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Marketing risk assessment

Performance Marketing Management Risk Assessment: Fraud, Account Security and Claims Controls

A worked example of how a marketing team identifies, scores and controls the risks in paid digital campaigns, from fraudulent leads and account compromise to misleading claims, privacy gaps and wasted budget.

Updated November 2026 8 hazards assessed Review every 3 months Highest risk: Critical to Medium
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Executive summary

This assessment shows how a marketing team can find, rate and control the risks in paid digital campaigns. Eight risks were chosen because they are plausible in everyday performance work, from invalid leads and account takeover to misleading claims, privacy gaps, influencer conduct, budget drift and weak launch checks. Fraudulent traffic and budget attribution carry the highest inherent scores because they quietly waste money. Each risk is scored before controls and again after existing and added controls. Most risks fall to Medium or Low once the additional controls are in place, but privacy and claims risks stay at Medium because the impact of a mistake stays serious. The first actions are multi-factor sign in, account wide spend caps and a claims register. The business is a teaching example, so every score illustrates method, not a real organization.

Focus area
Performance marketing, paid digital advertising and campaign measurement
Setting
In-house marketing team and agency partners running paid search, social and affiliate campaigns for a mid-sized consumer business
Method
Five by five inherent and residual risk register

Scope

This assessment covers planning, launch, optimization and reporting of paid digital campaigns, including ad accounts, tracking tags, lead capture, influencer and affiliate partners, and creative approval. It does not cover brand strategy, product pricing or the accounting treatment of marketing spend. Assumptions: the jurisdiction, product category and advertising platforms are not specified, so legal duties are described in general terms only, and all budgets and results are invented for teaching.

Context

The team has a marketing manager, two performance analysts, a creative lead and a content coordinator, supported by an external media agency and two freelance influencers. Campaigns run across several advertising platforms with tracking tags, a customer data platform and a lead form tool. Budgets are set monthly and results are reported weekly to a marketing director. Each hazard is scored before controls to show its natural level, then again after the existing controls and the additional controls that should be added.

Objectives, assets and stakeholders

The objective is to grow qualified demand at a cost the business can sustain, while keeping ad accounts secure, claims accurate, customer data protected and the brand trusted. The assets in scope are ad accounts, budgets, tracking tags, audience lists, lead data, creative files and licenses, and the reputation of the brand and its partners. Stakeholders include the marketing team, finance, sales, the data protection lead, creators and affiliates, agencies, customers and regulators. Every risk has one owner role, and the marketing director reviews the register with finance each month.

Risk matrix: before and after controls

Each cell shows hazard numbers placed by likelihood and impact. Compare the two grids to see how controls move each hazard.

Before controls

Inherent risk

Risk before controls: rows are likelihood from almost certain to rare, columns are impact from insignificant to catastrophic. Cells list hazard numbers.
1
Insignificant		 2
Minor		 3
Moderate		 4
Major		 5
Catastrophic
5 Almost certain
4 Likely Likelihood 4, impact 4, score 16, high: H02 H07 Likelihood 4, impact 5, score 20, critical: H01
3 Possible Likelihood 3, impact 3, score 9, medium: H03 H08 Likelihood 3, impact 4, score 12, high: H04 Likelihood 3, impact 5, score 15, high: H05
2 Unlikely Likelihood 2, impact 4, score 8, medium: H06
1 Rare

After controls

Residual risk

Risk after controls: rows are likelihood from almost certain to rare, columns are impact from insignificant to catastrophic. Cells list hazard numbers.
1
Insignificant		 2
Minor		 3
Moderate		 4
Major		 5
Catastrophic
5 Almost certain
4 Likely
3 Possible
2 Unlikely Likelihood 2, impact 2, score 4, low: H06 H08 Likelihood 2, impact 3, score 6, medium: H03 H04 H07 Likelihood 2, impact 4, score 8, medium: H01 H02 H05
1 Rare
  • Low 1 to 4
  • Medium 5 to 9
  • High 10 to 16
  • Critical 17 to 25

Hazard register

A summary first, then the detail for each hazard.

