This episode is a bit of a full-circle moment.

Years ago, Matt Vega interviewed me on one of my first podcast appearances. And now, somehow, here we are, roles reversed, with Matt joining me for the first full interview episode of The Saturday Fraud Strategist.

Honestly, not a bad way to start.

In this episode, Matt and I talk about what it actually takes to build real-time fraud prevention from zero. Not the polished vendor version. The real version. The one with hiring decisions, messy processes, fragile fraud prevention tech stacks, disconnected vendors, and systems that look impressive right up until they break.

Not a good look.

While real-time fraud detection sounds like a technology problem, the conversation goes deeper. We talk about people, process, product, real-time fraud monitoring, tactical friction, fraud prevention guardrails, AI readiness, and why teams need to move upstream before the money is gone.

Because once the payment moves, especially in real-time transaction monitoring or real-time payment environments, you are not preventing fraud anymore. You are documenting the damage.

• A breakdown of Matt Vega’s people, process, and product framework for real-time fraud prevention
• A practical discussion of how to build a fraud prevention strategy from zero
• Insight into hiring for curiosity, trust, flexibility, and actual problem-solving ability
• A conversation about reactive vs proactive fraud prevention in real-time payment environments
• A focused look at upstream fraud detection, tactical friction, and why friction done right can increase trust
• Practical considerations for building a fraud prevention tech stack where vendors, signals, and workflows actually communicate
• A discussion of AI fraud prevention, machine learning fraud detection, and agentic AI in fraud prevention

Listeners can expect a conversation that moves from theory to operating reality, and from operating reality to practical decisions fraud teams can actually use.

• Fraud leaders and fraud professionals
• Risk, compliance, and cybersecurity teams
• Fintech, banking, and payments teams
• Product leaders building real-time payment experiences
• Fraud operations teams moving from manual review to automation
• Founders, operators, and executives building fraud prevention programs from scratch

Anyone evaluating fraud detection rules, behavioral biometrics, device intelligence, KYC fraud prevention, account takeover prevention, or the best fraud prevention tools for their stack.

The discussion is designed for professionals who are committed not only to detecting fraud, but to building systems that can scale without becoming fragile.