Topline: The federal government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion to fraud every year, according to a new study from the Government Accountability Office.
Key facts: The fraud losses represent 3 to 7 percent of the $40 trillion the federal government obligated from 2018 to 2022, a ratio the GAO says is comparable to other large governments like the U.K.
The dollar figure includes only crimes that cause the government to lose money it already has — not tax fraud or other ways the government loses potential revenue.
It does include over $100 billion lost to unemployment insurance fraud and $200 billion in fraudulent business loans from the Small Business Administration during the pandemic.
The lowest estimate, $233 billion, is still larger than the 2022 budget of all but eight federal agencies.
Only $4.41 billion to $7.31 billion was reported as “confirmed fraud” each year with an official court ruling. The rest was settled out of court or, more likely, never recouped at all.
Some of the biggest risk factors for fraud are expanding government programs or adding new ones, allowing state governments to control payments, and relying on officials with limited training or experience, the GAO wrote.
The report does not necessarily predict how much will be lost to fraud in the future.
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