Bloomberg report says Phia used cookie stuffing to claim affiliate commissions, raising wire fraud risk for Phoebe Gates

Bloomberg reported that internal Slack messages show Phoebe Gates, daughter of Bill Gates, and Phia co-founder Sophia Kianni knew as early as December last year that their shopping comparison startup had been using cookie stuffing to claim affiliate marketing commissions. The practice involves placing tracking cookies in a user’s browser without a legitimate referral click, allowing a company to take credit for sales it did not drive. Corporate lawyer Ariel Givner wrote on X that this conduct is typically treated as federal wire fraud in U.S. courts and could carry a maximum penalty of up to 20 years, along with fines and restitution. Bloomberg had previously reported on July 9 that Phia’s browser extension opened background tabs during checkout, inserted its own cookies, and in some cases overwrote valid referral records. After the feature was shut down, charts reviewed by Bloomberg showed Phia’s average daily revenue fell from about $80,000 to between $10,000 and $28,000. The report also said cookie stuffing accounted for 51% of all sales attributed to Phia in June. No prosecutors have formally charged Gates or Kianni at this stage.