question about how referral links work

Hello! Im new to swagbucks and I dont really get how referrals work, everytime I try to refer to my friend at work via email, the link doesnt give any personal code and just loads swagucks signup/login page, same thing with the swagbutton link, it only takes to the homepage. Is there a way to see if an account is referring or being reffered another account? Are we doing something wrong? thank you all