The builder's path
For: Pix users in Brazil can't tell in the moment whether a payment request is a scam, and often act too late to get money back.
“Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control.”
Routes to a solution
Each route is a different kind of journey, with real people and organisations to contact at each step, starting with those in Brazil.
Step 1
Partner with a nonprofit on the ground
They know the people and can run it with you.
Accelerator for tech nonprofits.
Patient capital and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Fellowships and seed funding for social innovators.
Y Combinator's free course and co-founder matching.
Step 2
Pitch a foundation or CSR fund
Show the evidence and the people it reaches.
Funds bold ideas in global health and humanitarian work.
Funds open source solutions from emerging economies.
Patient capital and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.
Official Pix rules, including the Special Return Mechanism (MED).
Consumer rights group that follows banking and payment complaints.
Starter prompt
Built from this problem's brief. Paste it into Claude or any AI assistant.
Help me design and build a first working prototype for this problem in Brazil. Problem: Pix users in Brazil can't tell in the moment whether a payment request is a scam, and often act too late to get money back. Who it hurts: People paying by Pix after a call, message or online shop asks them to transfer money, with older adults most affected. The moment it hurts: A caller posing as the bank says the account must be 'regularized' with a Pix transfer right now. What people do today: Victims contest the transfer through their bank's app using the Special Return Mechanism (MED), but scammers move money between accounts quickly. Why it is still unsolved: Pix is instant and available all day, so the window to stop or recover a payment is very short, and scam scripts keep changing. What solved looks like: A plain-language assistant that, before paying, asks three questions about how the request arrived, warns on known scam patterns, and if money was already sent, walks the person through filing a MED claim in their bank app within minutes. Where: Brazil First, list what you would need to learn from the people affected before building, as interview questions. Then propose the simplest version that would help, the screens or messages it needs, and the data it would use. Keep it cheap to run, accessible, and respectful of people's privacy. Flag anything you are unsure about instead of guessing.
Talk to the people who live it before you build.
“When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind.”
Get a working version in front of people fast.
Using AI is not cheating. Every tool carries the work of the people who made it, and using it well is how knowledge has always moved forward. The thinking, the care for the people who live the problem, and the judgement are still yours.
“The Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.”
Open data that fits this problem.
“When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it: this is knowledge.”
Tools matched to what this problem needs.
“Keep moving, keep moving.”
चरैवेति चरैवेति
caraiveti caraiveti
Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.
“Give me a place to stand, and I will move the earth.”
δός μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω
Kit written for this problem from its brief; every link was checked. Links go to each provider's own site. Zetema is not paid for any listing.