Preventing Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
Reporting a Complaint
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) maintains a hotline to report allegations of fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement in U.S. DOT programs or operations.
Before submitting a complaint, review the OIG Hotline webpage to ensure that your concerns are appropriate for an OIG inquiry. Visit U.S. DOT's OIG for more information.
The OIG Hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is operated by a third party contractor. The OIG Hotline must expeditiously forward all safety-related complaints to U.S. DOT's safety regulatory agencies.
Allegations may be reported by U.S. DOT employees, contractors, or the general public. To report an allegation of SBIR waste, fraud, and abuse at the U.S. DOT use one of the following methods:
- Fill out the OIG Hotline Complaint Center form
- Fill out the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Disclosure form for contractors
- Call toll-free 1-800-424-9071
- Email hotline@oig.dot.gov
- Mail to U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E., West Building, 7th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20590
SBIR/STTR FWA Convictions
Visit the Small Business Administration's SBIR website for a list of SBIR/STTR Fraud, Waste & Abuse (FWA) Convictions.
Annual Training
View training slides from U.S. DOT's SBIR webinar on fraud, waste, and abuse, held October 26, 2023.
Beginning in FY 2022, this training is required annually for SBIR awardees.
SBIR Fraud Indicators
There are four main types of fraud found in the SBIR program:
- Misrepresentations or factual omissions
- Misrepresentation of expended funds
- Misuse of award funds
- Duplication of funds
It is important to note that the presence of one or more indicators does not prove fraud, nor are the indicators shown all-inclusive for each of the schemes described.
To learn more, view the training slides from U.S. DOT's SBIR webinar on fraud, waste, and abuse.