Meet Elena Michaeli, WebPurify’s New Director of Fraud & Risk

We’re excited to welcome Elena Michaeli to WebPurify as our new Director of Fraud & Risk. With her impressive background spanning military intelligence, cyber threat analysis, and financial crime prevention, Elena brings both a breadth of experience and a bold vision as we tackle the growing issue of digital fraud.

A Career Built on Intelligence and Strategy

Elena began her career in Israel’s elite Intelligence Unit 8200, the equivalent to the US National Security Administration, where she developed her expertise in signal intelligence. Over the past 15 years, she’s worked across sectors including e-commerce, banking, digital payments, and cyber intelligence, where she built and scaled strategies to tackle fraud from multiple angles.

“What really drives me is building smart, scalable systems that protect people and businesses from risk,” Elena explains. “Over time, I realized that the key to effective fraud prevention isn’t just knowing how bad actors operate; it’s understanding the full ecosystem: the tech, the behavior, the vulnerabilities.”

One of her most formative experiences was building and leading fraud detection and prevention for the P2P payments app and the first digital-only bank in Israel under one roof of what she calls a “fusion center” for Israel’s largest bank. This was a central hub that united cybersecurity, fraud, and physical security operations. “That experience showed me how powerful it can be to break down silos and look at fraud holistically,” Elena explains.

She says this experience showed her the importance of cross-communication and how it can fill in gaps in knowledge, leading to stronger security strategies. “You can’t defend what you don’t fully understand,” she says.

Beyond cross-functional collaboration, Elena also believes the industry needs to shift from just analyzing to taking stronger action. “Too often, companies assume they can’t do more to protect users. In truth, they just don’t know how,” she says. “I want to help teams move faster, build smarter strategies, and close those knowledge gaps.”

Why WebPurify, and Why Now?

Elena first connected with WebPurify through her role on the Marketplace Risk Management advisory board, where she met Alexandra Popken, WebPurify’s VP of Trust & Safety. “I wasn’t looking for a new role,” Elena says, “but when Alex described the opportunity, I realized how much of an impact I could make here. In a single company, you’re helping one set of users. At WebPurify, I get to help protect people on a global scale.”

That sense of scale is a driving force for her, alongside her passion for education. Elena regularly volunteers her time on industry initiatives, including co-developing the Certified Payments and Fraud Prevention Professional (CPFPP) certification and contributing to the Merchant Risk Council’s education committee.

Closing the Gaps Between Teams

One of Elena’s major focuses will be helping our partners bridge the gap between fraud prevention, cybersecurity, compliance, and operations. “In the US, I often see cybersecurity treated purely as an IT function, with almost no overlap with fraud teams,” she says. “That separation creates blind spots, especially when it comes to things like malware or device compromise, which fraud teams may not be trained to detect.”

According to Elena, this division leads to slower, less effective responses and leaves companies in the dark about new and emerging threats. She’s especially focused on shifting organizations from reactive responses to proactive strategies.

At WebPurify, Elena will be supporting clients in an advisory and strategic capacity, helping brands assess vulnerabilities, build or optimize fraud teams, lead training, and integrate fraud prevention more tightly into their overall trust and safety efforts.

What This Means for Our Clients… and Their Customers

Elena joining us is part of WebPurify’s ongoing commitment to enhancing our trust and safety services and underscores our growing role in helping brands improve customer experiences.

“Fraud prevention is a frontline issue for CX,” says Josh Buxbaum, WebPurify’s co-founder. “When users are targeted by scams or bad actors, it erodes their trust in the entire platform. Elena brings the intelligence, strategy, and collaborative mindset to help our clients protect their users and strengthen their brand experience at the same time.”

As part of the IntouchCX family, WebPurify is in a great position to help platforms create safer and more seamless experiences, combining our moderation expertise with customer experience innovations.

What’s Next?

Elena’s first priority is listening. “I’m spending time with our teams, learning the systems, and understanding where I can add the most value,” she says. “WebPurify already has an incredibly strong foundation; I’m here to help strengthen it, scale it, and take it even further.”

We couldn’t be more excited to have Elena on board.