Fake users
Fake users are exactly what they sound like – “users” that aren’t actually real, generated by fraudsters to simulate actions such as impressions, clicks, and installs with the intention of draining ad budgets.
What are fake users?
Fraud tactics like bots or phone farms directly impact marketing campaigns by draining advertising resources by attributing actions to users who pose zero value because they aren’t actually real.
While more complicated to operate and maintain, once successful, a fake user fraud scheme presents unlimited potential scale.
Unlike install hijacking schemes which rely on real users, the tactics mentioned above along with Device ID reset fraud, emulated devices, and click farms don’t require real users or even real devices to operate. Faking the entire user journey makes their operation potentially limitless and profits much higher.
Why do fake users matter?
Fake users hold no value for advertisers. Their data is useless for future optimization, targeting, and behavioral analysis.
Furthermore, any interaction by a fake user within an app is most likely pre-programmed to drain even more CPA rates from the advertises and any potential remarketing efforts will be rendered pointless.
