We operate in the trenches of FinTech – real-time, full-stack and fully exposed to the relentless tide of digital fraud. As an embedded payments provider across the EU, Intergiro lives at the bleeding edge where innovation meets exploitation. And let me be clear: fraud isn’t a back-office nuisance anymore. It’s an existential threat. One that every modern financial company, especially those bootstrapped like ours, must treat as core business, not a support function.
Right now, 30% of our headcount is dedicated to fraud prevention, compliance and cybersecurity. That’s not a vanity metric – that’s the reality of staying alive in a hostile digital environment. We spend millions annually not just on tooling and infrastructure, but on reimbursing innocent victims. For a company building its future on resilience, programmatic control, and capital efficiency, these costs are brutal. But necessary.
The Scamdemic is Here
Fraud is no longer a sideshow; it’s the main event. In the past 18–24 months, we’ve seen a sharp escalation. Sweden’s financial police reported an 80% spike in investment fraud between 2022 and 2023. Our internal metrics tell the same story. Spiking fraud attempts, more advanced attack vectors and a user base under siege.
And this isn’t abstract. It’s personal. For example, I got hit by a fake Uniqlo storefront. Nearly lost money. Only Intergiro’s own controls saved me. It was a sobering moment: even a FinTech founder can fall victim. For digital natives, that’s embarrassing. For the less tech-savvy – think your parents’ generation – it’s a nightmare. My own father won’t use Uber unless one of us physically adds his card to the app.
Understanding the Threat Landscape
To address this epidemic, we first need to clarify the categories of fraud. Payment fraud and ID theft are mostly on us – as FinTechs. If a system fails, or a tool is exploited, we own that and cover the loss. But social engineering and investment fraud? They’re tougher. These rely on psychological manipulation – human vulnerabilities we can’t patch with software updates. Still, that doesn’t mean we’re powerless. We just need to shift our lens.
Upstream, Not Downstream…Fighting social engineering with regulation is like mopping up the floor while the roof’s still leaking. Necessary, but ultimately reactive. We need to move upstream. Way upstream.
Social Media: The Root of the Fraud Problem
Over 75% of fraud starts on social platforms. That’s the front door. If we don’t lock it, we’re just chasing shadows. Meta’s FIRE partnership with UK banks is a baby step in the right direction. But let’s be honest – it shifts responsibility onto banks to clean up the mess, while platforms avoid real-time accountability.
What we need is a pan-European version of FIRE, backed by the teeth of the Digital Services Act and centralised enforcement. FinTech alone can’t drive this. We need regulators, platforms and providers rowing in the same direction.
Public Awareness: Borrowing the Pandemic Playbook
Think about this: between 2020–2022, fraud cost the EU €157 billion. That’s not far off the public health spend from COVID. And fraud doesn’t recede – it compounds.
In a pandemic, we responded with mass public education: masks, distancing, handwashing. We need the same for digital fraud. A real, coordinated public awareness campaign built around these pillars:
- Basic operational security – Email is not secure. Banks don’t ask for details over email. Wire transfers aren’t reversible like card transactions.
- Social media hygiene – If it smells like a scam; even from a verified blue tick – assume it is. “Stop. Think. Click.”
- AI as defence – The same AI used to create scams can help spot them. Let’s teach users how to turn the tools around – scan that investment pitch, audit that wallet address.
Delivery matters here. Dry leaflets won’t cut it. Interactive quizzes, short-form video explainers, browser plug-ins – a toolkit that reaches people where the scams do: in-feed and in-app.
Collective Action Against Fraud: Collaboration Over Competition
FinTech has a reputation for speed, innovation and competition. But when it comes to fraud, isolation is the enemy. No single firm can win this war alone.
We need a secure, privacy-conscious layer for FinTech collaboration. A shared fraud intelligence layer that goes beyond blacklists and blocked BINs. We’re not talking about turning FinTechs into police forces, but enabling programmatic detection through pooled data, shared signals and joint tooling.
At Intergiro, we’re already piloting private data-sharing models with other European players. It’s early – but promising.
Final Word: It Takes a Village
This war against fraud won’t be won in the back office of your local neobank. It needs a whole-of-society effort. Platforms must step up. Regulators must align. And consumers must be trained – not blamed.
Fraud isn’t going away. As AI evolves, so will the threat. But so will we – if we move fast, stay dynamic, and invest in people, tools, and partnerships. Not just for ROI – but for resilience.
At Intergiro, we’re all in. But we can’t do it alone. If FinTech is the infrastructure of modern commerce, fraud is the fault line beneath it. And we can’t build the future on a fault line.
- Cybersecurity in FinTech