Rep Data joins the Greenbook podcast to talk “Hot Fraud Summer”

When it comes to survey fraud, 2025 has been anything but quiet. In a recent episode of the Greenbook Podcast, “Hot Fraud Summer: What 4 Billion Surveys Reveal About Data Risk,”Rep Data’s EVP and Head of Research, Steven Snell, PhD, sat down with Greenbook host Karen Lynch to unpack our State of Fraud 2025 findings and what they mean for the market research industry moving forward.The conversation explored the latest data from Research Defender, Rep Data’s fraud detection platform, which scanned more than 4.1 billion survey attempts between January and August 2025. The results offer a view into how fraud evolves, where it’s most active, and how researchers can better protect their data.

Fraud Is Just One Piece Of The Quality Puzzle

During the interview, Steve emphasized that fraud is only part of the broader data quality challenge. Poor survey design such as overly long questionnaires, weak screeners, and confusing logic still causes more harm than most researchers realize. “You can have all the fraud prevention in place,” he explained, “but you can still get bad data if the research design is flawed.” Prevention has to start before the first respondent ever enters the survey.

The Numbers Behind The Noise

From the State of Fraud 2025 data, several key findings emerged that Steve shared in the podcast:

• One-third of survey attempts are fraudulent. Another 27% come from inattentive respondents. While there’s some overlap, the two are distinct problems requiring different solutions.
• Traditional data cleaning catches only about 30% of fraud. Fraudsters increasingly produce “good-looking” data that sails through common checks for speeders and straight-liners.
• Block rates vary from 20% to 40%. Rates are higher for narrow targets and high-incentive studies, where fraudsters stand to gain more.

The biggest change this year? A surge in what Steve called “hyperactivity”—respondents attempting dozens or even hundreds of surveys per day. During the summer months, hyperactivity-related blocks tripled compared to early 2025, prompting Steve to nickname the period “hot fraud summer.”

Regional And Audience Differences

During the “Hot Fraud Summer” podcast, Steve and Karen also explored how fraud looks different across markets and study types. Steve explained that in major markets like the US, UK, Germany, and Japan, fraudsters are using more sophisticated tools such as location spoofing, proxies, emulators, and even batch attacks, where identical responses flood surveys within minutes. In smaller markets, duplication and excessive activity tend to be more common, reflecting less professionalized but still disruptive forms of fraud. When the conversation turned to B2B research, Steve noted that high-CPI studies attract what he jokingly called a “fraud cocktail,” where multiple tactics are combined by experienced actors impersonating IT decision-makers and other high-value respondents.

Three Steps Every Researcher Can Take

The podcast discussion also focused on what researchers can do right now to strengthen data integrity:

1. Design better surveys. Keep them short, clear, and mobile-friendly. “There’s no such thing as a good survey over 20 minutes,” Steve noted.
2. Prevent before you clean. Every incentivized survey needs fraud prevention at the entry point. Relying solely on post-survey cleaning is not enough.
3. Define quality standards upfront. Establish rules for data cleaning before fieldwork begins to avoid bias and inconsistency later.

Steve added that while Rep Data partners closely with trusted suppliers, “every source has some amount of fraud. That’s why we exist—to monitor, detect, and block it in real time.”

Smarter Than The Fraudsters

As AI becomes part of both the problem and the solution, Steve shared that he remains cautiously optimistic. Research Defender now identifies markers of AI-generated open ends, and future updates will expand that capability. “The future of data quality is technical,” he said. “Researchers don’t need to code APIs, but we do need to be as smart—and as motivated—as the fraudsters.”

You can listen to the full Greenbook podcast episode “Hot Fraud Summer: What 4 Billion Surveys Reveal About Data Risk” here. For a deeper look at the findings and data behind this conversation, watch our on-demand webinar “The State of Fraud in 2025” to see how Rep Data and Research Defender are addressing the evolving threat of survey fraud.