> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.smile.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Cancel referral

> How to cancel a fraudulent referral

There may be instances where you want to cancel a referral that has occurred in your referral program. This article will explain how you can cancel a referral to prevent abuse of the referral program.

## What happens when you cancel a referral

If you detect that a referral may be fraudulent, you can cancel it in the [Referrals section](https://app.smile.io/reward-programs/referrals/activity) (Smile Admin > Programs > Activity > Referrals)

## Cancelling a pending referral

A referral is marked **pending** when an Advocate's Friend has entered their email to claim their referral reward code, but has not yet placed an order with their code.

Cancelling a referral in the **pending** state will:

* Prevent the Advocate from receiving a referral code if the Friend places an order.
* Mark the reward code that has been issued to the Friend as cancelled in the customer Panel. They will not be able to copy this code from the Panel.
* For Shopify merchants, Shopify discount codes generated by Smile for the Friend will be voided so they can no longer be used.

## Cancelling a completed referral

A referral is marked **completed** when an Advocate's Friend has entered their email to claim their referral code and the Friend has placed an order.

Cancelling a referral in the **completed** state will:

* Cancel the Advocate and Friend's reward code.
* Adjust the points balance for the Friend and Advocate if they earned points for the referral.
* For Shopify merchants, reward codes generated by Smile for the Advocate and Friend will be voided

## How to cancel a referral

Navigate to the customer who's referral you would like to cancel, and select  **Cancel Referral:**

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/smileio-help-docs/UAr89xLURJgV0mjm/en/articles/images/4036297-cancel-referral-1.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=UAr89xLURJgV0mjm&q=85&s=ef450ec8197fb45fc5aa03df46df9dbe" alt="" width="881" height="194" data-path="en/articles/images/4036297-cancel-referral-1.png" />

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/smileio-help-docs/UAr89xLURJgV0mjm/en/articles/images/4036297-cancel-referral-2.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=UAr89xLURJgV0mjm&q=85&s=539410805b3211e97b3e808ff593427a" alt="" width="563" height="367" data-path="en/articles/images/4036297-cancel-referral-2.png" />

Once you've cancelled a referral it will be moved to the **cancelled** referrals column in your **All Referrals** grid.

<Tip>
  **Tip:** A referral cancellation cannot be undone, so make sure you've selected the right referral before you cancel.
</Tip>

There are three instances where a referral will automatically be cancelled by Smile:

* If you remove a customer from your program, any of their pending referrals will be cancelled.
* If a customer is deleted, any of their pending referrals will be cancelled.
* If an order is refunded, any referrals associated with that order will be cancelled.

<Note>
  **Note**: Order cancellations (without a refund) do not automatically cancel the associated referral. You'll need to cancel it manually if needed.
</Note>