Summary of hazards with scores before and after controls
No.HazardBeforeAfterOwner
H01 Fraudulent traffic and leads 20 Critical 8 Medium Performance analyst
H02 Account compromise and unauthorized access 16 High 8 Medium Marketing operations lead
H03 Platform and policy dependency 9 Medium 6 Medium Marketing director
H04 Misleading claims and unlicensed creative 12 High 6 Medium Compliance officer
H05 Privacy, consent and sensitive targeting 15 High 8 Medium Data protection lead
H06 Influencer and affiliate conduct 8 Medium 4 Low Partnerships manager
H07 Budget overspend and attribution errors 16 High 6 Medium Finance business partner
H08 Campaign failure from weak pre-launch checks 9 Medium 4 Low Marketing operations lead
H01

Fraudulent traffic and leads

Financial Before 20 After 8

Bots, click farms and fake form submissions inflate clicks and leads, so budget buys traffic that never converts and sales teams chase invalid contacts.

Who or what is affected: Marketing team, sales team and finance

Causes

Automated traffic, low-cost lead sources and pay per lead incentives given to partners.

Consequences

Wasted spend, distorted reports, poor sales trust in marketing and inaccurate forecasts.

Existing controls

  • Platform bot filtering is switched on.
  • Lead forms include a basic captcha check.

Control gaps

Lead quality is checked only after sales calls, so invalid leads reach the pipeline first.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Block known bad placements and require verified email for lead forms.
  • Detect: Review traffic quality by source each week and flag sudden spikes with low engagement.
Likelihood 4 x impact 5 before; 2 x 4 after Owner: Performance analyst Target: Within 30 days Early warning: Lead to sale rate falling by a third while cost per lead holds steady.
H02

Account compromise and unauthorized access

Technology and data Before 16 After 8

Shared passwords, phishing and former staff keeping live access let outsiders take over ad accounts, change billing or publish harmful ads.

Who or what is affected: Marketing team, customers and the brand

Causes

Phishing emails, reused passwords and access granted to agencies and former staff.

Consequences

Unauthorized spend, offensive ads, stolen customer data and platform suspension.

Existing controls

  • Ad accounts use individual logins.
  • Billing alerts are sent to the marketing director.

Control gaps

Access reviews happen only when someone asks, and agency logins are not tracked.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Enforce multi-factor sign in and remove shared passwords from all platforms.
  • Respond: Keep a runbook to pause all campaigns and revoke access within one hour.
Likelihood 4 x impact 4 before; 2 x 4 after Owner: Marketing operations lead Target: Within 14 days Early warning: A login from an unfamiliar location or a billing change nobody requested.
H03

Platform and policy dependency

Supplier Before 9 After 6

A platform changes its ad rules, auction costs, tracking support or account review process, and campaigns are paused, repriced or limited without warning.

Who or what is affected: Marketing team, finance and sales

Causes

Heavy reliance on one platform, frequent policy changes and automated account reviews.

Consequences

Lost sales, rising acquisition costs and weaker forecasts.

Existing controls

  • Spend is spread across two advertising platforms.
  • The team reads platform policy updates each month.

Control gaps

No written test of the backup channel has been run.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Keep a second channel plan ready and cap spend on any one platform at a set share.
  • Recover: Rebuild campaigns on a backup channel using stored audiences and creative assets.
Likelihood 3 x impact 3 before; 2 x 3 after Owner: Marketing director Target: Within 60 days Early warning: Cost per click rising for three weeks with no change in bids.
H04

Misleading claims and unlicensed creative

Legal and compliance Before 12 After 6

Ads promise unverified results, hide terms, or use images and music without rights, so the business faces complaints, takedowns and claims from rights holders.

Who or what is affected: Customers, competitors, creators and the marketing team

Causes

Pressure to hit click targets, unclear rules on evidence and reuse of old assets.

Consequences

Takedowns, complaints, penalties in some places, refunds and damage to trust.

Existing controls

  • Creative is approved by the creative lead before launch.
  • Stock images are taken only from licensed libraries.

Control gaps

Claims are approved from memory, and asset licenses are not stored with the files.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Keep a claims register with evidence for each product statement and legal sign off for health or money claims.
  • Detect: Check live ads against the claims register each week and log any change.
Likelihood 3 x impact 4 before; 2 x 3 after Owner: Compliance officer Target: Within 30 days Early warning: A new ad with a numerical result that has no evidence on file.
H05

Privacy, consent and sensitive targeting

Legal and compliance Before 15 After 8

Tracking tags, custom audiences and lead forms collect data without clear consent, or use sensitive attributes for targeting, which breaks privacy promises and rules.

