(RESOLVED!)Deckmedia - Hacker Account Removal Required

[AussieDave]

Hi Sloto,

Thanks for the reply.

He went to deckmedia.com, created an account, took the links and started promoting the casinos. As with any affiliate that joins.

[snip]

There's nothing we can do to stop someone joining.

Really?
Other programs veto signups. A URL entry is manditory at these programs. Once due diligence is conducted, only then is a new affiliate account approved.

With how things are now with your program, that is no approval process... hackers, spammers and the scum of the internet can obtain a Deckmedia Affiliate Account... Nice!

 

[sloto]

Hi Bet4You

Yes you have to enter something, you could put anything you want. kasfjfhjhfjf.com if you liked. Due diligence is done to the best level possible. But we are not going to stop genuine affiliates promoting us due to the odd 'hacker' that might try to sneak through the system.

What do you suggest we do with affiliates that don't have a URL and/or are new to the affiliate world (95%). Lets say we contact them and they don't reply (95%), maybe our email went to spam. Do we stop them from joining due to 1 'hacker' every 3-6 months?

And what about affiliates who prefer not to talk to any affiliate manager, some of the best affiliates I know are very private and rarely speak to anyone from our side. We should miss out on the chance to work with these affiliates again due to 1 'hacker' every 3-6 months? Its not a nice situation for anyone. Very hard to manage.

You also mentioned earlier that an affiliate manager would spot the traffic, well in this case this was spotted very early by the forum folks as the affiliate in question only very recently joined. I would love to share the stats with you but obviously I cant.

I don't really have much else to say on this matter. That's where we stand. The issue was reported, its already been dealt with (same day). Case closed from this side.

DECKMEDIA AFFILIATE TEAM

 

[AussieDave]

For the record it's nothing person...

Do we stop them from joining due to 1 'hacker' every 3-6 months?

It's the same criminal hacker who has gained three (3) accounts with DeckMedia... I don't think trying to justify this access is acceptable. Especially given your casinos enforce player identies and proof of ID docs.

You could argue that the afifliate program is B2B. However, Neteller require their Merchant Accounts to pass certification and due dilligence... ANd that's B2B. Just like player account ID'ing. Ironically the Neteller Mechant vetoing helps prevent criminal activities

I would love to share the stats with you but obviously I cant.

Just like you can't tell us who the hacker is, right... Given the hacker is a criminal and Deck Media have been party to enabling this hacker to promote their casinos, will you be handing the hacker's name and other personal/banking details to Interpol?

If so fantastic... If not, why not?

 

[sloto]

If we had that information sure, but that's not the case. Most people don't add bank details until they have something to be paid. Same in this case.

Please don't think we enjoy going through this every time this happens. Really we have better things to do with our time

DECKMEDIA AFFILIATE TEAM

 

[bonustreak]

Dave as you know some affiliates use an alias to join, they are hackers after all and clever! I think Deckmedia took the fast approach and closed the account. They are putting in the safeguards needed to weed out scam affiliate but they cannot close their program off to good ethic affiliates either! Please move on now to a program that is NOT attending to this hacker & stop flaming DM. I am sure they have other things to do then go back and forth with you on this. I feel they have done their duty end of story...

 

[AussieDave]

The words on my Avatar states "The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem."

stop flaming DM.

I acted professionally and I asked valid questions. Yet what I've posted has been interpreted as "flaming".

Vladi was right...this forum has become extremely bias and self serving.

Like Vladi I shant be back, in future I'll post my observations, valid concerns and facts to DOCH, starting with DeckMedia.

 

[inspiration]

I meant with "provided" that the hacker was able to get a new account again, which is a concern.

On the other hand DM probably has paid the same hacker in the past so they must have more information to block him the next time.

I don't think hacker has a lot of e-wallets to choose from.

IMO the DM representative stated the problem lies within the sign up and affiliate account review and it is difficult to detect fraud and it is impossible to check if criminals join their program.

This in it self is a very moderate attempt and will not prevent scumbags and other low life to sign up again.

I am not impressed with the security measures taken.

What about the profit you made with not having to pay the hacker and the new player account they generated with our content/traffic etc ?

Can I send you a bill to rewrite our stolen content and lost SERP ?

Just saying what we affiliates have to deal with every day again and again.

 

[Jason May]

What do you suggest we do

Here is what I suggest you do:
1. Don't pay them. Pretty simple. If affiliates engage in criminal activity then don't pay them otherwise you are an accomplice to the criminal activity. This is a sure fire way to make sure they don't return to open a forth account.

2. Proactively monitor spikes in traffic from new affiliates. These criminals drive large volumes. So when you see traffic spikes from new affiliates do the proactive thing: investigate. Investigation Procedure #1: google your brand name and modify the search parameter to the last 24 hours. From there you would probably find your aff. links on the hacked site. Investigation Procedure #2: search for broad casino terms and check the 2nd and 3rd page of the serps for your aff links. If the hacker is promoting your site and you proactively investigate then you will prevent the problem from occurring.

Please let me know if you have any questions or require more suggestions. I am available to mentor you through this process.

“Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.”
― Heraclitus

 

[bonustreak]

Very nice Jason and also I agree that ALL affiliate programs need a better security system in place especially the payment area. I am sure that DM will take these suggestions serious .. BUT they need to be recognized for doing the right thing for closing the attackers account, this is not something others are doing at all! We cannot chastise the good programs, is my point. I think maybe we need a new thread started address ALL affiliate programs with ideas on how to stop the hackers from returning...

 

[sloto]

Hi All

@inspiration

''What about the profit you made with not having to pay the hacker and the new player account they generated with our content/traffic etc ?''

There isn't any, so nothing to worry about.

