the gap between traditional defenses and modern fraud methods continues to grow, only automated brand monitoring tools powered by Open-Source Intelligence can bring back the trust and confidence in digital advertising.  In this blog, you will discover –  The hidden digital threat undermining brand trust in MENA  The impact of ignoring digital brand protection in MENA  From manual checks to real-time visibility  Key takeaways for marketers  Conclusion  Types of Digital Threats Impacting Brands in the MENA region Your digital presence shapes how customers perceive you, locally and globally. However, various hidden threats lie beneath that slowly damage your digital growth. Let’s know them in detail –  Fake websites and brand impersonation Fraudsters create fake websites or illegitimate social media pages of brands. These fake pages often run ads or sell counterfeit products, diverting genuine traffic and damaging customer trust. In regions like the MENA where e-commerce is rapidly expanding at a rapid scale, such impersonation can easily confuse new buyers and erode years of brand credibility.  Trademark infringement There are various unverified resellers or influencers who use various brand assets like logos, product images, or taglines without approval. While it may appear as free promotion, this often leads to misinformation, incorrect pricing, or false discounts being circulated. This generates inconsistent brand messaging, directly impacting the brand’s reputation.  Coupon and affiliate link misuse Unapproved use of the brand’s coupons and affiliate links is one of the fastest growing challenges brands are facing. Fraudulent affiliates leak coupon codes or reuse tracking links across unauthorized platforms, leading to revenue diversion and false attribution. Brands end up paying commissions for organic or direct sales, while real affiliates lose credit for genuine conversions.  Read in detail about various kinds of affiliate fraud  Phishing scams Fraudsters run phishing scams by impersonating trusted brands or people and tricking victims into revealing sensitive information. They send convincing-looking emails, texts, or messages that use brand logos, urgent language, and fake links or attachments that lead to cloned websites or prompt credential entry.  Non-compliant ad content In the MENA region, as norms are tightening, adhering to regulatory guidelines has become a new mandate. If any violation like undisclosed sponsorships or exaggerated claim against regulatory standards, occurs, this can cause hefty penalties and loss of credibility for brands.   Counterfeit product listings Fraudsters list low-quality products in a brand’s name on various e-commerce platforms. This not only steals sales but also damages. Innocent customers who purchase goods assuming them as original ones suffer the most and the blame falls in the brand’s court.    How Brand Infringement Threats Impact Your Brand? Digital brand protection is not just a safeguard from brand infringement threats—it’s a business-critical pillar. Without it, brands may face several consequences:  Loss of consumer trust Due to fraudulent tactics like misleading ads, fake discounts, and counterfeit product listings, customers get tricked and their trust erodes, restricting them to make other purchases from the same brand. Revenue Diversion Fraudsters divert revenue that rightfully belongs to your brand through organic poaching. This not only affects sales but also drains your ad budgets with no real returns. Read in detail about organic poaching Eroded Brand Reputation Misuse or illegitimate use of the brand’s trademarks damages brand’s reputation. Such misuse dilutes your brand identity and creates mixed signals in the market. Compliance Risks In the MENA region, where compliance is the utmost priority for brands, non-compliant campaigns, misleading claims, or lack of mandatory disclosures (like affiliate tagging) expose your brand to regulatory scrutiny. This can lead to legal penalties, public backlash, and long-term reputation damage. Operational Strain Managing take-down requests, legal actions, customer complaints, and reputation recovery consumes significant internal bandwidth. This operational burden distracts teams from growth and innovation.  Why Brands Need an OSINT-powered Brand Protection Tool? Manual monitoring can’t match the scale or speed of modern fraud. That’s why it’s essential to adopt advanced solutions like mFilterIt’s digital brand protection solution, Sentinel+, which enables brands to stay in control without constant manual effort.  Omni Channel coverage Monitors unauthorized brand use or impersonation across websites, marketplaces, and social channels to instantly spot fake websites, impersonation pages, counterfeit listings, and unauthorized use of your brand assets. Early detection ensures quick action before these threats mislead consumers or damage your brand. Flagging non-compliant content Identifies misleading or non-compliant content that could result in reputational or regulatory damage. By scanning ads, listings, posts, and promotions, your brand can catch false claims, unapproved creatives, and missing disclosures. This prevents misinformation from spreading and protects your brand from legal exposure. Affiliate performance track Tracks affiliate and partner activity to ensure fair attribution and prevent fraudulent promotions through continuous monitoring of how affiliates are promoting your brand, making it easy to flag suspicious traffic patterns, coupon misuse, hidden redirects, or inflated conversions. This ensures affiliates are rewarded fairly and fraudsters are kept out. Real-time Visibility Safeguards brand equity by continuously monitoring where and how your brand is represented online, maintaining consistent and accurate brand messaging across channels. It ensures that every touchpoint—from product listings to influencer posts reflects your brand guidelines and strengthens your market presence. Enhancing customer trust Protects consumer

