Originally Posted by
ECR12
I suspect what happened is when I emailed to request credit for an apple purchase 1-2 weeks ago they went to lookup the details and found the multiple accounts, because otherwise I dont see an obvious way they wouldve noticed referral activity from more than a year ago.
Over the last two years I've earned somewhere between 50k-100k in Amex MR from referrals (probably closer to 50k). Out of that, I think I made 2-3 referrals that I think theyre viewing as suspicious (I asked for clarification but so far they arent being specific so its hard to know). Since the referrals are generally 3k-4k Amex MR each, assume I made 15 referrals in a two year period and 2-3 of them were either myself or family member in my house and the rest generated from links on blogs. Having links on blogs also seems to be a violation of Rakuten TOS, but they didnt reference that specifically so I imagine they noticed similiar email addresses on two of my accounts.
In any case, the person responding to the emails is not very friendly so this doesnt seem headed towards my account/points being reinstated but we'll see.
From the terms of service. Rakuten, in their sole discretion ...... final - sums up this paragraph.
12.3 Fraudulent Activity. We reserve the right to investigate any purchase transactions, referral activity, or interaction with any Rakuten Property that we suspect, in our sole discretion, is abusing or has abused the Program. We reserve the right to rescind any Cash Back, bar further Cash Back awards and/or bonuses, and/or terminate any Member Account that we believe, in our sole discretion, is abusing or has abused the Program, including, without limitation, by engaging in a pattern of returning products after the corresponding Cash Back has been credited or making fraudulent referrals by creating multiple Accounts. Multiple Accounts created under the Refer-A-Friend Program with the same name, name on orders, payment method on orders, address, email address, PayPal account, or other identifying feature may be flagged as fraudulent referrals. Any failure to comply with this Agreement, any fraud or abuse relating to the accrual or receipt of Cash Back or other rewards and bonuses, or any misrepresentation of any information furnished to Rakuten by you or anyone acting on your behalf may result in the termination of your Account and forfeiture of any accrued Cash Back rewards. If Rakuten has any reason to suspect fraudulent activity is associated with your Account, Rakuten reserves the right to delay or withhold payment of Cash Back. Any suspected or actual cases of fraud activity will be escalated and reviewed in accordance with our fraud process. Rakuten decisions are final.