The Announcement Constitutes the Largest Suspected Fraud Bust in GSA History by Both Number of Contractors Involved and Total Dollar Amount
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the U.S. General Services Administration is announcing that it has uncovered more than $13 billion in suspected fraud by federal contractors since March 2026 as part of its collaboration with the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
By utilizing governmentwide contracting data, public reporting, and inspector general enforcement information, GSA is significantly expanding its waste, fraud, and abuse identification and action capabilities.
“Let this serve as a warning to any bad actors thinking of stealing from the federal government: we will catch you, we will work with law enforcement to ensure your arrest, and we will do…
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.