Who or what is affected: Customers, prospects and the data team

Causes

Tags added by agencies, broad audience lists and unclear consent records.

Consequences

Regulator complaints, forced deletion of data, lost customers and platform restrictions.

Existing controls

  • A cookie banner is shown on the website.
  • Lead forms link to a privacy notice.

Control gaps

Tags are not inventoried, so new scripts go live without a privacy check.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Limit targeting to approved attributes and suppress sensitive categories.
  • Detect: Audit tags on key pages each month and check that consent flags reach the ad platform.
Likelihood 3 x impact 5 before; 2 x 4 after Owner: Data protection lead Target: Within 45 days Early warning: A new tag that fires before consent is recorded.
H06

Influencer and affiliate conduct

Reputational Before 8 After 4

Creators or affiliates post undisclosed paid content, make false claims or publish material that harms the brand, damaging trust and inviting regulatory attention.

Who or what is affected: Brand, audiences and partners

Causes

Commission based pay, loose briefs and limited monitoring of partner posts.

Consequences

Public complaints, lost trust, removal of content and loss of partner relationships.

Existing controls

  • Contracts require creators to follow brand guidelines.
  • Affiliate links are tracked through a single network.

Control gaps

Posts are checked after publication, not before.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Require a clear paid partnership label in every post and pre approve scripts.
  • Respond: Hold a takedown plan with a named spokesperson and a 24 hour response window.
Likelihood 2 x impact 4 before; 2 x 2 after Owner: Partnerships manager Target: Within 30 days Early warning: A partner post with no disclosure label or a sudden spike in negative comments.
H07

Budget overspend and attribution errors

Financial Before 16 After 6

Budgets are exceeded through automated bidding or weak caps, while attribution credits the wrong channel, so money moves to campaigns that do not drive sales.

Who or what is affected: Finance, marketing director and sales

Causes

Automated bidding, conversions counted twice and last click bias in reporting.

Consequences

Overspend, poor allocation, misleading returns and wrong hiring plans.

Existing controls

  • Daily spend limits are set in each account.
  • Monthly budget is reviewed against plan.

Control gaps

Attribution rules differ between tools and nobody reconciles them.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Set account wide caps and require approval for any budget change above a set value.
  • Detect: Compare platform reported conversions with analytics and sales records each month.
Likelihood 4 x impact 4 before; 2 x 3 after Owner: Finance business partner Target: Within 45 days Early warning: Platform conversions rising while sales from the same period stay flat.
H08

Campaign failure from weak pre-launch checks

Operational Before 9 After 4

Broken landing pages, wrong links, untested tracking or the wrong audience go live, so spend is lost and customers meet errors at the point of purchase.

Who or what is affected: Customers, marketing team and web team

Causes

Rushed launches, late creative changes and no separate test environment.

Consequences

Lost sales, damaged brand image and invalid campaign data.

Existing controls

  • The team uses a launch checklist for major campaigns.
  • Landing pages are tested on desktop before launch.

Control gaps

The checklist is not used for small campaigns, which make up most of the spend.

Additional controls

  • Prevent: Require a pre launch test of links, tracking and mobile layout with sign off by a second person.
  • Detect: Run automated link and tag checks each day after launch and alert on errors.
Likelihood 3 x impact 3 before; 2 x 2 after Owner: Marketing operations lead Target: Within 30 days Early warning: Conversion rate falling by more than half within the first day.

Rating method and evaluation

Each risk is rated on two five-point scales. Likelihood runs from 1, rare, to 5, almost certain, and impact runs from 1, minor, to 5, severe. Multiplying the two gives a score from 1 to 25, which falls into one of four bands: Low from 1 to 4, Medium from 5 to 9, High from 10 to 16 and Critical from 17 to 25. The score is a guide for ordering work, not a measurement. Inherent risk is the score before any controls. Residual risk is the score after the existing and added controls, and it must never be higher than the inherent score. Impact includes money lost, time to correct, harm to customers and harm to trust. A risk is not rated down only because it has not yet happened. Anything still High needs senior attention and a dated plan, anything Medium needs routine controls with a named owner, and anything Low is accepted and watched. Owners challenge the ratings in a monthly review, and any rating is revisited when an indicator reaches its threshold.

