In creating this daily blog project, Fraud By The Numbers, we have documented three key facts.

Fraud whistleblowing works, and it remains the most effective tool in preventing fraud on the government.

In 2019, less than 0.25% of civil cases filed involved False Claims Act violations.

When you look at the actual numbers, whistleblowers recover far less for doing the right thing.

The U.S. government spends the net worth of the world’s richest person every year on things other than healthcare and defense.

The federal government sets a goal of awarding 23 percent of contracts to small businesses each year.

The Takata Air bag disaster shows that whistleblowers are needed to detect major systematic safety issues.

Only 35 defense fraud cases were filed by whistleblowers in 2020.

In FY2020 alone, the Department of Defense obligated $420 billion to federal contracts, more than all other federal agencies combined.

State False Claims Acts and whistleblowers are critical in the fight against fraud, no matter what form it takes.

How two states are leading the charge against private insurer fraud, and are remarkably successful.

In 2019, state Medicaid Fraud Control Units recovered $6.41 for every $1 spent on enforcement.

The government has maintained a Medicare Fraud Strike Force since March 2007.

There are a number of drivers of this growth, but the primary one is the anticipated growth in Medicare enrollment.

The estimated annual cost of additional medical and short-term disability expenses associated with medical errors is $19.5 billion.

According to the IRS, about $1 trillion in federal taxes go unpaid each year.

Unfortunately, the tragic loss of life and economic turmoil caused by the pandemic have been compounded by fraud in COVID-19 relief efforts.

Of the major federal whistleblower programs, the SEC Whistleblower Program is the newest, dating back to only 2011.

Empowering whistleblowers to provide tips on where and how fraudulent transactions were happening is the most effective way to prevent fraud

A non-partisan commission found that as much as $60 billion (almost 30% of the spending up to that point) had been lost to fraud.