A man once made around $28M from eBay… without actually referring real customers. Shawn Hogan, the creator of a blog widget called “Geo Visitors,” became one of eBay’s top affiliates in the late 2000s. The tool appeared to simply show website owners where their visitors were coming from. But behind the scenes, it was also dropping eBay affiliate tracking cookies onto users’ browsers without their knowledge - a tactic known as “cookie stuffing.” This meant Hogan could earn commission on purchases made by people who hadn’t actually clicked an eBay referral link. At one point, he reportedly became eBay’s top affiliate partner, earning millions through the program. eBay eventually launched an internal investigation, including a test designed to detect fake referrals. The findings led to a federal case. In 2010, Hogan pleaded guilty to wire fraud. He was sentenced to five months in prison, along with financial penalties #reelheadline #pubity #viral