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Affiliate Fraud in MENA

How Affiliate Fraud Impacts White Friday Sales for MENA Brands & How to Combat

Blog, Ad Fraud, MENA /

White Friday (as known in the Middle East region) is one of the high-growth periods for brands as consumer intent peaks; competition intensifies, and digital storefronts battle for attention across marketplaces, apps, and social platforms. Users aren’t just browsing; they’re ready to act, which means every click, every install, and every new registration matters.  To capture this surge, brands often scale up their affiliate campaigns to reach as many new users as possible.   In 2024, over 25% of White Friday sales in the MENA region were attributed to affiliate platforms and stores, underscoring how crucial the affiliate marketing channel has become for driving app installs, user sign-ups, and purchases.  However, while this model promises measurable results, it also comes with greater risks.   While the advertisers race to capitalize this high sale season during White Friday with affiliate partnerships, some are ready to exploit it. Some affiliates resort to manipulative tactics that distort data, steal attribution credit for organic users, and drain budgets.   Therefore, it becomes time-critical for brands in the MENA region to validate their ad traffic coming from affiliate marketing, to ensure that every click, install, and interaction results in positive outcomes.   How Affiliate Fraud Spikes During White Friday Sales in MENA The sales skyrocket during White Friday and fraudulent affiliates use this as an opportunity to deploy fake traffic, device emulators, and various affiliate fraud techniques to mimic real users and claim payouts.  Industry data reveals global mobile app install fraud exposure surged 157% to reach $5.4 billion, with bots driving over 70% of this activity. In the MENA region alone, affiliate and install fraud exposure was estimated at $65 million in 2023, impacting categories like travel, finance, and shopping apps.  Here are some of the sophisticated forms of ad fraud techniques used by affiliates to manipulate campaign results:  1. Click Injection Fraudsters generate fake clicks seconds before a legitimate app install, hijacking attribution from genuine users.  2. Incent Fraud Where fraudulent affiliates run ads on incent walls to drive traffic and encourage them to take action against a reward. Usually, in this case, the traffic is genuine but low intent. They uninstall the app once they have claimed the reward, and the brand has to pay double to acquire new users.    3. Click Spamming It is when fraud affiliates generate a large number of fake clicks in the background of a mobile ad to manipulate attribution systems, steal credits for genuine user installs and falsely claim payouts.  4. Coupon Fraud Affiliates often misuse promo codes, run fake or unapproved offers under the legit brand name to inflate conversion numbers and earn payouts.  5. Device Farms Virtual devices simulate installs and in-app activity, creating the illusion of organic user growth.  6. SDK Spoofing SDK spoofing is another sophisticated method of ad fraud where fraudsters imitate legitimate app install signals by manipulating the SDK’s communication with attribution platforms. This tricks systems into recording fake installs, inflating metrics, and wasting ad spend.  These fraudulent signals blend effortlessly with legitimate traffic, making detection far more difficult.  The consequences are immediate and costly – affecting marketing ROI.   Brands end up paying for fake users instead of real customers, losing not just money, but also the data integrity needed for smarter campaign decisions. And during White Friday, the problem intensifies because the higher the spend, the deeper the loss.  Yet, much of MENA’s affiliate ecosystem still operates on trust-based relationships and loosely vetted publisher networks, leaving brands vulnerable to hidden fraud patterns that traditional ad fraud solutions fail to catch.  How Affiliate Fraud Impacts Business Growth During White Friday Sales When affiliate fraud goes undetected, it affects more than just numbers; it directly impacts your budget, performance, and long-term growth. Here’s how:  Wasted ad spend – You unknowingly end up paying for fake clicks, fake installs, or in-app actions that never come from real users.  Low user quality – Techniques like incent fraud bring in users who install the app but don’t stay or engage, leading to quick drop-offs and poor LTV.  False performance reports – Affiliate fraud makes campaigns look profitable on paper, even when they’re not delivering real results.  Wrong partner credit – Genuine affiliates lose recognition, while fraudulent ones get paid for work they didn’t do ethically. This also makes it difficult for marketers to figure out where to invest for real growth.  Compromised retargeting budgets – Advertisers end up running re-engagement campaigns for fake users by feeding wrong data to the algorithms, wasting budget on audiences that don’t exist.  Understand the real impact of ad fraud on MENA brands in detail here. Why Detection Using Attribution Platforms Isn’t Enough: The Need for Advanced App Traffic Validation Marketers still rely on attribution platforms and analytics tools to detect suspicious activity and affiliate fraud. However, they often ignore the fact that fraudsters have now become smarter and use multi-layered techniques to manipulate campaign data, fake results, and earn payouts.   Fraudsters now use automation, spoofed devices, and fabricated user signals to mimic legitimate user behaviour so closely that they pass through standard detection filters unnoticed.  So, what marketers need now is not another fraud alert or detection system; they need a proactive ad traffic validation solution. Because validation helps restore what detection alone cannot — trust.  Here’s how advanced ad traffic validation and affiliate fraud detection tools add real value to affiliate campaigns:  Validates every click, install, and post-install event to confirm they come from real users, ensuring the right partner receives credit.  Identifies fraudulent activity like click injection, click spamming, or SDK spoofing that often go undetected in attribution dashboards.  Helps remove misleading traffic signals from future campaigns, giving marketers a clear and reliable view of performance.  Helps advertisers optimize spend by directing budgets toward affiliates driving authentic, high-quality installs.  With validated insights, brands can make confident optimization decisions backed by trusted data.  Transparent, validated reporting builds accountability between brands, publishers, and partners.  To explore in detail why attribution tools alone can’t stop mobile ad fraud – read

