Top 5 Online Lead Generation Scams to Be Avoided

It is unfortunate but in every industry there are some who choose unethical ways of doing business, the lead generation market is no better or no worse than others in that respect. I am always comforted by the amazing level of trust companies have in each other when declaring lead volumes, lead rejections. It is this bond amongst lead generation operators which has helped make online lead gen so successful in these boom years. However there are some really bad practices that should be avoided at all costs, namely:

1. Host and Ghost - This is where affiliate campaigns designed for banner and email are mis-appropriated for host and post co-registration. The scam can be identified when landing pages show high numbers of leads/conversions but no impressions.
2. Sub-brokering - Where an agency sub-contracts out volume to other lead generation partners without the knowledge of the client. This means many sources are cloned as coming from one source making it impossible to measure the campaigns effectiveness
3. Batch uploading - where sudden influx's of leads appear instead of real-time. So older leads are being sold as fresh current ones. 
4. Automated Opt-in - it may be sold as lead generation but takes the form of pre-ticked questions or a page of logo's where one tick means opting-in to 10+ brands.
5. Downright Fraud - basically leads that are not fit for purpose, they have been manufactured by unscrupulous lead generation fraudsters rather than volunteered by consumers. Doing background checks, asking the right questions and taking references helps eradicate this

Admittedly, the incidence of these is really low and if we all work together to weed out any bad practices we do the industry a lot of good. I raise my glass to trusting each other to do the right thing.