Post by GetRef.com on Dec 5, 2010 14:59:32 GMT -5
Hello all,
The last few weeks I have spent many hours trying to discover the root cause of the excessive cheating here at GetRef. I probably don't need to tell you this, but GetRef is an incredibly complex system, with 100,000's of lines of code to sift through. It is built on a relatively old technology too, and it was written when I was less experienced, so sometimes the 'best' way of doing something is not used.
As I have taken this journey through the code of GetRef over the last month I have found many bugs, many issues, and added many enhancements to the system. But none of what I have done will effect the site as much as what I discovered today.
Today with the help of a 'reformed' cheater (I had to twist his arm a bit) whose name will remain anonymous, I discovered a massive bug in the GetRef system.
Apparently, GetRef.com has been paying out the credit bonus to the referrer to GetRef.. EVEN IF THE TRANSACTION WAS DECLINED.
I am not proud of this, it is a pretty massive bug, and I can't even begin to tell you all how much it has cost me, and the GetRef community.
I can tell you this, the bug is closed, the loophole is fixed, and now malicious users do NOT have incentive to create fake cheater accounts like they have had.
This is an INCREDIBLY large step forward for all of us, I fully expect cheating to disapate as the incentive which has dropped from 2 credits to 1, now basically means that they will actually have to join the program to fake a referral.
This also means that you will feel less pressure to decline a transaction, because there will be FAR less invalid transactions now than there has been.
This is a great day for our site,
Yours,
Jay
The last few weeks I have spent many hours trying to discover the root cause of the excessive cheating here at GetRef. I probably don't need to tell you this, but GetRef is an incredibly complex system, with 100,000's of lines of code to sift through. It is built on a relatively old technology too, and it was written when I was less experienced, so sometimes the 'best' way of doing something is not used.
As I have taken this journey through the code of GetRef over the last month I have found many bugs, many issues, and added many enhancements to the system. But none of what I have done will effect the site as much as what I discovered today.
Today with the help of a 'reformed' cheater (I had to twist his arm a bit) whose name will remain anonymous, I discovered a massive bug in the GetRef system.
Apparently, GetRef.com has been paying out the credit bonus to the referrer to GetRef.. EVEN IF THE TRANSACTION WAS DECLINED.
I am not proud of this, it is a pretty massive bug, and I can't even begin to tell you all how much it has cost me, and the GetRef community.
I can tell you this, the bug is closed, the loophole is fixed, and now malicious users do NOT have incentive to create fake cheater accounts like they have had.
This is an INCREDIBLY large step forward for all of us, I fully expect cheating to disapate as the incentive which has dropped from 2 credits to 1, now basically means that they will actually have to join the program to fake a referral.
This also means that you will feel less pressure to decline a transaction, because there will be FAR less invalid transactions now than there has been.
This is a great day for our site,
Yours,
Jay