This guide will walk you through what gaming is and how to use the Mention Me platform to minimise its impact on your referral programme.
We use three tools to manage gaming
Gaming Controls
Our gaming algorithm evaluates referrals via factors such as IP address, cookies, and email similarity to prevent self-referral. You can:
- Apply controls to referrer and referee flows independently
- Manually review or automatically decline high-scoring referrals
- Use recommended defaults or customise for each offer
- Enhance scoring using additional data (e.g. postcode)
- Blacklist suspicious emails or IPs
Velocity Controls
Limits how many rewards a referrer account can earn or distribute in a set time. Exceeding the limit sends the referral to a manual approval queue.
Eligibility Controls
Ensures referrals meet business-specific criteria before rewards are issued. Examples:
- Utilities: reward delayed until supply begins
- Travel: reward given after trip completion
Connected data feeds or timed delays can be used to revoke rewards if eligibility isn’t confirmed.
Gaming Controls
What Is Gaming?
Gaming refers to attempts by customers to get referral rewards without referring genuine new customers.
About 15% of referrals may be suspicious—often higher in luxury segments. Most brands accept a small level of gaming that still leads to purchases.
Each referral gets a score. If a score exceeds a configured threshold, rewards can be held or declined per campaign rules.
How to Use a Gaming Score to Restrict Referral
Components of the Gaming Score
Each triggered fraud rule adds to the score. Higher scores mean an increased likelihood of dishonest behaviour.
Not all rules apply immediately. For example, name-matching can't occur if the referee doesn’t enter their name.
Configuring the Gaming Score
Controls can be applied to either the referrer or referee side, or both.
- Referee side: Stops reward until a reviewer approves
- Referrer side: Allows introductory reward; referrer is reviewed only if fraud is detected later
Acting on the Gaming Score
Referrals that exceed thresholds go into an approval queue. These should be reviewed regularly for approval or rejection.
How to Switch on or Amend Gaming Controls
Gaming Controls are enabled by default. To update them:
These controls apply at the Offer level. If you update one offer, replicate changes across other active offers.
1. Click Campaigns.
2. Select the name of the relevant campaign.
3. Click Drafts, Upcoming & History.
4. Click experiment actions (three dots).
5. Click Duplicate (to draft).
6. Click offer actions (three dots).
7. Select View offer settings.
8. Click ApprovalRules.
9. Click Add rule, and repeat to add both:
- Gaming score (at Referrer fulfillment) option
- Gaming score (at Referee fulfillment) option
10. The standard gaming threshold is a score of 55 for existing customers and 49 for new customers. Adjust these scores as needed to make your programme stricter or more lenient.
11. Click Save.
Velocity Controls
What Are Velocity Controls?
Velocity controls prevent disproportionate reward distribution, especially during viral events. They pause referral rewards once limits are reached (e.g., 5 referrer rewards/day), requiring manual approval.
They can apply to:
- Referrers: Cap how many vouchers they send per timeframe
- Referees: Cap how many referrals can come from a referrer
To set them up, follow the steps shown in the Gaming Controls setup guide.
Standard velocity control examples:
- 5 referrer rewards in 24 hours
- 25 referrer rewards in a month
- 10 introductory offers claimed from the same referrer in 24 hours
Acting on Velocity Thresholds
When scores exceed limits, referrals go to a queue. Review them manually for approval or decline actions.
Controlling Referral Behaviour Presentation