Bureau Raises $30 Million for Anti-Fraud Campaign With PayPal Ventures’ Help

Fraud prevention/compliance platform Bureau has raised $30 million in a Series B round.

The new funding round, which included participation by PayPal Ventures, will help Bureau use artificial intelligence (AI) to help businesses combat increasingly sophisticated forms of fraud, the company said in a Wednesday (Dec. 18) news release.

“For founder and CEO Ranjan Reddy, the mission is personal,” the release said. “After falling victim to cyber fraud himself, he built Bureau to transform how businesses verify digital identities and detect fraud.”

The release added that Reddy’s tech experience had taught him that “Who are you?” and “Can I trust you?” are key questions every digital company must answer throughout the customer journey. That’s even more important amid a surge in things like deepfake identities, account takeover and payment fraud thanks to the rise of AI.

“Bureau utilizes a unique combination of device, behavior, financial, and partner data to quickly block scammers without creating deal-breaking headaches for users,” said Rob Rueckert, a partner at Sorenson Capital, which led the funding round.

“By preventing fraud while avoiding any harm to customer retention, revenue, and growth, Bureau is truly differentiated in the vast and significant fraud-prevention space, and the proof is in their success.”

In other fraud prevention news, PYMNTS wrote earlier this month about the rise of fraud tied to social engineering scams, even as payment-related frauds are on the decline.

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence shows that scams became the top form of fraud this year, surpassing digital payment fraud. The share of scam-related fraud rose by 56%, and while financial losses from scams jumped 121%.

“Scams now account for 23% of all fraudulent transactions, with relationship/trust and product/service scams responsible for most losses,” PYMNTS wrote. “These scams manipulate individuals into authorizing fraudulent transactions, often using deceptive tactics. Additionally, fraud involving compromised credentials, where individuals are tricked into revealing account details, is also on the rise.”

The increase in scams over digital payment fraud spotlights the evolving strategies of fraudsters, who now dig into vulnerabilities in human behavior rather than targeting technical flaws in digital payment systems. As a result, financial institutions face a bigger challenge in managing fraud, with scams becoming more frequent and sophisticated.

The percentage of financial institutions reporting an increase in fraud-related dollar losses climbed by 40% in 2024, up from 29% last year.