Government fraud takes many forms. Below are a few of the most common categories.
Pandemic Relief Fraud
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government created emergency relief programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loans, and expanded unemployment insurance. These programs moved money quickly, which created widespread opportunities for PPP fraud and other COVID relief fraud. Common examples include misrepresenting how many employees a business has, splitting one company into several smaller businesses to qualify for more funding than a single, larger applicant would receive, using relief funds for purposes the program did not allow, or applying under false pretenses. Loan splitting can be especially hard to spot from the outside, since the businesses involved may appear unrelated on paper even when they share the same owners, address, or employees.
Customs & Tariff Fraud
Companies that import goods into the United States must accurately declare the value, quantity, and country of origin of their products, and pay the correct duties and tariffs. Customs fraud happens when importers undervalue goods, misclassify products to lower their duty rate, or falsify the country of origin, sometimes by routing shipments through another country to avoid tariffs. This is a fast-growing area of government enforcement, and reports from people with inside knowledge of how goods are actually shipped and declared play a major role.
Healthcare Fraud
Federal healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, are frequent targets of fraud. Medicare fraud and Medicaid fraud schemes commonly include billing for services that were never provided, billing at a higher rate than what was actually performed, paying or accepting kickbacks for patient referrals, and billing for medically unnecessary procedures.
Government Contract Fraud
The federal government spends hundreds of billions of dollars every year on contracts for goods and services. Contract fraud happens when a contractor delivers substandard products, falsely certifies that it meets required standards or qualifications, engages in bid-rigging, or otherwise misrepresents its work to get paid. This is one of the oldest and most common categories of False Claims Act cases.
Cybersecurity Fraud
Companies that hold federal contracts or handle government data are often required to meet specific cybersecurity standards. Cybersecurity fraud happens when a company falsely certifies that it meets these requirements, fails to disclose a known data breach, or otherwise misrepresents its security practices to win or keep a contract. As the government relies more on outside vendors to store and process sensitive data, this is a newer but increasingly active area of enforcement.