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Digital Identity Theft in Banking

Fighting Digital Identity Theft in Banking: Lessons from Emirates NBD

MENA, Blog, Brand Protection /

Every day, customers trust banks with their most valuable asset: their digital identity. But what happens when that trust is targeted by fraudsters? In the MENA region, where the banking sector is booming at a 9.8% CAGR, digital impersonation and brand infringement are no longer rare—they’re a growing threat that can erode customer confidence and damage reputations overnight.  Fraudsters create fake accounts, clone websites, and impersonate financial institutions, triggering compliance risks, financial losses, and long-term trust deficits that are far costlier to repair than to prevent.  In this blog, you’ll discover:  The rising threat of brand impersonation in the MENA banking sector  Why traditional monitoring often fails against evolving infringement tactics  A step-by-step overview of mFilterIt’s OSINT-powered brand protection  Case Study: How Emirates NBD safeguarded their digital integrity  Why OSINT-driven brand protection is essential for banks to protect customers and reputation  Understanding the Rising Threat of Brand Infringement in the MENA Banking Industry Brand infringement in banking has seen a contagious evolution with sophisticated, omni-channel impersonation campaigns deceiving customers and damaging a bank’s credibility.  These digital threats take many forms:  Fake banking apps and websites that mimic legitimate platforms to harvest user credentials and financial data. Impersonated social media accounts posing as customer service channels to extract personal information or redirect users to malicious sites. Fraudulent job or loan offers leveraging a bank’s name and logo to collect sensitive documents and scam applicants. Deceptive investment or reward campaigns that promise high returns or bonuses while diverting funds to fraudulent accounts. Unauthorized use of brand visuals in phishing emails or SMS campaigns, misleading customers into sharing confidential details and using them further, breaching the right to privacy. Why Traditional Monitoring Alone Isn’t Enough to Safeguard Banks? Traditional monitoring can track and identify only surface level scams however, as fraudsters, with their tactics, present more severe methods, it becomes important for banks to upscale their defences. Here’s why traditional systems fall short:    1. Limited visibility across dark web, social, and app ecosystems Traditional monitoring practices are limited to only surface level identification whereas the fraudster tactics are going deeper into underground forums, dark web marketplaces, and cloned mobile apps where scams are arranged. The inability of banks to have an omni-channel visibility makes them more prone to sophisticated crimes.  2. Manual validation that delays response to fast-moving scams Manual intervention once played a crucial role in handling the infringement cases. However, with scams now evolving and spreading at an unprecedented speed, it can no longer be the primary line of defence. By the time the manual validation arrives, scams have spread across multiple platforms, creating non-compliance problems in a highly sensitive banking industry.  3. Lack of AI-driven threat correlation across different channels Fraudsters do not aim at targeting single channel at a point of time, they target multiple channels simultaneously including websites, social media platforms, mobile apps, and messaging services. Without AI-driven correlation, it is nearly impossible to detect attack at the initial stage, making it difficult to respond effectively or prevent further spread.  