OIG Special Agents Fighting Fraud

The Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) has a mission to guard against fraud, waste, and abuse. We are one of the most active OIGs, with nearly 2,200 arrests over the past five years.

In this month’s blog, we focus on our fraud investigations. The total financial impact of our fraud investigations was almost $350 million in fiscal year 2024, with more than $25 million returned directly to the Postal Service. 

This amount doesn’t include our cases involving fraudulent activity related to mail theft. This is especially important at this time of year, when many people are waiting for tax refund checks. The OIG works with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and different divisions of the Treasury Department to deter and detect the theft and fraudulent cashing of Treasury checks sent through the mail. In a recent case, OIG special agents uncovered an employee at a North Carolina processing plant who stole $24 million worth of checks including $8 million in Treasury checks. 

So what types of crime fall into our fraud category? 

Health Care Claimant Fraud: Our Health Care Claimant Fraud division investigates postal employees who defraud the Postal Service to receive unearned benefits and compensation. In one case a former employee made fraudulent workers’ compensation claims for 14 years on an ankle injury before our special agents brought her to justice.

Health Care Provider Fraud: We investigate providers, staff, and marketers who defraud USPS using workers’ compensation programs. These providers defraud the U.S. Government by ordering bogus prescriptions, submitting multiple claims for the same service, billing for services never rendered, and billing for a more expensive service than patients actually received. In a highly complex case that required over 80 grand jury subpoenas and 200 interviews our special agents helped bring several pharmacies and related entities to justice after they fraudulently billed the Department of Labor and a health care program $126 million! 

Financial Fraud: This division investigates employees who embezzle or misappropriate Postal Service funds and property, such as money orders or stamps. For instance, our special agents closed a case where a mail clerk processed 138 fraudulent money order transactions, pocketing more than $111,000 from the Postal Service. 

Contract Fraud: The Postal Service spends billions of dollars each year on contracts. Our Contract Fraud division investigates cases that lead not only to fines and settlements, but also jail time, like this case where our special agents brought a multi-agency fraud case to a close. Our Cyber Crimes Unit supports this and other investigative divisions.

If you suspect any fraudulent activity that we should investigate, contact our Hotline. 

For concerns about your tax refund, the Internal Revenue Service provides a lost or stolen refund site and other guidance to help you report and obtain a replacement check. If you think your refund check may have been stolen in the mail, please also report it to our Hotline.