Ep. 273 Closing the $500B Federal Fraud Gap: What Federal Tech Leaders Must Do Now

Fraud rates in the public sector are estimated at 20%, compared to 3% in the private sector. Some estimate the loss to the federal government at over $500 billion.

Today, we sat down with Haywood Talcove, the CEO of LexisNexis Special Services. He presents listeners with shocking statistics on fraud, shares personal stories, and offers suggestions to help taxpayers overcome this loss of money.

FRAUD

Talcove begins by noting the fraud rate in the federal government before COVID was a paltry 0.1%. No news there. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, federal employees were legally obligated to disperse funds promptly. They became more concerned about sending out money than maintaining precise accounting.

PERSONAL STORY

During the interview, Talcove recounts the story of how a bank teller defrauded his mother. He details the frustration in just trying to uncover the fraud. After many attempts, he collaborated with local police to discover the method of the attack.

SOLUTIONS

The fact of the matter is that an employee of AMEX has a strong interest in preventing fraud. In contrast, many in the federal government are more concerned about compliance with directives than avoiding loss.

NIST has a recent update standard, NIST SP 800-64 Digital Identity Guidelines, but criminals move faster than federal regulations can keep up.

The solution is obvious: to improve data sharing between government agencies. Next, learn from the private sector how to identify and stop fraud more effectively.

What can a consumer do?

· One credit bureau freeze closed.

· Two informed delivery post offices

· Three county alerts on title

· Four text messages alert any transaction -- know quickly.