4. Traditional systems often miss subtle threats Fraudsters exploit language variations, misspellings, or regional slang, and use slight changes in logos, fonts, or layouts to mimic brands. These nuances can deceive customers and bypass manual or rule-based detection, causing reputational and financial harm. 5. No real-time intelligence for proactive action Still waiting for the reports? They will be drafted once the damage is done and this drawback of manual validation can cost you millions. Hence real-time intelligence is critical than ever, enabling brands to act proactively. Without it, businesses face delayed mitigation, leading to increased customer exposure and major financial losses. How mFilterit’s OSINT-Powered Protection Guards the Digital Banking Ecosystem? Overcoming the limitations of traditional monitoring, at mFilterIt, our brand protection solution – Sentinel+, ensures your intellectual property remains fully under your control, keeping fraudsters at bay. Powered by Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), Sentinel+ delivers proactive protection built on three core pillars.   Process to Identify Infringed Brand Assets: A Step-by-Step Overview 1. Identification Clients provide Sentinel+ with their official assets like logos, URLs, social media handles, YouTube channels, and instant messaging handles. Sentinel+ continuously scans these platforms to detect potential misuse or impersonation. 2. Classification Once potential infringements are detected, Sentinel+ categorizes and shares them with the client for review. The client then determines the status of each case, updating the system with entries for either the whitelist (safe) or blacklist (malicious). 3. Action URLs identified on social media, YouTube, or IM platforms are flagged for further action. Malicious or “suspicious” links are submitted for takedown or blacklisting, while legitimate or safe URLs are whitelisted and recorded in Sentinel+ for ongoing monitoring. Protecting Customer Trust: How Emirates NBD Leveraged OSINT to Stay Ahead of Brand Threats  As a data-first, digital-focused bank that proactively works to safeguard customer, Emirates NBD decided to partner with mFilterIt to strengthen its monitoring & protection framework.   Sentinel+ Intervention With an advanced OSINT-based brand protection solution, Sentinel+, notable impact was seen, and major misuses detected like –  51.14% of fake offers were detected.  27.16% were fake credit card offers.  18.76% were fake job promotions.  1.24% originated from sponsored ads.  1.23% were linked to fake social media handles.  0.47% were due to other types of misuse.  What did mFilterIt’s Advanced OSINT–Based Brand Protection Cover? Holistic Monitoring – Continuous, real-time scanning across websites, app stores, social media, messaging platforms, and marketplaces to detect potential threats wherever they emerge.  Multilingual Detection – Advanced coverage in English, Arabic, and regional dialects to identify even the most subtle attempts at brand misuse.  Visual Tracking – AI-driven recognition of unauthorized use of logos, colors, and brand identity to protect brand integrity.  Real-Time Alerts – Immediate notifications enabling banks to act proactively, preventing risks from reaching customers and safeguarding trust.  Why is it Important for Banks to Utilize OSINT and Maximize Customer Trust? Prevent Financial Losses – Proactively detecting scams, phishing, and impersonation helps avoid direct monetary damage.  Maintain Regulatory Compliance – Continuous monitoring of digital channels reduces the risk of breaches and be

