To ALL affiliates - WARNING: Several affiliate account hacked

[AE-Martyn]

OK first off we need to stay calm and not start any conspiracy theories about how this has come about.

First off, let me just squash the theory about the 'Incapsula hack' (which never happened). This is an error on our part as I was given the incorrect IP from one of our techies. There was only one IP used which tracks back to Viet Nam on the date the payment details changed, 113.172.118.123.

So may bad on that one.

Secondly, we've got the funds back so in this case the scammer got away with NOTHING! I've messaged the affiliate to confirm his payment details before I make the payment. Waiting for confirmation on that one. I want to be sure.

What I must say, on behalf of AffiliateEdge is to always make sure your login details are secure. We do have methods in place to help protect you, from email notification changes to stronger settings such as IP restrictions. I must stress that these restrictions should be used to help prevent circumstances such as these from occurring.

We are putting further steps in place to so this doesn't happen again or at least do our best to prevent it for those affiliate don't use the IP restrictions. Even if it leads to a delay in your payment by a day or so, I am sure the extra security that we're putting in place will be appreciated and understood. This is more for any late/early payment changes that would/could cause a delay.

IP RESTRICTIONS - HOW TO:
If you want to set up the IP restrictions on your account, it's very simple but you need to make sure that you have a static IP address. You ISP can help you with that if you don't already know.

Here's how to do it, but make sure you have your IP to hand first.

Step 1. Login to your account.
Step 2. Go to 'Settings > Account Settings' which can be found in the top blue navigation bar, in the drop down.
Step 3. Towards the bottom of the 'Your Details' section, you'll see the heading 'Restrict account access by IP Address (optional)'. All you need to do is pop in your IP address in this section and click update. You're able to provide up to 4 different IP's, just in case you work from different places or have staff in other parts of town/the world.

If you every have a problem with this just give us a shout and we'll sort you out.

Both myself and Stephen are here to help so make sure you use us, don't abuse us.

[-Shay-]

Well done, MartYn. I recall hearing of someone/a group of someones hijacking payments from affiliate accounts in the past. Wonder if they're related.

Quick search --- found this thread and this one.

[Roulette Zeitung]

Germany: If a bank customer lost his money because a forged transfer order was executed, then the bank is liable for damage.

In a serious business: As long as a webmaster don't give his login details to any other person, as long the program is liable for damage.

There are a lot of reasons for that. One example? It's a fact, that an affiliate manager from at least one program have forwarded money to "phantom" accounts, also players. I am sure, he have had not the copyright on that crime.

Leopold

[universal4]

Glad to hear you traced the issue and that Incapsula was not compromised.

I have noticed an increase in hacking attempts from Vietnam also, but they are on a list with a few other countries.

Rick
Universal4

[Renee]

Glad to hear you traced the issue and that Incapsula was not compromised.

I have noticed an increase in hacking attempts from Vietnam also, but they are on a list with a few other countries.

Rick
Universal4

It always seems to come from Vietnam. The few times that happened at our program (which caused us to put the rules in place that we have now) it always came from vietnam. It wouldn't surprise me if it's the same person every time.

Martyn - your IP restriction is a great idea. I'm going to see if we can add something similar.

Cheers

[AE-Martyn]

It is a good idea and unfortunately little used. However it is a way of securing your account. The limitation comes if you travel or work from a different location/IP then you can't access your account without me or Stephen.

[Azureus]

Thanks for the info, I recommend using a different password AND a different USERNAME for each program where you are signed up.

I think you won't be able to trace the guy (or get money back) unless Webmoney or Skrill are really willing to help you. Webmoney is a dubious Russian system and Skrill's support is terrible so I would be really surprised if they helped you in some way. If he was using proxy, there's not much you can do.

The most important thing here is the approach of the affiliate program. Even though I despise them for everything else, Europartners has verification of every change of a payment method - you have to email them a signed form of the change (!) if I remember correctly which I think prevents this. Bet365, AffiliateLounge and others also confirm the changes manually. On the other hand, some programs do not seem to care about this at all and you can change the payment details with a single click when you are logged in.

Thank god I never had any of my affiliate accounts hacked. But one time someone hacked my advertising account in a PPC network (I don't want to mention which one) and it was ridiculous. This guy deleted all my campaigns and added a single campaign was promoting some malware ("Your browser needs an update"). He was spending $1000+ daily on it and the network didn't seem to care. After about two weeks I found out and notified the network. I never got a reply from them but the guy left me $2600 unused credit on advertising so it ended quite well at least for me.

[AE-Martyn]

Hi all, please check this out and contribute where you can.... https://www.gpwa.org/forum/affiliate...tml#post766625

[dfiocch]

*UPDATE*

All Webmoney (13!) and Skrill (22!) accounts of this scumbag are now locked but all empty.
He managed to do a lot of withdrawals using multiple (possibly fakes) bank accounts and online revolving credit cards.

Both Webmoney and Skrill are trying to get back money (it's hard, IMHO...).

Not only me but also many other affiliates (not only gambling related) were robbed.

Again: keep your accounts safe!

[MMM]

We have a system whereby we are alerted every single time payment details are updated. We also do not allow the email address on the account to be changed by the affiliate, so if the payment details come back and they do not match the email address on the account (or other details) we contact the affiliate immediately.

That's the way it should be done. Especially when the new payment method is something like webmoney.