Overview
Ensuring the integrity of your Referral program is crucial. Monitoring for and managing abuse helps maintain fairness and trust. This guide explains how to detect and handle potential abuse within your referral system.
How Growave detects suspicious referral activity
Growave's fraud detection system cross-references multiple data points to ensure authenticity. Reports of suspicious activity are generated in the following scenarios:
The Referring customer places an order using their own referral link.
An unrelated customer who was not referred via a link applies multiple gift cards (more than two) to an order, including a gift card issued to a referred user.
There is a direct match between the Referring customer and the Referred friend across shared data points. A report is generated if at least one of the following parameters matches: contact information (phone number or the local part of the email address before the @ sign), date of birth, or full address details (the entire combination: street + city + country).
⚠️ Important
Even if fraudulent activity is detected, the Referred friend still receives their reward (e.g., a discount, gift card, or free shipping) after following the referral link and registering with the store. Growave only reports such occurrences to you so you can take corrective action concerning the Referred friends' activity.
Customer account validation is handled entirely by Shopify, and Growave relies on Shopify’s validation results.
What happens when suspicious activity is detected
When suspicious referral activity is detected, Growave blocks the reward for the Referring customer, generates a report in Growave admin, and sends an email notification about the suspicious behavior with a link to the Referral program's Reports section.
When suspicious referral activity is detected, Growave implements a temporary block to protect your program:
The reward for the Referring customer is blocked pending review.
Both the Referring customer and the Referred friend are temporarily blocked from participating in the Referral program.
The referral sections within the Rewards widgets and extensions will be hidden for both of these users.
A report is generated in the Growave admin panel, and an email notification is sent to the merchant with a link to the Referral program's Reports section.
Add email addresses to receive fraud detection notifications
By default, an email associated with your Shopify store will receive notifications. However, you can add multiple email addresses to receive updates about attempts to manipulate the Referral program. The notification email contains a standard message and a link to the Growave admin panel, allowing you to take prompt action.
In the Growave admin panel, go to Rewards → Settings tab.
Scroll to the Fraud detection section.
Enter your email under Alter destination.
Click Add and Save changes.
⚠️ Important
To stay informed about potential fraudulent activity, add active and valid email addresses that you check regularly. This ensures you receive fraud alerts promptly and can take necessary action on suspicious orders.
View and manage referral fraud reports
The Fraud reports section lists flagged activities and allows you to review suspicious behavior before deciding whether to fulfill an order or take corrective actions.
View fraud reports
In Growave admin, go to the Rewards → Referrals → Reports section.
Here you can find all instances of suspicious activity, information on users who attempted to abuse the program, and the nature of the abuse. The Reports section includes:
Name: Name of the referred friend with a link to their profile in Growave admin → Customers section.
Order #: Number of the associated order with a link to Shopify admin.
Reason: Description of why this referral is considered suspicious.
Referred by: Name of the referring customer with a link to their profile in Growave admin → Customers section.
Actions: Click Select action to manage rewards for referring customers only and program participation for both referring and referred users.
Manage rewards and program participation
When you review a fraud report, you must manage two independent actions: the status of the sender's reward and the users' ongoing program participation. Click the Select action button under the Actions column to start.
1. Manage the reward status
This action controls the pending reward for the Referring customer.
Approve reward: Click this button to manually issue the pending reward to the Referring customer. They will receive an email, and the reward will become available in their Rewards widgets and Rewards page.
Important: This action only issues the reward. Both the sender and the receiver remain blocked from participating in the Referral program until you restore their access.
Cancel reward: After you approve a reward, the button changes to Cancel reward, allowing you to revoke the reward if you change your mind.
2. Manage program participation
These actions control whether the users can continue using the Referral program. Any action taken here applies to both the Referring customer and the Referred friend simultaneously.
Add to Referral program: This button appears below the reward approval section. Click this to reinstate both users into the Referral program after your investigation.
Note: This action only restores their program access. It does not issue the sender's reward (it will remain 'pending' unless you click Approve reward).
Exclude from Referral program: If you previously reinstated the users but later uncover more details of abuse, this button (which replaces the "Add to" button) allows you to re-block them. Both users will be disqualified and permanently excluded from further participation. Their reward status remains unchanged unless manually canceled.
For legacy fraud reports (generated before July 1, 2026)
In these cases, the users are not automatically blocked upon detection. Any action taken here applies to the Referring customer (sender) only.
Exclude from Referral program: This button appears first. Click this to manually disqualify and exclude the Referring customer from further participation in the Referral program.
Add to Referral program: After excluding the Referring customer, this button will appear, allowing you to reinstate them if your investigation clears them of wrongdoing.
If you need further assistance or have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] or use the chat icon in the bottom-right corner of your Growave admin panel. We're here to help! 🤗