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Mobile Ad Fraud

How a Leading MENA Ride-Hailing App Cut Mobile Ad Fraud & Boosted ROI

MENA, Blog, Mobile Ad Fraud /

Every performance marketer running a user acquisition campaign has the same goal – to increase the number of app installs and lower CPI. But often, the post-install metrics don’t match what campaign dashboards show. Despite high marketing spends, performance looks inflated and unpredictable. The numbers eventually stop making sense due to low engagement and poor retention. And this usually means one thing: you’re acquiring installs, but not real users. This gap between installs and engagement clearly indicates mobile ad fraud – deceptive tactics used to manipulate mobile advertising campaigns and post-install metrics. A threat that eats into budgets even before marketers notice. That is why, while chasing installs, it is also important for marketers to ensure those installs are not the work of bots, click farms, or devices mimicking real behaviour, but real active users. In this article, we will talk about mobile ad fraud, how it impacts user acquisition campaign performance, and how an app traffic validation solution solves the problem using a real-case example of one of the leading MENA region ride-hailing platforms. The Hidden Problem Behind ‘Successful’ Campaigns Mobile app fraud doesn’t always look suspicious. It hides behind glowing campaign reports and conversion metrics, until looked into carefully. Fraudsters use various hard-to-detect techniques to manipulate CAC, inflate ROI metrics, and drain advertising budgets. The problem becomes worse in affiliate-driven campaigns, where marketers rely on multiple partners and traffic sources, each claiming their share of conversions. Here are some of the common types of mobile ad fraud techniques you need to watch for: 1. Click Spamming Fraudsters send a large number of fake clicks hoping to get credit when a real user installs the app later. It inflates click numbers and hijacks attribution. 2. Click Injection This happens when malicious apps detect new installs and inject fake clicks just before the install completes, stealing credit from genuine sources. 3. Fake Installs or Bot Installs Automated bots or emulators install apps to simulate user growth, wasting spend and polluting engagement data. 4. SDK Spoofing Fraudsters manipulate app SDKs to generate fake in-app events, such as signups or purchases, without any real user activity. 5. Device Farms Groups of physical or virtual devices repeatedly install and uninstall apps to mimic new users, tricking campaigns into paying for fake conversions. Each of these tactics has a different method, but the result is always the same – invalid traffic, invalid app installs, wasted spend, and misleading data. So, if you notice installs rising in your campaigns but not matching the engagement metrics, you might be paying for bots, not buyers. Case in Point: How We Detected Mobile Ad Fraud for a MENA Region Ride Hailing App One of the leading ride-booking app platforms in MENA was aggressively scaling across ad networks and affiliate channels. Their goal was to acquire new users and expand its rider and driver base rapidly. While running campaigns, everything looked promising at first. Installs were growing fast, and campaigns were delivering with high conversions. But the post-install activity told a different story; many new users never completed their first ride. Here’s what they discovered during the app traffic audit: Over 60% of installs were invalid, driven largely by click spamming and fake devices. Fake in-app events, such as ride completions and referrals, were skewing engagement metrics. Rogue publishers were inflating performance numbers to claim payouts. Lack of visibility across diverse fraud types and evolving attack patterns. The result? Wasted marketing spend, misleading reports, declining ROI, and the problem spread across the full user journey. After recognizing the intensity of budget leak, the team decided it was time to clean the funnel from the top to bottom. Deploying App Traffic Validation: Cleaning the Funnel & Focusing on Real Users To rebuild visibility and trust, we helped the ride-hailing platform implement AI-driven traffic validation across the entire user acquisition funnel, from the first click to in-app events. Using our AI-ML-based advanced app traffic validation solution – Valid8, we helped them monitor traffic in real-time, right from the moment a user clicks on an ad, installs the app, to when they start booking rides or referring friends. With AI and behavioral intelligence, we helped them analyze device environments, traffic sources, and user behavior to flag anomalies and separate genuine users from fraudulent ones, such as automated ride completions or fake referrals. As a result, the marketing team could finally see which partners were driving genuine users, and within three months: Install fraud dropped by more than 20%, from 61.37% in March to 38.29% in May. Fake event fraud activity declined sharply after validation filters were applied, particularly post-April, following stricter validation measures for SDK manipulation and event spoofing. Budgets were reallocated toward verified, high-quality sources.   Therefore, the platform gained end-to-end visibility and control, across campaign management, faster partner optimization, and long-term user base quality enhancement. The Impact: Real Data, Real Users, Real Growth The deployment of mFilterIt’s app traffic validation and app fraud detection solution brought about significant improvements in both the quality of traffic and the overall campaign performance for the ride-hailing app. By validating every user at both the install and event stages, the platform was able to shift from a reactive to a proactive fraud prevention approach. Media spends became more efficient, with budgets redirected away from low-quality sources and toward high-performing channels. Moreover, reporting clarity improved, with daily fraud insights and publisher-wise diagnostics building stronger trust across internal marketing, analytics, and leadership teams. Validated insights also helped rebuild confidence across departments, marketing, analytics, and leadership. The brand was no longer just acquiring users; it was acquiring verified users who truly interacted with the app, leading to better retention, improved ROI, and stronger customer trust. Takeaways for App Marketers Every marketer aims for growth and numbers, but real growth depends on users. If MENA’s case study hits the relatable chord, here’s what you should remember: Don’t measure success by installs alone. Track the entire funnel from installs to events to engagement and retention to spot inconsistencies

