Falkin Raises £1.6 M to Embed AI-Powered Scam Prevention Inside Banking Apps

London-based startup Falkin has raised £1.6 million in pre-seed funding led by Triple Point Ventures to expand its AI-powered scam prevention platform, designed to stop fraud before transactions even occur.

The Hidden Cost of Scams in Finance

Every year, over $1 trillion is lost globally to scams, with one in four people falling victim. Despite decades of investment in cybersecurity and fraud detection, banks continue to struggle against a new threat vector: AI-powered deception. From deepfake voices and cloned investment advisors to impersonation scams that fool even the tech-savvy. Traditional fraud tools were built to monitor transactions after they happen. But modern scams start earlier, through social engineering, fake messages and fraudulent intent that never looks suspicious in transaction logs.

That’s the gap Falkin wants to close.

Meet Falkin! Mission, Product and Positioning

Founded in London, Falkin is building what it calls a “real-time scam digital safety network” for modern finance. Rather than relying on back-end fraud detection, the company embeds directly into banking apps and systems of financial institutions, monitoring interactions and identifying red flags before a transaction takes place.

The platform uses AI models trained on behavioral, linguistic and contextual data to detect signs of deception, such as suspicious phrasing in messages, unusual request patterns, or risk-laden payment behavior. In essence, Falkin aims to make “proactive digital safety” a standard feature of everyday banking, helping users recognize potential scams before they lose money. Falkin’s own name reflects its mission:

“Falk” means falcon, a symbol of protection, and “Kin” means family.
Because protecting people starts with protecting those closest to us.

This human-centric brand identity underlines the company’s focus on consumer protection rather than just enterprise fraud analytics, a critical distinction in the next generation of fintech safety solutions.

Funding Round Details & Investor Motives

Falkin has raised £1.6 million in pre-seed funding, led by Triple Point Ventures, with additional backing from early-stage investors across the fintech and security sectors. The funding will be used to expand Falkin’s product integrations with banking partners and launch “Safety Labs”, a collaborative initiative aimed at helping community banks, fintechs and credit unions test and refine real-time scam prevention tools.

The company plans to use the capital to grow its engineering and compliance teams, as well as deepen partnerships with regulated financial institutions. This ensures that scam prevention tools can be deployed in environments that demand reliability, privacy and traceability.

How the Platform Works? Embedded, Real-Time and Proactive!

What makes Falkin’s approach distinct is its embedded model: instead of existing as a separate app or security layer, it’s integrated directly within the user experience of a banking app or fintech platform. When a customer initiates an online payment, shares details or receives a request, Falkin’s AI continuously evaluates context signals in real time, detecting potential scam attempts through a combination of machine learning, pattern recognition and linguistic modeling.

If a risk is detected, the system alerts both the user and the financial institution before funds leave the account. By operating at the pre-transaction level, Falkin’s goal is to “intercept scams before they become transactions.” For financial institutions, this means fewer fraud losses, reduced customer churn and improved trust in digital channels. For end users, it brings peace of mind, knowing their bank is acting as an active digital safety layer rather than a passive gatekeeper.

AI in Deception, Banking’s Weak Link

The timing of Falkin’s rise is crucial. Over the past two years, AI-generated deception has accelerated faster than most financial systems can adapt. Deepfake voices have been used in business impersonation scams; cloned websites and synthetic influencers have sold fake investment schemes and AI-written messages now mimic genuine human tone with alarming precision.

Banks and fintechs face a growing challenge: their fraud engines rely on transactional data, while most scams happen before a transaction ever begins. Falkin’s model effectively moves the defense line upstream, into the customer interaction layer where intent and behavior can be analyzed in context. This proactive approach mirrors the evolution of cybersecurity over the past decade: shifting from incident response to threat prevention. In fintech, where scams evolve by the week, the ability to adapt dynamically is not just valuable, it’s essential.

What’s Next for Falkin ? Growth, Partnerships & Roadmap

With its new funding secured, Falkin is preparing to expand its pilot programs with European and UK banks, aiming to prove that real-time scam interception can operate seamlessly within regulated financial infrastructure. The company’s roadmap includes Launching its Safety Labs program to co-develop use cases with financial institutions, Scaling its AI infrastructure for global compliance and Building integrations that extend protection beyond payments into messages, investment offers and online purchases.

While Falkin is still in early stages, the company’s potential market is vast. Financial scams cost global consumers more than $1 trillion annually, according to its founders, yet less than a fraction of this amount is spent on preemptive safety measures. If Falkin can make “scam prevention before payment” a default feature of digital banking, it could fundamentally redefine trust and transparency in online finance.

Final Thoughts: Toward a Safer Digital Economy

The emergence of companies like Falkin signals a broader shift in fintech’s priorities, from convenience to trust. As AI continues to empower both innovation and deception, the financial industry’s resilience will depend on proactive safety infrastructure.

Falkin’s model represents a simple but profound idea: that the safest transaction is the one that never turns into a scam. And if its AI-driven network scales successfully, this London startup may help bring the age of preventable scams closer than ever before.