The Founder's Story
How a friend's betrayal sparked a mission to rebuild trust in digital commerce
Why We Built 3-Shepherd
3-Shepherd didn't start with a business plan or investor pitch. It started with a friend in trouble.
Picture this: I'm (Pieter) sitting in my Dubai office when my colleague comes bursting through the door, visibly shaken. He wasn't just anyone. He's a banker with years of experience, someone who's been through every fraud training course you can imagine.
But he'd just been scammed selling his car online.
Despite knowing all the red flags, despite understanding how these cons work, he still got caught by a really clever scam. And now he was asking me — with my background investigating financial crimes — if there was any way to get his money back.
There wasn't.
But that conversation wouldn't leave me alone.
Dubai, 2023
The conversation that changed everything
The Universal Problem
If our dear friend could get scammed — someone who literally works in banking — what about everyone else? What about the millions of ordinary people and small businesses who are exposed to the same risk every single day, but with no support, no protection, and no recourse?
They're out there taking chances, hoping the person on the other side is honest, because they have no other choice.
The more we thought about it, the more frustrated we became. We live in an age where you can video call someone on the other side of the world, but we still can't safely buy items from someone across town.
Trust in online transactions was completely broken, and that wasn't just costing people money — it was costing them opportunities.
Dubai, 2023
Hassan decides to stay
That's when I called Hassan
Hassan and I had worked together for years. He's one of those rare people who can see the technical solution to any problem, and he shared my belief that technology should make life better for real people.
He was actually planning to leave Dubai, but when I told him about this idea, something clicked. Instead of leaving, he stayed.
We both knew we had to build something that would give people their confidence back.
Our Mission Today
3-Shepherd became our answer to a simple question:
"What if people could trade online with the same confidence they have when they shake hands in person?"
Today, that's still our mission. We're building the trust layer the internet never had, so that whether you're a small business owner in Lagos selling to someone in London, or just someone trying to sell your car without getting scammed, you can trade with confidence.
Because everyone deserves to turn their good ideas into reality without fear.
What Drives Us
Real Protection
Not just promises, but actual security that prevents fraud before it happens
Human-Centered
Technology that serves real people, not the other way around
Opportunity
Turning good ideas into reality by removing the fear of getting scammed