diff --git a/lib/referrals.js b/lib/referrals.js
index c10d755..12a3fdb 100644
--- a/lib/referrals.js
+++ b/lib/referrals.js
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ const DEFAULTS = {
   // existed before. That's why we're doing it."). Anyone whose account predates this moment was
   // already a member, by definition, and can never earn their sponsor a bounty or a match.
   refNewAfter: '2026-09-23T10:00:00Z',
+  refRequireOrigin: 1,   // only pay for members PolHunter actually sent (joinedRef)
+
   refNewDays: 30,       // secondary: a newcomer only earns their sponsor a bounty in their first
                         // month, so a dormant signup cannot trigger one a year later
   refCapPol: 20,        // referral pool per Central day, separate from the find pool
@@ -54,6 +56,7 @@ function seen(claims) {
     if (claims.wallet) cur.wallet = norm(claims.wallet);
     if (claims.sponsorRef) cur.sponsorRef = norm(claims.sponsorRef);
     if (claims.joinedAt) cur.joinedAt = Number(claims.joinedAt);
+    if (claims.joinedRef) cur.joinedRef = String(claims.joinedRef).toLowerCase();
     cur.lastSeen = Date.now();
     h[id] = cur;
     return h;
@@ -130,6 +133,16 @@ function onFind(member, find) {
   const floor = Date.parse(String(c.refNewAfter || ''));
   if (!Number.isFinite(floor) || floor <= 0) return [];
   if (!me.joinedAt || Number(me.joinedAt) < floor) return [];
+  // AND PolHunter has to have actually sent them. The account being new is not enough: somebody who
+  // joined InstantAdPay off an email, a banner or another site and only later wandered over here was
+  // never a PolHunter acquisition, and paying a bounty for them defeats the point (Marty,
+  // 2026-09-24). The proof is InstantAdPay's first-touch source, handed over signed in the sign-in
+  // payload; a share link stamps it polhunter.com from the URL itself, so a stripped referrer does
+  // not lose a genuine referral. Fails closed: no origin on file pays nobody.
+  // only an explicit '0' turns this off: a typo or a stray value must leave the gate standing,
+  // the same way the floor does
+  if (String(c.refRequireOrigin) !== '0'
+      && !/polhunter/i.test(String(me.joinedRef || ''))) return [];
   const who = { forMemberId: id, forName: me.username || ('#' + id) };
 
   // the bounty, once, on their first find, and only while they are genuinely a new member
@@ -165,10 +178,13 @@ function state(member) {
   // the same floor onFind pays by, so the card can never promise an earning it will not make
   const floor = Date.parse(String(c.refNewAfter || ''));
   const gateOk = Number.isFinite(floor) && floor > 0;
+  const needOrigin = String(c.refRequireOrigin) !== '0';
   const mine = broughtBy(id).map(x => {
     const theirFinds = store.read('payouts', []).filter(p => Number(p.memberId) === Number(x.memberId) && !p.ref && !p.prize && p.status !== 'failed');
     const paid = bountyPaidFor(x.memberId);
-    const isNew = !!(gateOk && x.joinedAt && Number(x.joinedAt) >= floor);
+    const viaHunt = /polhunter/i.test(String(x.joinedRef || ''));
+    // qualifying means BOTH: new to InstantAdPay, and sent here by PolHunter
+    const isNew = !!(gateOk && x.joinedAt && Number(x.joinedAt) >= floor && (!needOrigin || viaHunt));
     return {
       name: x.username || ('#' + x.memberId),
       // when they actually joined InstantAdPay, not when this directory first noticed them:
@@ -177,8 +193,12 @@ function state(member) {
       finds: theirFinds.length,
       // an account that predates the mission was already a member: say so plainly rather than
       // show them as 'hunting' next to a bounty that will never arrive
-      isNew,
-      state: !isNew ? 'already a member before the mission, earns nothing'
+      isNew, viaHunt,
+      // say exactly which condition they miss, so nobody waits on a bounty that will not come
+      state: !isNew
+        ? (gateOk && x.joinedAt && Number(x.joinedAt) < floor
+            ? 'already a member before the mission, earns nothing'
+            : 'joined InstantAdPay some other way, not through your link')
         : paid ? 'earning' : theirFinds.length ? 'hunting' : 'signed up, no find yet',
       stillNew: isNew && (Date.now() - Number(x.joinedAt)) / 86400000 <= Number(c.refMatchDays),
     };