Head of Anti-Fraud

Hi! We're Mercuryo, and we’re on a mission to redefine finance by blending the best of traditional banking with the power of decentralized finance (DeFi). We believe everyone deserves seamless access to Web3 and traditional financial services, so we're building the platform that makes it real: one that simplifies crypto and integrates it into the broader financial ecosystem.

About the role

The Head of Anti-Fraud runs Mercuryo's fraud prevention function and reports directly to the Head of AML Operations. The role owns fraud risk across the on/off-ramp widget, wallet, swaps and card acquiring pay-ins and pay-outs: detection rules, investigations, chargeback and card scheme exposure, and checking that partners and merchants use our products only where we approved them.

We need an experienced, hands-on leader who has run large-scale fraud investigations, can find weaknesses in controls, and can redesign the procedures, rules and tooling to close them. Detailed knowledge of Visa and Mastercard rules is essential, in particular the programmes covering merchant integrity, fraud and dispute ratios, and transaction laundering.

Your Role:

Investigations

• Lead complex and large-scale fraud investigations: linked-account networks, card testing, mule activity, account takeover, scams, and merchant or partner collusion.

• Set the investigation standard: one case record per subject with linked history, closure deadlines, root-cause analysis, and evidence that stands up to an acquirer, a card scheme or an auditor.

• Act on findings by changing rules, restricting or offboarding merchants and partners, and escalating suspicion to Transaction Monitoring and the MLRO.

Rules, controls and procedures

• Own the anti-fraud rule set: design, impact testing before release, documented approval, a rule register, and regular effectiveness and false-positive reviews.

• Find where controls fail or can be bypassed, and redesign them.

• Write and maintain the anti-fraud procedures and the fraud risk assessment, and be able to show that each control works as written.

• Build and run the AML alert and block rules that Transaction Monitoring and Compliance request on the anti-fraud platform, including for card acquiring, with fraud and AML rules kept separate in the register and each assigned an owner.

Card schemes, acquirers and chargebacks

• Keep every acquirer relationship and MID within Visa and Mastercard fraud and dispute thresholds, with early warning before a limit is reached.

• Lead the anti-fraud response to Visa and Mastercard notices and programme identifications within scheme deadlines.

• Act as the anti-fraud lead with our acquiring partners: respond to RFIs with evidence, agree remediation plans, and complete due diligence questionnaires.

• Own chargebacks and disputes: representment, pre-arbitration, deadlines and win rates, supported by tooling and pre-dispute alerts.

Merchant and partner integrity

• Build and run the programme that detects and stops partners and merchants offering our widget or payment links on websites we have not approved, including through resellers, aggregators, iframes and redirects.

• Select and manage a merchant monitoring and transaction laundering detection provider, and set how its alerts are triaged, actioned and evidenced.

• Agree with KYB, Integrations, Legal and Acquiring what follows confirmed misuse (blocking, takedown, contractual remedies, offboarding and reporting), and check that each action has taken effect.

Leadership and reporting

• Lead and develop the Anti-Fraud team of specialists, analysts, chargeback and fraud operations staff, based in several countries.

• Report fraud losses, chargeback and fraud ratios, scheme exposure, incidents and control status to the Head of AML Operations, senior management and the Board.

• Keep the incident register, and close audit, QA and compliance monitoring findings with evidence.

• Work with Product and Engineering so new products, markets and merchants have fraud controls in place before launch.

What We're Looking For:

• At least 8 years in fraud prevention in payments, card acquiring, a PSP or EMI, or crypto, including at least 3 years leading a fraud team or function, preferably one spread across several countries.

• Has personally led large-scale fraud investigations from detection to resolution, such as card-testing attacks, mule networks, account takeover rings or merchant collusion, and produced evidence for acquirers, card schemes or law enforcement.

• Has redesigned fraud controls and procedures after an audit, a scheme notice or a major incident, and can show the effect on losses and ratios.

• Has handled acquirer RFIs, remediation plans and scheme programme cases directly.

Visa and Mastercard programmes

• Visa: VAMP, VIRP, TC40 fraud reporting, dispute rules including Compelling Evidence 3.0, and the pre-dispute tools Order Insight and RDR.

• Mastercard: ECP, EFM, the Global Merchant Audit Program (GMAP) due in April 2027, BRAM, GRIP, the Scam Merchant Monitoring Program, the Merchant Monitoring Program and its registered providers, Fraud and Loss Database (SAFE) reporting, MATCH and Ethoca alerts.

• How these rules apply to a crypto merchant of record (MCC 6051) whose payments are offered through partners and resellers, including exposure from transaction laundering.

• 3-D Secure and Strong Customer Authentication, including exemptions and liability shift.

Fraud controls, data and detection

• Has owned a rules-based fraud engine: rules, lists, velocity limits, device fingerprinting, BIN and geo controls, with back-testing or shadow mode before release.

• Writes SQL, builds dashboards in Metabase or a similar tool, and analyses large transaction datasets personally.

• Has designed detection for transaction laundering and unauthorised website use, including test purchases through multi-step checkouts, redirect and referrer analysis, and measurement of a monitoring provider's detection rate and false positives.

• Has run a fraud risk assessment covering external and internal fraud, using COSO or ACFE fraud risk guidance.

Governance and AML

• Writes clear procedures that pass internal audit and regulator review, and keeps evidence that controls operate as written.

• Understands where fraud meets AML, including mule networks, SAR escalation and sanctions screening, and has built AML controls on a fraud platform.

• Gets engineering priority for control work by presenting clear data on losses and scheme exposure.

• Fluent written and spoken English.
  
  

Nice-to-have:

• Crypto on/off-ramp, exchange or wallet experience, including blockchain analytics such as Chainalysis in fraud and scam investigations.

• Merchant risk experience at an acquirer or payment facilitator: underwriting, ongoing merchant monitoring and terminations.

• Chargeback management platforms and automated dispute evidence.

• Website takedowns through hosting providers and registrars.

• Scam victim handling, including authorised push payment fraud.

• CFE, CAMS or an equivalent qualification.

What We Offer:

• Competitive market rate salary and performance-based incentives.

• 22 days annual leave with an additional 6 company days, plus bank holidays.

• Comprehensive health insurance plans.

• Maternity & Paternity leave support.
  

• Extensive benefits program.

• Flexible work schedule and remote work options.

• Modern offices and co-working spaces across 6 countries.

• Working equipment.

• Professional development and training opportunities.

• Opportunity to shape the initiatives you’re working on.

• Diverse and friendly team.

• We are open-minded to new ideas.