How Fraud Protection Works in SATHI

Paying commissions on fraudulent or returned orders is one of the biggest ways brands lose money on affiliate programs. SATHI's fraud protection runs automatically in the background. Here's exactly what it does and what you can control.

What SATHI catches automatically

The moment a commission is created, it passes through SATHI's fraud engine before it ever becomes payable. Here's what gets caught:

1. Self-Referrals If an ambassador uses their own link or discount code to make a purchase, SATHI detects the email match and rejects the commission instantly. It never reaches payout and doesn't require any action from you.

2. Return Window Protection Every commission is held during your return window (default: 14 days). If the order is refunded during that window, the commission is automatically voided. Once the window closes with no refund, the commission becomes payable. You can set the return window for your store from Settings → Preferences.

3. Multi-Identity Detection Catches ambassadors who try to bypass self-referral checks using similar email addresses, shared billing addresses, or the same IP address across multiple orders. If signals match, the commission is flagged for review.

4. Code Leak Detection SATHI scans for your discount codes appearing on coupon sites and browser extensions like Honey. When a code is used by someone who clearly didn't come through an affiliate's link, SATHI flags it so you're not paying commission on a sale the ambassador had nothing to do with.

5. Geo Traffic Flood Detection Flags unusual spikes in traffic coming from the same geographic location — a common signal of artificial click inflation designed to game your program metrics.

6. Paid Ads Signal Detection Detects when ambassadors are running paid ads using your brand name or terms, which violates most program policies. These get surfaced so you can take action.

7. Fraud Scan on Onboarding SATHI runs a scan on your past 90days of shopify store data after installing SATHI. Checks if there has been any fraud in the past, like code leaks, self-referrals, geo traffic or paid ads signals.

Reviewing Flagged Commissions

Some commissions require your manual review before payout. These appear in the Fraud/Risk Alerts panel on your Payments page.

From the review panel you can:

• Approve a commission for payout

• Reject it permanently

• Filter by flag type or sort by amount, date, or risk level

What you can configure

Go to Settings → Preferences → Return Window & Fraud Rules to adjust:

• Return Window — how many days SATHI holds commissions before they become payable. Default is 14 days

• Minimum Payout Threshold — commissions below this amount sit on hold until the ambassador's total balance meets the threshold

👉 View SATHI pricing plans

Plan availability

Not all fraud features are available on every plan. Here's what's included where:

Available on all plans (Ember and above):

• Self-referral detection

• Return window protection

• Clawbacks

• High-risk order flagging

• Manual dispute handling

Available on Blaze and Wildfire only:

• Multi-Identity Detection

• Code Leak Detection

• Geo Traffic Flood Detection

• Paid Ads Signal Detection

• Fraud Scan on Onboarding

👉 View SATHI pricing plans

What's next?

• 👉 How to Set Up Affiliate Payments

• 👉 Getting Started with SATHI

Need help? Reach out to us at [email protected] — we're here.