Opinion
Supervision nobody reads is not supervision
Regulators publish warnings, registers and press releases. They are legally impeccable and practically invisible to the people who need them most.
This is an opinion piece. It reflects the author's view and is not investment advice.
Reach is the problem, not content
A warning about a fraudulent platform appears on a website people visit only after things went wrong. The audience is on social media, where the same platform runs paid ads.
Supervision does not win through more publications, but through presence where the decision happens. That is a communications problem, not a legal one.
Where people get their first information
Editorial estimate based on reader conversations; illustrative.
- Social media and video44%
- Friends and family21%
- News and trade media18%
- The platform itself12%
- Regulator website5%
Registers are written for lawyers
Anyone checking whether a provider is licensed lands in a register full of legal entity names that do not match the brand in the app. That is a design flaw, not a detail.
A search field recognising trade names, domains and app names would prevent more fraud than ten extra warnings on a press page.
- Search by trade and app name, not only legal entity
- Clear date of last verification
- Machine-readable feed media can display
- Warnings in plain language, per country
What a better approach delivers
The gain is speed. A fraud campaign runs for weeks; a warning that surfaces months later arrives after the damage.
From signal to reach
- 01
Signal received
Report from a user, bank or media
- 02
Publish in plain language
Brand, domain and app named
- 03
Distribute via feed
Media and platforms display the warning
- 04
Show follow-up
Status and end date of the warning
Media carry part of this too
We happily demand more transparency from regulators while giving warnings too little prominence ourselves. A machine-readable register is something we can show next to a price chart.
On that point newsrooms can start tomorrow, without waiting for a change in law.
Ofte stilte spørsmål
Where do I check whether a provider is licensed?
In the national regulator's register. Search the legal name and confirm the app's domain belongs to it.
Does a warning mean a platform is illegal?
Not automatically. It can also mean a provider offers services without a licence to residents of that country.
What do I do when I find a fraudulent platform?
Report it to the regulator and to the advertising platform where you saw it, and warn people around you.
About the author
Fleur schrijft over banken, betalingen en de digitale euro. Ze zoekt uit wat beleid van de ECB betekent voor rekeninghouders en fintechs.