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- More than 6 million users did not know they installed browser extensions that could help with affiliate fraud.
- Affiliate commission theft might take millions from marketing budgets each year because sales are counted wrong.
- Some Chrome Web Store extensions featured included tools used to take over affiliate traffic.
- Checks found that 65% to 90% of top affiliate performers in reviews were fake or not worth much.
- Privacy rules are slow to cover how browser extensions collect user data in a nosy way.
Companies spent over $250 billion on digital ads in 2024. But more and more of that money is being stolen illegally. Affiliate commission theft is quiet, hard to spot, and getting smarter. It costs publishers and brands millions because sales are counted incorrectly. At the center of this fraud are browser extensions that seem harmless but are made to send credit elsewhere and collect commissions without helping make the sale. We will look at how these bad actors get into browsers, use tracking methods to steal, and what marketers can do to stop them. 
What They Found: A Group of Questionable Browser Extensions
Early in 2024, cybersecurity researcher John Tuckner released a report. It revealed a group of 57 Chrome extensions. These extensions showed similar bad actions, used the same code, and had a digital sign linking them to a website called “unknow.com.” People downloaded these extensions over six million times. They pretended to be tools for work, privacy, or discounts, but they hid what they really did.
One of the first ones found was “Fire Shield Extension Protection.” You couldn’t search for it in the Chrome Web Store, but it had over 300,000 installs already. If you looked at its permission list, you would see worrying signs. It could read and change information on all websites, watch what users did, and even put code into all browsing sessions. This seemed like too much access for a small tool, but it was the main way they stole affiliate commissions.
This large group of extensions, many built the same way, acted together. Several did not have any real features for users but kept active permissions. These permissions could track things, send users to other sites, and take out data. These were tools made just for affiliate fraud.
How Affiliate Commission Theft Works Through Extensions
So, how exactly do these browser extensions commit affiliate fraud?
The main way the plan works is by changing who gets credit for a sale. Affiliate marketing programs pay commissions when a customer clicks an affiliate’s link and buys something. They track this using special affiliate codes in web addresses and cookies. When a real affiliate sends a customer who buys, they get paid for their part in making the sale.
Bad extensions steal this process in several ways
- Sending users to other sites quickly: When you type a web address like “nike.com,” the extension stops it. It quickly visits an affiliate link first before letting the page load. This places a fake tracking cookie, giving credit for the sale to a bad affiliate by mistake.
- Taking over a browsing session: After you put a product in your shopping cart, the extension silently adds affiliate codes in the background. It claims credit for a session it did nothing to start.
- Adding hidden code: Many extensions add code into web pages to watch the checkout process or force cookies into the browser’s storage. They do this using hidden images or small windows on the page.
This kind of affiliate fraud is not new. Forbes pointed it out back in 2013. But today’s bad actors have many more ways to do it. They use better tools to hide what they are doing, redirect users through hard-to-trace paths, and use fast decision systems that change affiliate IDs on the fly.
The Things That Let Fraud Happen
These extensions can act so boldly because of the many permissions they get when installed. Here are some common abilities used by fraudulent extensions
- Access to all websites: The extension can read, write, and change information on any website you visit. This lets them mess with cookies, grab info from forms, and change clicks on many sites.
- Rights to add code: Extensions can add JavaScript or small hidden windows (iframes) into real websites. This allows them to steal data and add fake affiliate links.
- Running code from far away: Some extensions download new code after you install them. This lets bad actors avoid being found during the first reviews in the store. They can then ‘turn on’ their bad actions later.
- Total control over cookies: Extensions can see and change cookies. This includes cookies for staying logged in and affiliate tracking cookies. This lets them steal both data and credit for sales.
These tools sound risky, and they are. In fact, some extensions with these same abilities were listed as “Featured” items in the Chrome store. This happened even though they carried dangerous code and hid what they really did.
How Big The Problem Is in Money and Users
Affiliate fraud is not just a small problem. It is a problem costing billions, hiding where everyone can see it.
Retail ad spending went way up to $53.7 billion in 2024. This was a 23% increase from the year before. A big part of this includes affiliate commissions paid to partners for sales they helped make. But when this money goes to the wrong people, affiliate payouts become like black holes. They pay for bad actions with money meant for real results.
If we guess even a small 5% fraud rate among sales that affiliates get credit for (which is probably too low in programs with big problems), we could be talking about over $2.5 billion lost or given to the wrong people each year. And remember, this is often extra loss, not just money moved around. Companies are paying for sales that would have happened anyway. They lose profit without getting more sales.
Also, it affects users. With over 6 million infected browsers visiting brands and stores daily, millions of checkout steps and browsing sessions are being messed with. This makes tracking sales wrong, messes up data, and lowers the return on investment (ROI).
Privacy Is at Risk: A Double Danger
Browser extensions are not just tools for stealing money. They are also like hidden spying devices.
Rules in the U.S. have made progress on data privacy. In 2024 alone, over 20 states passed full digital privacy laws. These laws are like CCPA and GDPR. But there is still a big gap. Browser extensions are often not required to say how or when they start tracking users. And they don’t have to say if that tracking can be set up later from somewhere else after installation.
Bad extensions use this gap in the rules
- They act harmless when you install them. Then they download tracking parts days or weeks later.
- They record sensitive user data. This includes things like what happens in email, passwords you fill in, your location based on your internet address, and what you bought. They do this without you saying yes.
- They send this information to other companies’ servers. These servers are often located outside the country or hidden by anonymous services.
This goes against the main ideas of knowing what you agree to, collecting only needed data, and being open. Brands and advertisers who follow the rules must ask for permission and explain things clearly. But extensions often work hidden from view.
Who Really Gains from Commission Theft?
