Building For A Fraud-free Future

Welcome to my business diary. Here, I will be sharing my journey of building Rex Martech from the ground up. You will get an insider’s view of the highs, lows, and everything in between—from achieving technical milestones to navigating legal and financial challenges.

Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or simply curious, this will give you a raw, authentic look at the process of launching a tech startup.

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Is my self righteousness getting in the way of good business sense? That’s a question I have asked myself more than once this year.

Because taking a hard stance on fraud hasn’t always been easy.

But this September marks the one-year anniversary of Rex Martech, and it feels like the right moment to share why I’ve chosen this path, what I’ve learned, and where we’re headed next.

When I started Rex Martech, the vision was simple: build tools that protect lead buyers, publishers, and ultimately consumers from the hidden (and often ignored) costs of fraud.

One year in, I can say with conviction: this problem is bigger than I imagined, and addressing it requires both technical innovation and a willingness to make hard trade-offs.

The State of the Industry: A Systemic Fraud Problem

Fraud is not just a nuisance. It’s systemic and threatens the long-term sustainability of performance marketing.

Richard Kahn (from Anura) and attorney Michele Shuster have pointed out, in their discussion, that fraud is costing advertisers billions.

In fact, one 2024 estimate pegged the global loss from fraudulent traffic at $140 billion. Even if you take that number with a grain of salt, the message is clear: the problem is massive.

In lead generation specifically, the issue is not just click fraud but lead fraud.

Entire operations exist to churn out fake or low-intent leads, often sophisticated enough to bypass standard validation. Buyers get frustrated, lawsuits follow, and publishers risk their reputations.

If we don’t address this as a community, the long-term consequence is simple: buyers stop buying. And without buyers, the industry collapses.

One Year: What We Tested, What I Learned

Over the past year, we put Rex Validate through rigorous testing across verticals—from home services to legal to financial services to co-registration short forms.

We experimented with everything from phone and email verification to TrustedForm checks, and in home services, even more advanced signals:

• credit score checks,

• home value and property type,

• confirming home ownership

• roof propensity scoring

• and more.

Some validations proved expensive without adding measurable value which we later turned off. Others showed clear impact, and we kept them.

Here’s what stood out:

• In home services, when we disabled one of the major validations for a week (to test if we were being “too strict” after publishers complained about lead acceptance rates), appointment rates dropped to zero. With the validation on, they averaged 15% or better.

• In legal campaigns, when a setup error caused certain leads to bypass validation, conversions flatlined. Once corrected, conversions rose 300% overnight!

The lesson is clear: validation works.

It doesn’t eliminate fraud entirely, and it does reduce short-term lead volume. But the alternative is worse: flooded pipelines, wasted spend, and frustrated buyers.

The Hard Truth: Short-Term Pain, Long-Term Gain

Let me be candid: Rex Validate rejects 80–90% of the leads we receive.

Publishers don’t like it. We don’t like it either. Even our own internal properties face challenges with acceptance rates. And yes, this costs us revenue.

But it also proves a point: the fraud problem is real, and pretending otherwise only postpones the reckoning.

If you’re not validating leads, especially in home services, you’re not just missing an optimization opportunity, you’re contributing to the problem.

At Rex Martech, we’re choosing the harder path: take the revenue hit now, so that buyers can trust what they’re purchasing tomorrow.

In the long run, higher quality means better conversion, stronger buyer relationships, and the ability for all of us to sustain and grow our businesses.

The Next Frontier: Inbound Call Fraud Detection

Leads aren’t the only target. Over the past year, we’ve also confronted fraud in inbound calls.

Using our internal auditing systems, we identified patterns in fraudulent calls. These are trends in metadata that can actually be flagged before the call connects.

This insight opens a new frontier: Rex Validate for calls.

We’re now testing a system that blocks suspicious calls before they’re transferred.

The goal is proactive protection. Think fewer bad calls reaching buyers, less auditing overhead, and ultimately better ROI on call campaigns.

It’s still early, but promising. If there’s interest, we will open this capability for partners to test.

Looking Ahead

One year in, my belief is stronger than ever: the future of lead generation depends on how seriously we take fraud.

It’s not enough to optimize campaigns or chase volume. We must collectively raise standards, even when it hurts our pocket books in the short run.

Rex Validate is not perfect. No system is. But it is effective. Guaranteed.

And if more of us commit to tackling fraud head-on, we can ensure this industry not only survives but thrives.

If you would like to explore testing Rex Validate for your leads or inbound calls, reach out. Let’s be part of the solution together.

Here’s to year two—building stronger systems, cleaner data, and a healthier ecosystem for all of us.

Jennine Rexon

is the President of REX Direct, a pioneering performance marketing agency founded in 2001. Under her leadership, REX Direct has become a leading force in generating high-quality leads across various sectors, including home improvement, legal, health and wellness, market research, travel, and personal finance. Known for her relentless curiosity and passion for technology and creativity, Jennine is dedicated to driving innovation in the field. In September 2024, Jennine launched REX Martech, a new technology company focused on advancing performance marketing—details of which she shares exclusively in this newsletter. Outside of work, Jennine enjoys practicing yoga, spending quality time with her family, and doting on her loyal dog, RJ.