how quickly are stolen paypal accounts discovered?

[eric00]

I want to start paying my affiliates via paypal but I'm weary of all the horror stories about compromised accounts. what's a good period of time to wait before paying out commission? at the moment I send out cheques which take 7 - 10 days depending on where you are in the world.

should I just with hold paypal payments for the same length of time? (this'll only be for new affiliates, regulars can have their money sooner). If a new affiliate signs up for paypal, what measures should I take to ensure the account is really theirs?

[oneguy]

If a new affiliate signs up for paypal, what measures should I take to ensure the account is really theirs?

Maybe I don't understand.

Why would anyone send you valuable traffic in exchange for payments into someone else's paypal account?

If an affiliate of yours has their account compromised, I don't see how that falls on your shoulders, either.

If you need to be worried about anything, it's probably managing how much $$ is in your own paypal account in case your account gets compromised or locked.

[eric00]

I'm thinking of click fraud. A friend of mine was the target of several fraudsters who sent the traffic using bots and then used stolen paypal accounts to get paid. They'd transferred the money between several accounts and out of the paypal system before he even knew what was going on.

[oneguy]

I'm thinking of click fraud.

Ahhh, that makes sense. It's been years and years since I had an aff prog that paid per click, but I know there are still some out there.

Holding payments until you trust the traffic is real (and converting) might be all you can do.

As an affiliate type person, I don't think holding a payment for 10 days is unreasonable at all.