Likelihood, impact and rating bands

Likelihood

  • 5 Almost certain: Expected to happen in most circumstances.
  • 4 Likely: Will probably happen in many circumstances.
  • 3 Possible: Could happen at some time.
  • 2 Unlikely: Not expected, but it could happen.
  • 1 Rare: Only in exceptional circumstances.

Impact

  • 1 Insignificant: No lasting effect. Handled within routine work.
  • 2 Minor: Small effect that is quickly corrected.
  • 3 Moderate: Noticeable effect that needs managed effort to correct.
  • 4 Major: Serious effect on people, delivery or reputation.
  • 5 Catastrophic: Severe or lasting effect that threatens the whole activity.

Bands (likelihood x impact)

  • Low (1 to 4): Accept and monitor.
  • Medium (5 to 9): Manage with routine controls.
  • High (10 to 16): Senior attention and a treatment plan.
  • Critical (17 to 25): Act first. Do not proceed until reduced.

Monitoring, escalation and review

Review this assessment every 3 months, and sooner when an indicator below reaches its threshold.

Early-warning indicators and escalation thresholds
Indicator to watchEscalate when
Lead to sale rate and the share of leads rejected as invalid by sales each week.Escalate to the marketing director when invalid leads exceed the agreed share for two weeks, and pause the source.
Logins, billing changes or new user grants on ad accounts outside working hours or without a ticket.Escalate to the marketing operations lead at once, and to the IT manager if access cannot be confirmed within two hours.
Platform policy notices, disapprovals or account reviews received in a week.Escalate to the marketing director within one working day when any account review or spend limit is applied.
Ads live without a claims register entry or with a changed numerical claim.Escalate to the compliance officer the same day, and pause the ad until evidence is approved.
Spend against plan and platform conversions compared with sales records each week.Escalate to the finance business partner when spend is above plan for a week, and to the marketing director if it continues.

Contingency arrangements

If an account is compromised, the marketing operations lead pauses all campaigns, revokes access and records the time of each action, while the IT manager secures email and billing. If fraud or invalid traffic is confirmed, the performance analyst blocks the source and the finance business partner reviews spend. Misleading ads are taken down within one working day, and the compliance officer decides on any notice to customers, with specialist legal review where needed. Staff and partners are told plainly what is happening and what is being done.

Prioritized action plan

  1. Enforce multi-factor sign in and remove shared logins, owner marketing operations lead, within 14 days.
  2. Set account wide spend caps and change approvals, owner finance business partner, within 30 days.
  3. Start a claims register and a pre launch test checklist, owner compliance officer, within 30 days.
  4. Inventory tracking tags and confirm consent flags reach the ad platform, owner data protection lead, within 45 days.
  5. Test a backup channel plan and creator disclosure rules, owner partnerships manager, within 60 days.

Conclusion

Performance marketing rewards speed, which makes fast and simple controls more important than ever. The highest scores sit with fraudulent traffic, budget attribution and account security, and each has practical steps that bring the residual score down. Keep the register as a living record, review it every three months or after any platform change, incident or new partner, and seek qualified legal and privacy advice for any real claim, consent or data question.

Assumptions and limitations

Assumptions

  • The business sells a consumer product and runs paid campaigns on several large advertising platforms.
  • Staff use managed company devices, and agencies access accounts through named logins.
  • Jurisdiction and sector rules are not specified, so specialist review is needed before any real decision.

Limitations

  • The scores and figures are examples for learning and do not describe any real business or platform.
  • Advertising, privacy and consumer rules differ by country and change over time.
  • This is educational content and is not legal, privacy or financial advice.

Related frameworks to study

  • Three lines model of risk ownership
  • Hierarchy of controls
  • Data minimization and consent principles
  • Plain language review of advertising claims

Marketing Risk Assessment

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For Learning Reference Only: This assessment demonstrates how risk assessment principles are applied in a practical setting, providing a useful reference for learning and understanding. Actual assessments may be adapted to suit specific site conditions and circumstances.

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