The Hidden Cost of Fake Onboardings (And How to Prevent Them)

In a perfect world, every new signup would represent a real person excited to use your product.

But in the real world?
Not all new users are who they say they are.

Whether it’s a spammer with a disposable email, a bot testing your signup form, or a fraudster exploiting your free trial, fake onboardings are more common — and more damaging — than many teams realize.

What’s the Harm in a Few Fake Users?

Fake signups might seem harmless at first glance. After all, they’re not using your product, right? But here’s the reality:

• 🎯 Marketing Waste: You’re paying to acquire users who will never convert.
• 📉 Skewed Metrics: Growth, engagement, and churn data become unreliable.
• 🛠️ Increased Engineering Load: Cleanup and protection take time and resources.
• 🕵️ Security Risks: Some fake users aren’t harmless. They’re casing your app for vulnerabilities.

Worse, if you’re building your product roadmap on faulty analytics, you might be optimizing for ghost users instead of real ones.

What Do Fake Onboardings Look Like?

They’re not always obvious. But there are patterns:

• Signups from known disposable email domains
• Repeated registrations from similar IPs or device fingerprints
• Users who complete onboarding instantly but never engage again
• Accounts created at unusual times in suspicious volume
• IP addresses flagged as proxies, VPNs, or Tor exit nodes

These are signals. On their own, they’re not definitive — but combined, they paint a clear picture of potential fraud.

Strategies for a Safer Onboarding Pipeline

The good news: you don’t need to block every single signup with a CAPTCHA or hard wall. A smarter, layered approach can help:

1. Validate Email and Phone Data

Check domain reputation, MX records, number origin, and format. Most throwaway services can be filtered out automatically.

2. Monitor IP & Device Data

Log IP geolocation, risk scores, and behavior. Track devices and browsers for repetition or automation.

3. Progressive Friction

Add more verification only when a user exhibits risk factors. This way, legitimate users get a smooth experience, while suspicious ones hit extra checks.

4. Rate Limits & Behavioral Analysis

Watch for bursts of signups, repeated failed attempts, or odd patterns in form completion times.

5. Use Risk Scoring APIs

Third-party tools can score users in real time based on hundreds of signals. This allows you to auto-approve low-risk users, review medium-risk ones, and block the worst offenders.

🧠 Pro tip: Combine multiple signals to avoid false positives. A user behind a VPN isn’t necessarily bad — but a disposable email and a VPN together? That’s worth a closer look.

Final Thoughts: It’s Not About Blocking, It’s About Protecting

Fake onboardings are more than a numbers issue. They’re a trust issue, a performance issue, and ultimately, a business risk.

Securing your onboarding process doesn’t mean adding friction for everyone — it means getting smarter about who you trust and why.

Whether you use in-house solutions or leverage external risk assessment tools, the goal is the same:
Let the real users in. Keep the bad actors out.

Want to learn more about how developers are building fraud-resistant platforms?
👉 Explore our latest posts on fraud detection, real-time validation, and secure user onboarding.