Last updated: 6 July 2025
Fake leads are more than just an annoyance - they’re a direct result of click fraud and can severely damage your advertising performance. This article explains how click fraud bots generate fake leads to appear legitimate, how those leads send the wrong signals to ad networks, and why stopping them is the key to improving your traffic quality. We also explain how allowing fake leads to persist can expose your business to serious data privacy violations.
What is click fraud?
To understand why fake leads are such a serious issue, it's important to first understand how click fraud works - particularly the most common version of the scam.
A scammer starts by creating a website and applying to join an ad network like Microsoft Ads. Once approved, their site becomes part of the audience network, meaning it can display ads and earn money every time someone clicks on them.
But instead of attracting real visitors, the scammer deploys a click fraud bot to simulate traffic. These bots are designed to mimic real users and avoid detection. Their traffic is routed through residential and cellphone proxy services, providing fresh IP addresses and unique device fingerprints to trick the ad network into thinking the clicks are coming from legitimate users.
Here’s what the bot does:
- Performs a search on Bing (e.g., “online MBA”).
- Clicks on various results - including ads - generating fake clicks that advertisers are charged for. This causes the bot to get cookied by the ad network to enable retargeting click fraud.
- Lands on the advertiser’s site and submits fake leads to create the illusion of quality engagement.
- Visits the scammer’s site, and clicks on retargeted, high-value ads - often submitting more fake leads.
- Returns to Bing to repeat the process.
These bots interact with both search ads and audience network ads. That means even if you disable the audience network, you’ll still receive fake clicks and bogus leads through search campaigns. Either way, every click drains your ad budget. Microsoft Ads receives your payment, and a portion is handed over to the scammer running the fraudulent site.
Why do click fraud bots submit fake leads?
There are two main reasons advertisers receive fake or spam leads from click fraud bots.
The first is to deceive the ad network into thinking the bot traffic is high quality. When bots submit lead forms, they trigger conversions - which the ad network interprets as a positive signal. This makes the traffic appear valuable, helping the scammer maintain or boost their status with the ad network. Without these fake conversions, the traffic could be flagged as low quality for clicking on ads without converting.
The second - and more damaging - reason is that fake leads train the ad network to send more bot traffic. Each conversion signal reinforces the idea that bots are engaging with the advertiser’s site, prompting the ad network to continue targeting similar traffic. This sets off a destructive feedback loop: bots generate fake leads, those leads train the ad network to send more bots, which in turn produce more fake leads - and so on. The longer this cycle continues, the worse the advertiser’s traffic and lead quality becomes.
How do I stop fake leads?
As you’ve seen, stopping fake leads is essential. If you don’t, the ad network will keep showing your ads to bots, stealing your ad budget. Plus, fake leads train the ad network to send you even more low-quality traffic.
The solution is to re-train the ad network to deliver real visitors. This involves two key steps:
- Detect bots when they arrive on your landing page.
- Prevent bots from submitting spam leads and other fake conversions.
While you could try building your own bot detection and prevention system, it’s much easier and more cost-effective to use Polygraph. Polygraph uses an objective system that distinguishes humans from bots with zero false positives. We identify the bot software and click fraud tactics in use. If we’re not 100% sure it’s a bot, we allow it through. This means real people can always submit leads, while nearly all bots are blocked from interacting with your website, including creating spam leads and fake conversions.
Why should I stop fake leads?
Since fake leads train the ad network to send you bot traffic, it’s vital to prevent spam leads to stop the bad conversion signals and re-train the ad network to send real traffic. The good news is most ad networks can be re-trained quickly, so within a few days you’ll notice improved traffic and better-quality leads. Many of our customers typically triple their lead quality while eliminating bogus, time-wasting leads. A positive side effect is that your sales team won’t need to chase fake leads anymore, allowing them to focus on real prospects.
Another benefit is reducing the risk of fines for breaching data privacy laws. In most jurisdictions, it’s illegal to save and contact leads without permission. Because bots often use real people’s data when submitting fake leads, you don’t actually have consent to store or use that information-putting you at risk of significant penalties. It doesn’t matter that you were tricked by bots; you are responsible for the data in your database. Blocking fake leads helps you solve this legal risk.
In summary
Click fraud bots create fake leads to deceive ad networks into believing their traffic is high quality. These fake leads’ conversion signals cause the ad networks to send you more bot traffic, increasing click fraud and generating even more fake leads. This cycle continues until you detect the click fraud bots and stop them from submitting fake leads. Doing so re-trains the ad networks to send real traffic, leading to much better leads and significant cost savings.
Click fraud bots often use real people’s data when submitting fake leads. Since you don’t have permission to save or use this data, you may be violating data privacy laws whenever you save or contact a fake lead.
Polygraph detects fake clicks on your ads, blocks bots from submitting fake leads, re-trains the ad networks to send real traffic, lowers your customer acquisition cost (CAC), and protects your company from data privacy risks and fines.