# Self-Referral Detection

Automatically catch affiliates who sign up as their own customers to earn commissions

Self-referrals happen when an affiliate uses their own referral link to sign up as a customer and earn commissions on their own purchases. This is one of the most common forms of affiliate fraud.

## How It Works

When a new referral is created, Affonso checks whether the customer's email matches any email associated with the referring affiliate — including their account email and payout method emails. If there's a match, a fraud event is created.

## Three Modes

Configure Self-Referral Detection in your [Risk Center Settings](https://affonso.io/app/risk-center/settings):

**Off** — No detection.

**Detect** — The referral stays active and earns commissions, but a pending event is created for your review. This is the **default mode** for new programs.

**Block** — The referral is automatically rejected. Commissions are still calculated but created with a **Declined** status, so you have a full audit trail. You can manually change a Declined earning to Approved if the block was a false positive. Webhook events (`transaction.created` and `transaction.rejected`) are emitted so external systems stay in sync.

## Reviewing Flagged Events

Self-referral events appear in your [Risk Center](https://affonso.io/app/risk-center) with the matched email visible. From there you can confirm it as fraud (reject the referral and decline commissions) or resolve it as a false positive if the match was coincidental.

## Things to Keep in Mind

- Self-referral detection is enabled in **Detect** mode by default for all new programs.
- Detection compares against multiple email addresses associated with the affiliate, not just their login email.
- Affiliates don't see why a referral was rejected — they only see the status change.

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**Need help?** Contact support for guidance on handling self-referral cases.