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Affiliate & Incent Fraud In MENA: Are Your Marketing Dollars At Risk?

Blog, Ad Fraud Blog - Valid8, MENA /

Affiliate marketing in the MENA region is growing exponentially as a result of the region’s growing digital connectivity and e-commerce environment. As brands and advertisers realize the effectiveness of affiliate campaigns in driving ROI and engaging with digital-savvy consumers, they are investing more in it to reach wider audiences and increase app downloads. According to Cognitive Market Research, the global affiliate market size was estimated at USD 18,512.2 million, out of which the Middle East and Africa region held a significant share of around 2% of the global revenue, with a market size of USD 370.24 million in 2024. The region is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% from 2024 to 2031. But with this growth comes greater risk. As the affiliate ecosystem scales rapidly, so do opportunities for fraudsters to manipulate metrics and quietly drain your ad budgets. On the surface, your campaigns could be performing great, with installs pouring in, but when you dig deeper, user engagement is weak, uninstall rates are high, and your conversions don’t quite match the traffic volume. This could be a sign of incent fraud and other app install fraud activities, which affiliates often use to drive fraudulent traffic to their app campaigns. This discrepancy raises a critical question: Are you truly paying for performance, or are you being misled by fraudulent metrics? This article delves into the nuances of this issue, shedding light on regional vulnerabilities and strategies to safeguard your marketing investments in the MENA region. The Digital Boom in MENA: Opportunities and Risks As of 2023, the UAE’s smartphone penetration stood at over 96%, while Saudi Arabia saw nearly 92%, driven by younger demographics and high internet accessibility. This always-online audience has fueled explosive growth in e-commerce, fintech, travel, and entertainment apps, making mobile the primary touchpoint for brand-consumer interactions. MENA’s e-commerce market alone is projected to reach $50 billion by 2025, with countries like KSA and the UAE leading the charge with increasing trust in online payments, digital-first government initiatives, and a surge in mobile transactions. Amid this, more brands are shifting budgets to Cost-Per-Install (CPI) and Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) campaigns via affiliate partners, aggregators, and influencers. These models promise efficiency, scalability, and outcomes tied directly to results. This performance-based ecosystem has created the perfect conditions for fraud to thrive quietly in the background. The global mobile app installs fraud exposure increased 157% to reach $5.4 billion, with bots responsible for over 70% of fraud across all regions. In terms of impact, for the MENA region, the fraud exposure (estimated financial value of fraud) topped at $65 million in 2023. Travel companies experienced fraud rates of 71% on Android and 58% on iOS. Finance apps followed with 61% on Android and 64% on iOS. Shopping apps had 40% on iOS and 23% on Android. Much of the MENA affiliate ecosystem still operates on trust-based relationships, smaller publishers, and loosely vetted networks, leaving advertisers exposed to unique vulnerabilities that traditional ad fraud solutions often overlook. The growth is real. The