Skip to main content

General & Fraud FAQs

General FAQs

If you want to provide feedback about the government’s response to the coronavirus or about features and functionalities of the website, use our Feedback form. If you want to report possible fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement of coronavirus funding, please click on the Report Fraud, Waste, or Abuse button at the top and bottom of every page.

PandemicOversight.gov displays:

  • Data on prime recipients who received federal awards in response to the coronavirus pandemic, how much they received, and how they are spending the funding.
  • Inspectors General recommendations for corrective action related to their agencies' coronavirus response and the use of CARES Act and other related funding. IGs identify recommendations through audits, inspections, memoranda, and other formats.
  • A way to report fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement of the funding.

The pieces of legislation funding the pandemic relief response are:

  • The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (Total $7.8B) -- Signed into law on March 6, 2020 and provided:
    • Emergency funding for the Department of Health and Human Services, the State Department, and the Small Business Administration
    • Expansion of telehealth services under Medicare
  • The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Total $15.4B) -- Signed into law on March 18, 2020,and provided:
    • Paid sick leave
    • Tax credits
    • Free COVID-19 testing
    • Expansion of food assistance and unemployment benefits
    • Increased Medicaid funding
  • The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, (CARES Act) (Total $2.1T) -- Signed into law on March 27, 2020 and provided, in part:
    • Funding to federal agencies to make contract, grant, loan, and direct payment awards to state and local governments, individuals, and businesses
    • Tax rebates of up to $1,200 per individual, with an additional $500 per child
    •  A temporary expansion of unemployment benefits
    • Suspension of payments and interest on federal student loans
    • Emergency loans to businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program
  • Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (Total $483B) -- Signed into law on April 24, 2020 and provided:
    • Additional funding to the Paycheck Protection Program, as well as other Small Business Administration programs
    • Funding to health care providers and federal, state, local, and tribal governments for coronavirus testing and tracing initiatives.
  • The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (Total $900B) – Signed into law on December 27, 2020 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and provided: 
    • An extension of federal unemployment benefits
    • Direct payments to individuals
    • A second round of Paycheck Protection Program loans
    • Funding for vaccines, testing, and tracing
    • Rental assistance
    • Child care support
    • Funding for broadband
  • The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Total $1.9T) – Signed into law on March 11, 2021, and provided, in part:
    • $1,400 direct payments to individuals
    • $300 a week in unemployment benefits
    • An increase in the child tax credit -- $3,000 for children 6 to 17, $3,600 for children under 6
    • Funding for vaccines and testing
    • State and local aid
    • New Paycheck Protection Loans
    • Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help families with home heating and cooling costs
    • Rental assistance, including emergency housing vouchers for the homeless, survivors of domestic violence, and victims of human trafficking. 
    • Support for restaurants and shuttered venue locations
    • Funding for education
       

PandemicOversight.gov was created by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) to display the details of the $2.6 trillion coronavirus relief spending provided by the CARES Act and three related pieces of coronavirus legislation and information related to the coronavirus response. 

The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) was established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Security Act (CARES Act) as a committee of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE). The PRAC's is to serve the American public by promoting transparency and the coordinated oversight of the Federal Government's coronavirus response to prevent and detect fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement and to identify and mitigate major risks that cross program and agency boundaries.

Fraud FAQs

Whistleblowers should never be subjected to retaliation for reporting wrongdoing. If you believe you have been retaliated against because you disclosed wrongdoing, the options available to you depend on your specific place of employment and the type of alleged retaliation.  For additional resources, visit Oversight.gov.

You should submit tips and complaints here about potential fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement of coronavirus-related funds or the coronavirus response. Sources of those funds include the CARES Act, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act. Examples of funding or activities you might report about include:

  • Fraudulent lending or borrowing involving any of the lending CARES Act programs (SBA, PPP, Emergency Lending)
  • Ineligible or fraudulent stimulus and unemployment funding recipients
  • Mismanagement or fraud related to healthcare funding and aid to sub-recipients in State, Local and Tribal Governments

Hotline tips are incredibly valuable, and we appreciate your efforts to help us stamp out fraud, waste and abuse.  Please provide as much information as possible including names of alleged offenders, victims and/or witnesses, and leads on any applicable data, documentation or other evidence.

Fraud is defined as wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.

Fraud includes false representation of fact, making false statements, or concealment of information; offer, payment, or acceptance of bribes and gratuities; submitting false claims; and conspiring to use any of these devices. The term also includes conflict of interest cases, criminal irregularities, and the unauthorized disclosure of official information relating to procurement and disposal matters.

Waste is defined as the extravagant careless or needless expenditure of Government funds, or the consumption of Government property that results from deficient practices,  systems, controls, or decisions. The term also includes improper practices not involving criminal behavior.

Abuse is defined as the intentional or improper use of Government resources that can include the excessive or improper use of one's position in a manner contrary to its rightful or legally intended use. Examples include misuse of rank, position, or authority or misuse of Government resources for oneself or another.

There are several ways you can report potential fraudulent activity.

  • Submit a Fraud Complaint through the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse button at the top and bottom of every page. 
  • Submit a Hotline report to the Office of the Inspector General (IG) for the agency responsible for the coronavirus funding.  A list of all the IGs can be found at the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.