Identifying, reporting Fraud, Waste and Abuse

  • Published
  • By Special Agent Jason Muldrew
  • Air Force Office of Special Investigations
GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Air Force Office of Special Investigations needs your help in identifying and reporting fraudulent activities. Besides our general crimes, counterintelligence, and research and technology protection missions, a significant amount of AFOSI's resources are assigned to fraud investigations.

In the past few years, AFOSI has recovered well over a billion dollars defrauded from the United States Air Force worldwide. This accomplishment is pretty amazing, considering only 10 percent of fraudulent activity is reported or discovered. Imagine how much more money we could be recovering or saving if more people were educated on what to look for. So, don't let anyone walk away with our money.

We've all heard the words Fraud, Waste and Abuse but would you really know what it is if you see it, and if so, do you know who to report it to?

Let's start off with, what is fraud? Fraud is defined as the crime of obtaining money or some other benefit by deliberate deception. Simply put, fraud is theft. Unfortunately, it's not always going to be that simple or obvious. Fraud comes in many forms and can often times be tricky to find. Bribery, identity theft, money laundering, embezzlement, and submitting false documentation, are a few examples.

These things can get complicated, and often times, are covered up very well. Only those who are familiar with the system can find ways to steal money or other products without setting off any alarms. So to help you become more aware of what to look for, the following are some indicators of fraudulent activities: Concentration of authority or responsibility of one particular person for an entire process (i.e. the Government Purchase Card holder is also the approval and billing official); inadequate feedback on results of operations; lack of independent verification of the accuracy of records, transactions and reports; vague and confusing procedures and standards; inability to identify responsibility; lack of adequate supervision or oversight; unrealistic budgetary or acquisition requirements; inadequate physical safeguards over resources; failure to strictly enforce contract provisions and failure to correct deficiencies identified by existing systems.

You now know how to detect fraudulent activities. Now what? Well, this is the easy part. Contact AFOSI Detachment 408 and tell them what you know. Here's how, come into the office, Bldg. 435, call us at (325) 654-3766 or e-mail jason.muldrew@ogn.af.mil.