opportunity is huge. But so is the risk, especially if marketers don’t have visibility into what’s actually happening behind the numbers. Common Tactics Used by Affiliates to Drive Incent Traffic and Fake Installs Incent Fraud Incentivized installs involve offering users rewards (e.g., in-app currency, discounts, or cashbacks) in exchange for downloading an app. Many fraudulent affiliates use excessive or undisclosed incentives to drive volume, resulting in users who install apps solely for the reward. These users often show minimal post-install engagement, low retention, and rarely convert to paying customers, affecting the overall performance of the campaigns. Click Spamming This technique involves fraudsters generating an excessive number of fake clicks through automated means in the hope of hijacking credit for organic installs, artificially inflating the volume of pre-install activity. When a real user eventually downloads the app, the attribution system mistakenly attributes the install to the fraudulent source. This results in skewed performance metrics, misallocated budgets, and undermines the value of authentic traffic. Regional Vulnerabilities: Why MENA Marketers Are at Risk? Several factors contribute to the heightened risk of ad fraud in the MENA region: Reliance on Aggregators: Many marketers depend on affiliate aggregators or smaller networks with limited transparency, increasing exposure to fraudulent activities. Localization Gaps: Traditional app fraud detection tools may not be fully adapted to regional languages and user behaviors, allowing certain fraud patterns to go undetected. Trust-Based Partnerships: Business relationships often rely on trust without rigorous validation processes, making it easier for fraudsters to infiltrate. Lack of Benchmarks: The absence of region-specific benchmarks hampers the ability to identify anomalies and assess campaign performance effectively. How to Protect Your Affiliate and Mobile Budgets with mFilterIt Protecting your budgets requires more than surface-level metrics, it demands full-funnel visibility and real-time validation. Here’s how mFilterIt helps advertisers stay one step ahead: Full-Funnel Fraud Detection Our solution – Valid8 monitors every stage of the user journey, from the first click to post-install events. This end-to-end visibility ensures you can identify where fraud is happening, whether it’s click spamming at the top of the funnel or fake engagements after installation. Click Integrity The pre-attribution check – click integrity helps validate the authenticity of clicks by analyzing their source, timestamp, and behavior before they reach MMPs. This helps weed out illegitimate traffic from bots, click farms, and poorly vetted affiliates, ensuring you only pay for genuine user interest. Proactive Traffic Validation Instead of relying on post-campaign audits, we flag and filter invalid installs in time before attribution. This proactive approach prevents wasted ad spend and keeps your campaign data clean from the start. Case in Point: How We Helped a Leading BFSI Player in MENA Save $0.34M with mFilterIt A major Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) brand operating in the Middle East region was running performance campaigns to acquire new customers. At first glance, the install numbers appeared to be great. However, upon closer inspection, the post-install engagement and customer retention were alarmingly low – prompting an audit into

