It all began in 2019 with a phone call: A friend had fallen for a fake offer – €2,200 gone, with no chance of a refund. “Isn’t there something we can do?” We had an idea: a service that helps fraud victims recover their money – for a success fee, maybe 39%? A LegalTech solution for fraud cases!
Then came COVID. We spoke to almost 200 affected individuals – all convinced they’d never see their money again. A lawyer tried recovering funds in 100 promising cases – successfully in five. It felt good, but it wasn’t a sustainable business model. And certainly not a long-term solution to fight fraud. Should we give up?
With strong partners – including northdata.de, neobank Qonto, and IBAN-Rechner – we developed a system for proactive fraud prevention. Our approach: collect suspicious IBANs and notify banks early to stop fraudulent transactions.
Today, nearly 300 banks receive our daily fraud alerts. Many actively review them and take measures to prevent suspicious payments. But an analysis with FinanzGuru revealed a problem: Although 38% of fraud victims transferred money after an IBAN had already been reported, chargebacks occurred in only 7% of cases.
We repeatedly interviewed fraud managers at banks. The 7% were hard to reach. Why? Because banks are hesitant to stop payments – out of fear of liability.
The solution: we inform not just the banks, but also potential fraud victims directly. On IBAN-Rechner.de, users can now check if an IBAN has been flagged. With over one million lookups per month, we’re reaching at-risk individuals – and successfully preventing fraud.
What does proactive protection achieve?
If a bank has 1 million customers, 5,000 will fall victim to fraud each year.
With our data, we can prevent 1,900 of them from becoming victims.
And it works! A user who sees a warning investigates – and avoids the scam.
In December 2024, FinanzGuru integrated fraud checks into its app. Every outgoing transfer is now automatically screened – already protecting many users from financial loss.
Since March 2025, the project has been continued by HinweisHelden.com (nebty GmbH). Together with banks, partners, and users, we’re committed to detecting and stopping fraud early and effectively.