Tackling Survey Fraud: Insights from CloudResearch & Toluna at Quirks LA 2025

Survey fraud is an ever-growing challenge in the research industry, with bad actors using bots, fraudulent identities, and other deceptive methods to manipulate survey results. At Quirks LA 2025, Gene Saykin (Toluna) and Leib Litman, PhD (CloudResearch) explored the hidden factors in fraud detection and how behavioral screening technology is transforming data quality. 

This talk highlighted real-world findings from Sentry, CloudResearch’s AI-driven behavioral fraud detection tool, revealing how common fraud detection methods can unintentionally bias samples—and how researchers can find the right balance between efficiency and accuracy in fraud prevention. 

Why Is Survey Fraud So Difficult to Detect?

Survey fraud comes in many forms, including: 

• Bots & Automated Scripts – Programs designed to complete surveys rapidly for financial gain. 
• Click Farms – Groups of individuals working together to bypass fraud detection. 
• Impersonation & VPN Use – Participants hiding their true identities to manipulate targeting criteria. 

Traditional fraud detection methods rely on device fingerprinting, but fraudulent respondents are becoming more sophisticated, finding ways to bypass these security measures.  

How Can Common Fraud Checks Lead to Sample Bias?

One of the key insights from the talk was how overly strict fraud detection methods can unintentionally introduce sample bias. Many fraud prevention tools flag respondents based on IP address, device fingerprinting, and browser settings, which can disproportionately exclude legitimate respondents. 

For example: 

• IP Geolocation Limitations: Markets like China relying on dynamic IP allocation which significantly reduces the accuracy of geolocation data. 
• Translation Errors: Inaccurate translations can lead to respondents being incorrectly disqualified. 
• Cultural Variations in Response Patterns: Respondents from countries like Indonesia and Kenya tend to provide more positive responses, highlighting differences in cultural response styles. 

Sentry’s approach minimizes false positives, ensuring genuine participants aren’t mistakenly filtered out while effectively detecting high-risk fraudulent behavior. By combining behavioral analysis, on-screen event recording, and AI-assisted analysis, Sentry accurately identifies fraudulent activity without compromising data integrity. 

How Sentry’s Behavioral Screening Improves Fraud Detection & Improves Data Quality 

Unlike traditional fraud detection methods that rely solely on static identifiers (e.g., IP address, country of origin, or past fraud reports), Sentry uses real-time behavioral analysis to detect fraud patterns as they emerge. 

Some of the key innovations in Sentry’s screening process include: 

• Associative Network Model (ANM) Assessment – Uses algorithmically generated word association questions to detect inattentiveness and basic language comprehension. 
• Yea-Saying Detection – Identifies respondents who falsely claim knowledge of non-existent terms or impossible facts, a major indicator of fraudulent behavior. 
• Real-Time Event Streaming Analysis – Records on-screen behaviors to detect suspicious patterns like the use translation applications, copy & Pasting, and other suspicious behavior. 
• Specialized Verification Modules – Validates whether participants from hard-to-reach populations (like healthcare professionals or IT specialists) are genuinely who they claim to be. 
• Open-Ended Response Auto-Scoring – Immediately evaluates if open-ended responses are contextually relevant and actually answer the question asked. 

The result? A more precise fraud prevention system that maintains high-quality research data without unnecessary exclusions. 

Key Takeaways: Improving Fraud Detection in Survey Research

• Fraud detection is a moving target – Fraudsters evolve, and so must detection methods. 
• Traditional fraud checks can introduce bias – Researchers must balance fraud prevention with fair sampling practices. 
• AI-powered behavioral screening is the future – Sentry analyzes response behavior in real time to ensure high-quality data without biasing samples.  

Want to learn more about Sentry and how it can enhance your research data quality? Contact us today to schedule a free demo!