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programmatic ad fraud

Programmatic Ad Risks & Brand Safety Solutions for MENA Advertiser

Blog, Ad Fraud Blog - Valid8, MENA /

Programmatic advertising is seeing a massive growth in the Middle East and Africa region. According to the statistics, the demand of programmatic advertising market will see a splendid growth of 7.89% between the period of 2022-2027.   This increasing demand generates from the region’s growing adoption of digital advertising. Where the demand increases, the challenges emerge as well. As more brands invest in programmatic channels, the challenges increase too. Despite its advanced and automated system of ad delivery, these channels are prone to some fundamental challenges like programmatic ad fraud, brand safety and transparency gaps.   In this blog, we will break down the challenges in programmatic advertising, its impact on advertiser’s campaigns and how marketers can solve it and make their programmatic campaigns effective and brand safe.   An Overview of Challenges in Programmatic Ads in MENA region   Advertisers are often drawn to this due to its promise of scalability, automation and precision targeting. However, these platforms pose several structural and operational challenges that limit the growth for the advertisers and give a picture they didn’t expect. Here are a few key challenges in programmatic that the advertisers in MENA region face today:   – Lack of Transparency  What is not visible cannot be trusted.   Yet, advertisers have to spend trusting the platforms, based on metrics shared, without knowing where their ads are showing up. One of the most persistent issues in programmatic advertising is the limited visibility into where budgets are being spent, who is watching their ads, where their ads are placed.   The supply chain often involves multiple intermediaries — DSPs, SSPs, trading desks, and more — each adding layers of complexity. As a result, advertisers frequently struggle to track where their ads are running, how much is being spent at each step, and whether the impressions served are real or just bot driven.  – Rising Threat of Programmatic Ad Fraud  MENA’s digital ecosystem, while growing, remains vulnerable to various forms of programmatic ad fraud — from invalid traffic (IVT) and fake clicks to domain spoofing and impression laundering. Without robust ad fraud detection and prevention measures, a significant portion of programmatic budgets risks being wasted on non-human or low-quality traffic, diminishing campaign performance and brand trust.  – Limited Access to Quality Inventory  Access to high-quality, premium inventory is still a challenge across many MENA markets. While larger markets like the UAE and Saudi Arabia offer better options, advertisers targeting wider regional audiences often end up buying lower-tier inventory. This affects not just campaign reach but also engagement, conversion rates, and brand perception. And adding to this is the problem of ads appearing beside any unsafe content. This leads to a brand reputation issue for advertisers.  – Measurement and Attribution Gaps   Many advertisers in the region continue to rely on basic performance metrics like clicks and impressions. However, these surface-level KPIs do not paint a full picture of campaign effectiveness. Advanced measurement models like multi-touch attribution (MTA) are still not widely adopted, making it difficult to connect programmatic spend to actual business outcomes like customer acquisition and revenue growth.  – Fragmented Technology Infrastructure  The level of programmatic maturity varies significantly across different MENA countries. What works in the UAE or Saudi Arabia might not scale effectively in Egypt, Kuwait, or Morocco due to differences in publisher ecosystems, audience behavior, and available technology. This fragmentation complicates regional planning and demands a more localized, agile approach to media buying.  – Dependency on Platform-Driven Metrics   Programmatic advertising demands specialized expertise across campaign setup, optimization, fraud detection, and analytics. In the MENA region, there is still a noticeable gap in skilled programmatic talent, leading brands to depend heavily on platform-driven metrics. This dependency often results in less control, reduced transparency, and missed opportunities for optimization.  Emerging Demand of Programmatic Video Advertising in MENA   In the last few years, video content has also become a major medium to drive engagement. Therefore, programmatic video advertising is also seeing a rise in the MENA region. However, this medium also experiences challenges like Frequency Capping Breach, where ads are shown more than the times it is required leading to overexposure and causing ad fatigue for viewers.    How to Solve Programmatic Advertising Challenges — and Where mFilterIt Supports  As programmatic ads expand across the MENA region, brands need more than just automation — they need clarity, credibility, and control. Here’s what an effective programmatic approach looks like — and how mFilterIt supports advertisers along the journey: – Gaining True Transparency into Ad Traffic and Placements  Without knowing where ads appear and who is engaging with them, optimization becomes guesswork. Valid8, our ad fraud detection solution integrates directly with Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) and other sources to provide advertisers with independent visibility into traffic sources, ad placements, and ad inventory quality across the programmatic ecosystem. With this transparency, brands can make smarter, evidence-based decisions for campaign planning and media buying.  – Validating Traffic and Detecting Fraud Early  MENA’s growing digital market also faces complex threats like invalid traffic (IVT) and domain spoofing. Our ad traffic validation solution applies behavioral analysis, heuristic checks, deterministic models, and frequency validation to verify ad interactions. This enables advertisers to distinguish real users from bots and invalid sources — safeguarding campaign data and ensuring budgets reach intended audiences.  For advertisers spending on programmatic video advertising can curb the impact of frequency capping breach by leveraging the frequency cap monitoring solution. This enables advertisers to keep track of how many times their ads are shown to the users, and if they exceed the frequency cap limit. Proactive monitoring reduces the chances of overexposure of ads to the users and helps the advertisers to genuinely reach their targeted audience.    – Identifying Safer and Higher-Quality Inventory  Ad misplacement can quickly damage brand trust. Valid8 flags suspicious, inappropriate, and Made-for-Advertising (MFA) sites, providing advertisers with placement-level insights. Brands can then proactively blacklist unsafe environments and prioritize premium, brand-safe inventory for better engagement and reputation management. – Enabling Better Campaign Optimization By delivering deep, independent insights — such

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