The continuing evolution of mobile ad fraud requires an equally smart response, and the latest product update demonstrates our ability to stay ahead of these fraudsters. The addition of a new layer of protection to Apptrove’s Fraud Shield provides a deeper understanding of device integrity, identification of behavioral anomalies and identification of SDK mismatches that aid marketers in quickly identifying fraudulent traffic that appears to be legitimate on initial inspection.
These new filters were built after analysing high-volume fraud clusters across multiple regions, ad partners, and app categories. As a result, the ability to detect fraud is more precise, enabling more accurate attribution of revenue to the correct marketing source while also helping to protect the integrity of your advertising budget.
Below is a detailed look at the fraud patterns Apptrove now flags more accurately than ever.
1. Blank or Missing Hardware Fields
Some devices report empty hardware fields like device_model or device_name. In many cases, these fields appear as blank, null, or simply missing.
Why real devices don’t behave this way
Every legitimate Android device always populates these fields. Even the most obscure or low-end phone will report something, such as unknown, generic, etc. A real phone can be slow, buggy, or ancient but it cannot be mysteriously nameless.
How fraudsters pull this off
This pattern is most common with:
- Cheap Android emulators
- Outdated or poorly configured cloud-based device farms
- Bots that spoof the install but don’t properly mock system properties
- Farms that intentionally strip these values to avoid fingerprinting
With Apptrove’s new hardware integrity detection, these empty-signature installs get isolated instantly.
2. Identical RAM Across 1,000+ Devices from the Same Partner
You see thousands of devices reporting the exact same total RAM. Not “4 GB”, but literally identical down to the byte.
Why it’s impossible in organic traffic
Real device RAM distribution is diverse. Even two phones with “4 GB RAM” rarely return an identical system memory value. Now imagine 1,000 devices returning the same value. Statistically impossible without cloning.
How fraudsters cause it
- Cloned Android VMs
- Virtual device templates duplicated thousands of times
- Cloud phone images with identical hardware configs
- Emulator farms running the same preconfigured environment
Apptrove’s updated device fingerprinting logic now flags these clusters aggressively.
3. Retention Patterns That Collapse Immediately After Install
Traffic where installs occur normally, but retention looks like this:
- Sessions shorter than 5 seconds
- Zero meaningful activity
- No return sessions for 48 to 72 hours
- D1 and D3 retention nearly zero
Why it’s fraudulent
Organic users don’t behave like this. Even average app categories see 25–50 percent D1 retention. When retention drops to near zero across a single partner, it indicates purely incentive-driven or bot-based activity.
Fraud types associated
- Click spamming
- Install bots
- Emulator farms that open the app once then disappear
- Incentivized installs where users churn immediately
Apptrove’s behavioral anomaly filter now captures these fall-off patterns early so you can pause bad traffic before it drains budgets.
4. SDK Mismatch: Install SDK Type Doesn’t Match Event SDK Type
Your install is logged from a Cordova, Ionic, or React Native SDK, but your post-install events are coming from a native Android SDK.
Why this is technically impossible
Apps don’t switch SDKs midlife. You can’t start an app with a Cordova wrapper and then magically fire events through the native Android integration. The SDK used at build time remains consistent throughout the lifecycle.
How fraudsters create this mismatch
- Dual-SDK bot frameworks
- Event spoofing tools
- Replay attacks that capture real event signatures but fake the source
- Scripts that impersonate high-value events using native SDK calls
Apptrove’s SDK integrity filter now detects inconsistencies the moment they appear.
Smarter Fraud Detection. Cleaner Attribution. Stronger ROI.
Fraud has become more sophisticated, but so have we. These expanded fraud filters give you deeper visibility into device integrity, behavioral patterns, and SDK authenticity so you can confidently measure what’s real and remove what isn’t.
If you’re scaling user acquisition or running high-value event campaigns, this update ensures your budgets work harder and your reporting stays trustworthy.
Ready to see how these fraud filters strengthen your attribution accuracy? Explore more on your Apptrove dashboard and keep your marketing decisions grounded in clean, reliable data.