PayPal adds fraud prevention services

SAN JOSE, Calif. and TEL AVIV, Israel eBay subsidiary PayPal today announced that it has agreed to acquire Israeli-based Fraud Sciences, which specializes in online fraud prevention, for approximately $169 million.

According to eBay, Fraud Sciences will be used to help improve trust and safety across its sites in 2008. “Integrating Fraud Sciences’ risk tools with PayPal’s sophisticated fraud management system should allow us to be even more effective in protecting eBay and PayPal's hundreds of millions of customers around the world," said Scott Thompson, president of PayPal.

This acquisition, which is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, is expected to close within the next 30 days. eBay does not expect this acquisition to have a material impact on its 2008 financial guidance issued in conjunction with its fourth quarter earnings released on Jan. 23.