Poor data means poor decisions. The market research industry is plagued by increasing levels of online fraud, most notably, fraudulent respondents compromising data integrity and quality. In an effort to weed out fraudulent respondents or “bad actors,” M3 Global Research requires manual verification of panel members’ credentials using photo identification and facial recognition tools so that our clients can make significant decisions with confidence.
Putting a Face to the Name
Today, we are facing more than just bots driving automated programs. Usually motivated by incentives, human bad actors are wreaking as much havoc on the quality of survey data as their robot friends. There is an industry dedicated to committing fraud, with people being paid to cheat on surveys and teach others how to get away with it.
Gone are the days of traditionally validating panellists’ identities by just matching their name and address against a third-party source or using two-step authentication. We’ve invested in our member registration to improve data quality, and our photo ID and facial recognition requirements go beyond just uploading forms to ensure we can put a face to the respondent’s identification and qualifications to provide the highest levels of confidence.
Unmasking Fraud
M3’s industry-leading fraud prevention measures extend beyond photo ID and facial recognition protocols to safeguard the identities of physicians and HCPs, ensuring accurate and dependable data that can be relied upon for critical business decisions. The four phases of our fraud prevention initiatives include:
Panel Member Verification- Identity validation via photo ID and facial recognition technologies
- Re-verification of panel members prior to every survey to ensure continuous good standing
- Automatic flagging of erratic member behaviors
- Relevant ID flags based on device digital watermarking and fingerprinting
- Name / address matching
- Bot detection (reCAPTCHA + Relevant ID)
- Geo-IP validation
- Relevant ID Fraud Score (with M3 customisation for healthcare)
- AI-based IP reputation flagging
- Auto-capture survey start / end times
- Automated survey complete confirmation process
- Automated checks for speeding, flatlining, poor open-end responses, inconsistent answers, and ‘red herring’ responses
- Data is centralised and incentive payments are blocked
- Reinforced with scripted data checks customised for each project
Do you want the best quality data for your research projects? Speak with our industry experts to learn more about how we prioritise participant quality so that you get the best data results.