Even though it is almost illegal, affiliate commission theft is common. This is because of strange ways the system is set up.
- Fraudulent affiliates make money directly by putting themselves into sales paths they didn’t start. Getting credit for many “results” helps them get noticed more in affiliate networks and get more promotion.
- Affiliate managers sometimes choose not to see it. This is not always done on purpose. Many get paid based on the total amount of sales, not on sales that truly resulted from the affiliate’s work. Looking into fraud makes their performance look worse on paper.
- Ad platforms and networks usually try to make the most money possible. They do not check if the sales are real. Until fraud hurts enough big advertisers, there is little pressure to clean things up.
Adam Riemer, who knows a lot about checking affiliate programs, says this clearly
“One of the major issues is the disincentive your affiliate managers have to find and correct these issues…” — Forbes
In the end, brands pay the price for a system that does not work right. They pay too much for fake performance and pay too little to those who really help.
Ways Affiliate Commission Fraud Happens with Extensions
There are different ways affiliate fraud is done, but they all come from the same place: changing things without adding anything valuable.
Cookie Stuffing
This trick involves secretly putting an affiliate tracking cookie on your device. It happens without a real reason, like clicking a link or seeing an ad. This could happen when you visit any website, even ones that have nothing to do with shopping, if the extension is active.
Changing Web Addresses
You type a retailer’s web address directly (like “target.com”). But the extension sends the request through an affiliate link first. This link has the extension’s ID in it.
Fake Clicks
Extensions create clicks using code. These are clicks that you never made but are counted as if you meant to click. This makes engagement numbers look higher than they are.
Adding Things on Top of Pages
A popular store’s page is changed to show fake banners, “discount popups,” or coupons that trick you into clicking. These things added on top often replace the store’s actual partner codes with their own.
Changing Search Results
Extensions replace the normal links you see after searching on Google or Bing. They add affiliate codes to these links or change where you go when you click them. You never know you are being tracked this way.
Each of these methods not only steals money but also makes key numbers wrong. This makes it hard or impossible to know what marketing efforts are working.
Why It Still Happens: Wrong Reasons and Broken Checking
A main reason this type of fraud continues is because affiliate performance is usually judged by the final result (a sale), not by what the affiliate actually did to cause it.
Programs rarely ask: “Did this affiliate actually cause this sale?”
Instead, they ask: “Did an affiliate link show up in the list of clicks before the sale?”
This wrong way of thinking allows fraud. After getting rid of affiliates who did not provide real value, Riemer found that
- Sales did not go down.
- Profits went up a lot.
- Tracking who caused a sale became simpler.
- People felt more sure about the marketing data.
The sad truth is that many marketers do not know their data is not reliable. Fraud makes performance reports look better than they are. This causes brands to spend too much money on channels that seem to work but bring in no extra sales.
The Impact on Business: Marketing Money Lost for Nothing
Affiliate fraud is not just a minor problem. It has serious effects on businesses
- Bad Data: Making brands spend more on campaigns that don’t work.
- Money Lost: Paying commissions to others who did nothing to earn them.
- Wrong Tracking: Misleading systems that try to figure out how different steps lead to a sale.
- Paying for Failure: Giving money to people who make the user experience worse and reduce trust.
Companies that see no change in sales after fixing issues often realize they were paying bad actors for years. Cleaning things up does not lower sales. It increases profit.
The Platform Problem: Is Google Doing Enough?
The Chrome Web Store has tried to stop extensions from being misused. But checking remains inconsistent and slow.
Some extensions that had problems were marked as “Featured.” This usually means they were checked more carefully. But these extensions stayed available for months or even years after being found. Among them were extensions that inserted affiliate redirects, fake pop-ups for coupons, and trackers that were like spyware.
After a legal fight between Honey and PayPal about affiliate behavior that was hard to control (Affiverse), Google made rules to make extension guidelines stricter
- They banned adding links without a clear user benefit (like getting money back or discounts).
- They stopped adding affiliate links in the background if a user did not do something to trigger it.
But there is still no system to alert people right away about violations. Extensions only get removed after someone reports them, and a human checks them. This process can take a long time.
What Marketers and Businesses Can Do Now
To improve defenses now
- Use tools to watch browsers. These tools can find redirect scripts and unusual calls to other websites.
- Check your affiliate program often. Look for strange patterns, affiliates who suddenly look like top performers, or quick changes in who gets credit for sales.
- Start paying based on new value added. Affiliates earn based on sales that would not have happened otherwise, not just sales where their cookie showed up.
- Check your checkout pages regularly. Look for hidden overlays or cookies that are added automatically.
- Teach affiliate managers to value quality, not just the number of sales. And do not link their pay only to total sales growth.
Stopping affiliate commission theft takes careful watch and changes to the system.
What Rules and the Industry Need to Do
Brands can take action. But to fix the problem for everyone, we need changes higher up
- Chrome Store needs stricter checks: Look for strange behavior in extensions after they are installed, not just in their code beforehand.
- Expand privacy laws: Require clear notices that users can see before extensions can start tracking them.
- Affiliate networks need to change: Create open databases of fraud and share lists of bad merchants with others who follow the rules.
These changes will not happen right away. But the more marketers demand responsibility from platforms, partners, and affiliates, the faster the threat will go away.
Keeping Trust in a Fast-Growing Area
Affiliate marketing can be a very useful way to get new customers in a way that makes money. But it only works if you can trust how sales are tracked.
Browser extensions that use affiliate links in a bad way do not just steal money. They hurt trust, teamwork, and knowing the truth about how things are performing.
When brands understand these threats and set up ways to find them, they can make things more efficient and honest. It is not just about catching bad actors. It is about protecting the good ones and bringing back fairness in one of marketing’s most promising areas.
Now is the time to act.
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