Prohibited Activities & Fraud Prevention Policy

1. Purpose

The WarmNest Affiliate Program is built on trust, fairness, and transparency. This Prohibited Activities & Fraud Prevention Policy outlines activities that are not permitted and explains how WarmNest detects, investigates, and responds to fraudulent or abusive behaviour.

This policy forms part of the WarmNest Affiliate Program Terms & Conditions. By participating in the Program, affiliates agree to comply with this policy.

2. Commitment to Fair Participation

WarmNest is committed to providing every affiliate with an equal opportunity to earn commissions through genuine customer referrals.

Any attempt to manipulate the Program, its tracking systems, or commission structure is strictly prohibited.

3. Prohibited Activities

Affiliates must not engage in any activity intended to generate unfair or unearned commissions.

Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to:

• Self-referrals.
• Purchasing products through your own affiliate link.
• Encouraging family members or controlled accounts to make purchases solely to generate commissions.
• Creating multiple affiliate accounts without written approval.
• Creating fake customer accounts.
• Submitting false personal information.
• Using stolen or fraudulent payment methods.
• Placing fake or non-genuine orders.
• Artificially inflating clicks, traffic, or conversions.
• Manipulating referral tracking systems.
• Sharing or selling affiliate accounts.

4. Fraudulent Traffic

The following traffic sources are prohibited:

• Bot traffic.
• Automated click generation.
• Traffic exchange services.
• Click farms.
• Purchased fake traffic.
• Artificial engagement services.
• Auto-refresh software.
• Traffic generated through malware or malicious software.

WarmNest reserves the right to disregard any traffic it believes is not generated by genuine users.

5. Cookie Abuse

The following practices are prohibited:

• Cookie stuffing.
• Forced clicks.
• Invisible redirects.
• Automatic affiliate cookie placement without a user's knowledge.
• Hidden tracking scripts.
• Manipulating browser cookies to claim commissions.

Only genuine customer interactions may generate affiliate tracking cookies.

6. Spam and Unsolicited Marketing

Affiliates must not promote WarmNest using:

• Unsolicited emails.
• Bulk messaging without consent.
• Automated direct messages.
• Spam comments.
• Forum spam.
• Fake social media engagement.
• Unsolicited SMS campaigns.
• Unsolicited WhatsApp messages.

All marketing must comply with applicable laws and platform rules.

7. Misrepresentation

Affiliates must never:

• Pretend to be WarmNest employees.
• Claim to represent WarmNest customer support.
• Create fake WarmNest websites.
• Use misleading branding.
• Advertise fake promotions.
• Misrepresent pricing or product availability.
• Make false product claims.

Customers should always be able to distinguish affiliate content from official WarmNest communications.

8. Coupon Abuse

Affiliates must not:

• Publish expired coupon codes as active.
• Alter official promotional offers.
• Distribute unauthorised discount codes.
• Mislead customers regarding available discounts.
• Exploit technical errors relating to promotional pricing.

9. Review Manipulation

Affiliates may not:

• Publish fake reviews.
• Purchase fake reviews.
• Encourage dishonest reviews.
• Create customer reviews for other people.
• Manipulate review ratings.
• Offer rewards in exchange for false reviews.

WarmNest encourages only genuine customer feedback.

10. Marketplace Abuse

Where affiliates are also WarmNest vendors, they must not:

• Earn commission on purchases from their own store unless expressly permitted.
• Manipulate product pricing to increase commissions.
• Create fake customer purchases.
• Use affiliate commissions to circumvent marketplace fees.

11. Artificial Commission Generation

Affiliates may not engage in any activity designed primarily to generate commissions without genuine customer intent.

Examples include:

• Circular purchasing arrangements.
• Repeated purchases followed by refunds.
• Fake referral networks.
• Commission sharing schemes designed to manipulate the Program.

12. Investigation Process

WarmNest reserves the right to investigate any activity that appears suspicious.

Investigations may include reviewing:

• Referral history.
• Click activity.
• Conversion rates.
• Order records.
• Device information.
• IP address patterns.
• Payment records.
• Customer account activity.
• Vendor activity.
• Marketing practices.

WarmNest may request additional information from affiliates during an investigation.

13. Temporary Holds

While an investigation is underway, WarmNest may:

• Place commissions on hold.

• Delay payouts.
• Restrict account features.
• Suspend referral tracking.
• Request identity verification.

These measures are intended to protect the integrity of the Program.

14. Enforcement Actions

Where a policy violation is identified, WarmNest may take one or more of the following actions:

• Issue a warning.
• Reject commissions.
• Reverse previously approved commissions.
• Suspend the affiliate account.
• Permanently terminate participation in the Program.
• Recover payments made in error.
• Restrict access to affiliate tools.
• Report unlawful conduct to the appropriate authorities where required.

The action taken will depend on the seriousness and nature of the violation.

15. Reporting Suspected Fraud

Affiliates are encouraged to report suspected fraud or abuse involving the Affiliate Program.

Reports should include any available supporting information to assist WarmNest in conducting a fair investigation.

WarmNest will treat reports confidentially where reasonably possible.

16. Appeals

Affiliates who believe enforcement action has been taken in error may submit an appeal within 30 days of receiving notification.

WarmNest may request supporting information and will review the matter before making a final decision.

17. Cooperation

Affiliates agree to cooperate with any reasonable investigation conducted by WarmNest.

Failure to cooperate may itself constitute a breach of the Affiliate Program Terms & Conditions.

18. Policy Updates

WarmNest reserves the right to amend this policy at any time.

Updated versions will become effective from the published effective date. Continued participation in the Affiliate Program constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

19. Contact

Questions regarding this policy, suspected fraud, investigations, or enforcement actions should be directed to the WarmNest Support Team through the official support channels available on the WarmNest website.

WarmNest is committed to protecting affiliates, customers, vendors, and the marketplace by maintaining a secure, transparent, and fair Affiliate Program. Every reported violation will be reviewed objectively to ensure the continued integrity of the Program.