On February 28, 2024, the US Department of the Treasury announced that the Office of Payment Integrity (“OPI”) within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has recovered more than $375 million in potentially fraudulent payments using artificial intelligence (“AI”). According to the Treasury Department, check fraud increased “385% since the pandemic.” In response, at the beginning of fiscal year 2023 (October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023), the OPI began utilizing AI to mitigate check fraud by “strengthening and expediting processes to recover potentially fraudulent payments from financial institutions.”
The OPI’s enhanced AI process has also enabled federal law enforcement agencies to open multiple cases and arrest offenders. OPI’s efforts are part of a larger utilization of AI by government agencies. For example, as described in more detail here, the Department of Justice is leveraging AI in processing tips submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and synthesizing evidence in large cases.