Choose referral incentives without inviting abuse
Reward completed value instead of easily manufactured actions.
The scenario
An app pays a cash reward at signup and sees repeated accounts with disposable addresses.
Moving payout to a verified paid milestone reduces the value of creating accounts that never buy. Clear limits and a reversal policy protect the program.
Apply it to your own work
Document eligibility, duplicate handling, and appeal rules. Test a small launch and monitor unusual clusters without overcollecting personal information.
What to watch for
Overly broad controls can deny legitimate referrals. Review suspicious cases before drawing conclusions from one shared signal.
Choose a milestone the customer can understand
Make eligibility depend on an observable event, such as a paid order passing its return period. Tell both parties what qualifies and when the reward should arrive.
Review repeat device, address, or payment signals in context. Shared households can be legitimate. Create an appeal path and check how controls affect approval volume, abuse losses, and customer support workload.
Try a related tool
Estimate what you can pay to acquire an order while reserving a desired contribution. Use consistent per-order inputs.
