On Feb 28 the US Treasury Department announced that during fiscal year 2023 its Enhanced Fraud Detection Process, which makes use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), recovered $375 million from fraudulent activity.
According to the announcement from the Treasury check fraud has skyrocketed since the pandemic, increasing by as much as 385%, a figure that aligns with warnings issued by local banks. Suspicious activity reports filed by financial institutions increased between 2020 and 2021 by 23%, and almost doubled by 2022 with more than 680,000 reports filed.
The new AI employed by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, is being used to better handle the high volume of check fraud. The AI enables “near real time” operations which is critical in cases of check fraud where catching activity early can make the difference between preventing loss entirely or funds disappearing forever.
“The Treasury Department is committed to safeguarding taxpayer dollars through payment integrity – paying the right person, in the right amount, at the right time, and ensuring that Social Security payments, tax refunds, and other types of checks, and people who are receiving them, are safe from fraud,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “We are using the latest technological advances to enhance our fraud detection process, and AI has allowed us to expedite the detection of fraud and recovery of tax dollars.”