''Can I send you a bill to rewrite our stolen content and lost SERP ?''

As above. I could add what about the time I have spent answering all the issues from 'hacker' related queries, who should I bill for that

''Just saying what we affiliates have to deal with every day again and again.''

We understand this and sympathize and do everything we can stop them, hence we closed the account immediately.

@Jason

Thanks for your feedback and suggestions.

1. There's nothing to pay

2. Of course this would have been spotted over a short period of time. You guys told us before there was any chance of us spotting it.

There really is nothing more to say from this end. Have a great week guys!

DECKMEDIA AFFILIATE TEAM

 

[ThePOGG]

As above. I could add what about the time I have spent answering all the issues from 'hacker' related queries, who should I bill for that

*Sharp intake of breath* - maybe that was an ill-considered response.

While I would absolutely applaud DM for doing the right thing and shutting accounts as quickly as they become aware of them, I actually feel that B4Y had a well expressed point.

The biggest issue with the whole sad hacking story is the operators who've denied any culpability for the situation. Again and again affiliates have been told that 'we can't stop the hacker signing up another account'. But other brands have managed to do just that.

The reality is that the brands that keep reappearing fall into 2 brackets - 1) those who aren't doing enough due diligence to stop this issue reoccurring or 2) those who are using 1) as an excuse to continue working with the hacker. I'd stress at this point that this isn't a specific bullet being fired at DM and I certainly don't believe that they fall into group 2). However, if your affiliate program allows sign-ups with no approval, your just asking for this sort of issue.

Most of the affiliate programs on the market will auto-email you on application, saying that your account will be reviewed within X hours and if approved you will be notified. How thorough those checks are is anyone's guess, but if I was reviewing accounts I'd want to see a URL to insure that my brand wasn't going to end up associated with porno, pharma or anything else inappropriate. If the affiliate is intending to promote via other mediums I'd want to get some information about that - the last thing I'd want is to end up working with a load of spammers.

Programs that don't do these approval checks are basically saying 'let the mess happen and we'll clean it up afterwards'. Be it hacking, association with negative sites or spamming, it's the price of running the business this way that from time to time you're going to have to fire fight on message boards when people see the mess.

ThePOGG



P.S. I actually came across a term yesterday at another program that I was very impressed with and has some relevance here;

"In the event that it can be proven that an affiliate’s earnings have been lost or impacted due to an incidence of plagiarism by another affiliate, RP Affiliates reserves the right to reassign earnings from the offending to the offended party. If You feel You have been affected in this way, please contact Us at the earliest opportunity"

 

[Guard Dog]

Honestly, there are almost NO programs (gaming or otherwise) that do checks on you prior to being able to promote their product. This is true probably 90% of the time, in what I have found. There are more rigid standards in hotels (where those are run by large companies) and in gaming (where those are large and typically publicly traded US companies). But other than that... no. They let anyone in.

I agree. programs can stop this if they do their due diligence. But - I will also say this. When I sign up for a program and have to wait until I can put up their banners... I have often already moved on and will never promote them (unless it is a property I am really keen on promoting.

There are about 5 programs that have that term. I love seeing it

greate response, btw. I think this thread should really not be directed at Deckmedia, but more in a general sense. But I get it.

 

[ThePOGG]

Honestly, there are almost NO programs (gaming or otherwise) that do checks on you prior to being able to promote their product. This is true probably 90% of the time, in what I have found. There are more rigid standards in hotels (where those are run by large companies) and in gaming (where those are large and typically publicly traded US companies). But other than that... no. They let anyone in.

I'm not sure I'd totally agree with that - I'm sure there are many programs making out they're doing more than they really are, but there are certain programs that never turn up on dodgy sites and others (I can think of one big Gibraltar brand) whose popups are all over the place on porno and streaming sites (not that I'd ever be there to see them ahem).

When I sign up for a program and have to wait until I can put up their banners... I have often already moved on and will never promote them

I know where you're coming from and this often delays publication of a review on my own site as I move on to other jobs, but we can't have it both ways. We either have to accept security verification checks or we have to accept the hackers. That's the price we have to pay.

 

[inspiration]

The hacker has still your brands listed on his site "onlinetopcasinos.com/?lang=us"

 

[sloto]

Hi inspiration

That url opens a blank page for me.

Account was closed the day you informed us.

DECKMEDIA AFFILIATE TEAM

 

[slotplayer]

"Honestly, there are almost NO programs (gaming or otherwise) that do checks on you prior to being able to promote their product. This is true probably 90% of the time, in what I have found. There are more rigid standards in hotels (where those are run by large companies) and in gaming (where those are large and typically publicly traded US companies). But other than that... no. They let anyone in."

It may have changed in recent times but in my experience (mostly retail affiliate programs) , it was just the opposite.

 

[admin]

A reminder is sent to all affiliate managers.

 

[inspiration]

The hacker opened a new account, there are no methods to check this ?

hxxp://clydevanel.com/usa-online-casinos/
hxxp://the-top-online-casinos.com/?lang=us

hxxp://deckaffiliates.com/return/plainclick/campaigns_id/225125/affiliate_id/995271/banner_id/293786

 

[sloto]

Account closed. Its unlikely its the same person, if your account has been closed once I see no reason to open another. Thanks again for making us aware.

DECKMEDIA AFFILIATE TEAM

 

[ThePOGG]

Account closed. Its unlikely its the same person, if your account has been closed once I see no reason to open another. Thanks again for making us aware.

DECKMEDIA AFFILIATE TEAM

Not being funny, but whether you see the reason or not that's exactly what has been happening (the same person/group, opening accounts after their first has been closed) for the last year. This has been acknowledged by several groups on or to GPWA.

That is unless these other groups have been flat out lying and simply not closing the original account......